Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Certification
Training
Timeline
Generic

Jessica Horst

Akron/Canton Area,OH

Summary

Results-driven leader adept at guiding high-performing teams and implementing strategic initiatives to drive business success. Known for fostering collaborative environment, implementing continuous improvement and achieving measurable milestones. Exhibits strong leadership and adaptability to changing business needs.

Overview

20
20
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Senior Director, Commercial Operations

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2023 - Current
  • Responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of multiple SBA Portfolio Management and Commercial Process & System Teams ensuring best in class concept to commercialization processes.
  • Served as a key business partner to the Executive Leadership and Officer teams, executing activities that shaped the Company's portfolio vision and roadmap to deliver financial plans.
  • Managed the delivery of $1B Innovation Value across six business segments and ten national brands.
  • Mentored senior management on best practices for resource management, prioritization, project delivery, & regulatory compliance.
  • Oversaw budget planning and resource allocation, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
  • Cultivated a culture of innovation by promoting creative thinking and encouraging employees to take calculated risks in pursuit of solutions.
  • Created an agile working environment, enabling rapid response to changing business needs without sacrificing quality or performance standards.
  • Established data-driven decision-making processes and implemented best practices in analytics to optimize performance across the organization.
  • Spearheaded innovative approaches to resource allocation and strategic planning.

Director, Coffee Portfolio & Project Management

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2022 - 09.2023
  • Managed team of five Project Managers responsible for leading and delivering projects across innovation, renovation, illustration, and customization categories.
  • Prioritized work and resourcing across $250M Portfolio Value inclusive of Dunkin, Folgers, and Cafe Bustelo brands to deliver strategic growth targets and business priorities.
  • Championed continuous improvement and process standardization across all SBAs resulting in capacity creation and increased visibility to NPI projections.
  • Partnered with the GM, Coffee Leadership, and Transformation Office to support the identification and projected delivery of over $19M annual savings across multiple functions including Marketing, Operations, and R&D.

Director, Commercialization & Item Data/Sr. Manager Portfolio Commercialization

The J.M. Smucker Company
07.2018 - 09.2022
  • Earned consecutive promotions to oversee the processes and systems supporting end-to-end Commercialization including Portfolio & Project Management, Item Data Management, Data Governance and Syndication.
  • Led a multi-year transformation program that included the selection and replacement of enterprise Master Data Management (MDM), Product Information Management (PIM), and Commercialization Workflow solutions, creating capacity across multiple teams and speed to market savings through process automation and system integrations.
  • Prioritized work and resourcing across five teams and multiple initiatives to deliver high value solutions in line with company priorities.
  • Secured senior level support to implement an enterprise Data Governance Operating Model for the Item Domain ensuring all systems and data consumers were operating from the same set of trusted data throughout the item life-cycle.
  • Managed 6 direct reports (Senior Managers, Managers and Product Owners) and 13 indirect reports responsible for designing, implementing and supporting agile solutions and processes to enable seamless commercial execution.

Manager, Consumer Product Data

The J.M. Smucker Company
07.2014 - 10.2018
  • Led the implementation and ongoing support of an enterprise Product Information Management (PIM) and Syndication solution (LANSA DSD) supporting over 4500 skus and 400 attributes.
  • Established a cross-functional Data Stewardship model to capture and govern consumer facing product content. Within two years of operation, team was recognized as one of the Industry Leaders in product governance & quality of distributed product information that powers omni-channel shopping experiences as a recipient of the 2016 1 WorldSync Power of 1 Award.
  • Managed a team of 3 direct reports and 2 indirect reports responsible for the capture, maintenance and internal/external syndication of product information in support of customer item setup and product placement in-store and online.
  • Led the item data integration workstream for a $6 billion transaction that included the acquisition of more than 10 brands in the Pet Food & Treats category.

Project Lead

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2012 - 07.2014
  • Served as the liaison between IS Developers and Business Partners to gather and communicate business requirements, develop to-be business processes, answer questions related to acceptance criteria and ensure solutions met customer expectations.
  • Assisted with the development, management and continuous improvement of project management processes, tools and templates for the IS Organization.
  • Served as the M&A Integration Lead for the Foodservice Sales/Trade Support team successfully integrating the coffee and hot beverage business from the Sara Lee Corporation.

Analyst/Project Manager, Consumer Programs

American Electric Power
11.2008 - 09.2011
  • Selected for newly created positions aimed at providing a broad working knowledge of industry strategic initiatives and standardizing program development across seven operating companies.
  • Managed a cross-functional, cross-operating company project team to develop a residential customer online energy audit program that was fully integrated with the company’s billing system.
  • Assisted with the implementation of a stage-gate methodology and internal website to manage the development of consumer facing programs.

IT Training Specialist

American Electric Power
09.2005 - 11.2008
  • Led the design, development and delivery of learning solutions for multiple Business Units including Generation, Customer Operations, Environment & Safety, Treasury, Corporate Planning & Budgeting and Ethics & Compliance.
  • Served as the lead trainer for a system-wide implementation of a comprehensive data management system that provided plant and supply chain personnel access to asset information.
  • Developed a Business Case study that summarized AEP’s experience with the Business Objects Knowledge Accelerator. The study was presented at the 2008 Business Objects Insight Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Education

Masters of Education -

West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
05.2003

Bachelor of Arts - Linguistics

The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
12.2001

Skills

  • Project management expertise
  • Team management
  • Effective problem resolution
  • M&A Integration
  • COE Management
  • Continuous Improvement & Process Optimization
  • Innovation Mindset
  • Strategic planning
  • Budget management

Certification

  • Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) (06/2011 - 2024)
  • Professional Scrum Product Owner (02/2019 - Present)

Training

  • Microsoft Office Suite: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Project, Visio, SharePoint
  • MDM/PIM & Syndication: LANSA DSD, Riversand, Salsify, 1WS, Syndigo, SmartLabel, IX-One/Data Council
  • Reporting & Analytics: TIPCO Spotfire, Business Objects Web Intelligence
  • Learning/Online Training: Oracle UPK, Adobe Captivate

Timeline

Senior Director, Commercial Operations

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2023 - Current

Director, Coffee Portfolio & Project Management

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2022 - 09.2023

Director, Commercialization & Item Data/Sr. Manager Portfolio Commercialization

The J.M. Smucker Company
07.2018 - 09.2022

Manager, Consumer Product Data

The J.M. Smucker Company
07.2014 - 10.2018

Project Lead

The J.M. Smucker Company
09.2012 - 07.2014

Analyst/Project Manager, Consumer Programs

American Electric Power
11.2008 - 09.2011

IT Training Specialist

American Electric Power
09.2005 - 11.2008

Masters of Education -

West Virginia University

Bachelor of Arts - Linguistics

The Ohio State University

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