The Kraft Heinz Company

The adventure of a sixteen-year career with Kraft Heinz has been filled with so much opportunity to grow personally and professionally. As a military spouse, Kraft Heinz has supported our family through each PCS by creating jobs for me that have allowed me to continue to advance my career. This even included a rotation in Hawaii! I currently serve as the Head of Sales Planning and Execution for the East Area. I actively work on building go to market strategies with various function, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations and most importantly our customers to grow our brands. Once we have a defined strategy to drive sales with our customers, my team establishes a plan to execute in store.

My husband has been an incredible mentor in my career. The leadership training and lessons learned actively serving, he continues to coach me on ways I can better serve my team by providing a clear vision and mission, define steps/process to get there, have a contingency plan, and invest in training people to take your job. It may be difficult to find a direct correlation with what you do in the military to a specific civilian job, but always remember at the core of any career is people. You all have been trained with a team mentality, to act with integrity, deep sense of accountability, and the ability to take complex situations and simplify them for others. These are traits that are directly transferable to any job and will enable you to be successful. Anyone can learn a system or product, but not everyone has the work ethic, discipline, agility, and adaptability that you to do. Leverage this with a recruiter and during interviews.

I have worked in Marketing for Kraft Heinz (and formerly Kraft Foods) since leaving Active Duty. I have had the pleasure of progressing the legacy of iconic brands including Kool-Aid, Capri Sun, Planters and Oscar Mayer as well as launching new brands such as Ore-Ida Just Crack an Egg. As a Base Marketing Director, I am responsible for ensuring that Oscar Mayer Cold Cuts delivers on revenue and profit growth commitments on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. This involves leading several direct reports and coordinating actions among cross-functional teams from other functions including Sales, Finance, Research & Development, Quality, Operations, and many others to deliver results. It is a great opportunity to leverage team leadership and strategic/operational/tactical planning skills gained during my military service. For me, the best part of the job is seeing my team's efforts manifested in a new product, marketing plan, or other output that consumers enjoy and delivers business results.

When transitioning from the military, it may seem difficult to translate your experience into something that a recruiter will find directly relevant. It is important that you recognize that military veterans can provide much more value than a one to one match in relevant work experience. This value comes not only from your accomplishments in the military, but also from the seemingly routine or mundane elements of military life. When preparing for an interview, research the prospective company and industry first and then find similar themes within your military experience. This will enable you to better connect the dots for the interviewer and illustrate your strengths. More importantly, after you have secured a new civilian career the strengths from your military background will propel you forward and make you an immediate asset to your new company.

I've been with Kraft Heinz since the summer of 2017 and lead the HQ sales organization across our portfolio of iconic refrigerated brands: Oscar Mayer meats, Kraft Cheese, and Philadelphia Cream Cheese, to name a few. Since leaving the military, I've spent most of my career in the CPG industry across numerous sales and sales leadership roles. Along with the cross-functional refrigerated leadership team and our outstanding KHC field sales organization, I'm responsible for delivering on revenue and profit expectations across our retail business. In this role, I enjoy leading a large sales team, building and executing our national planning strategy, and partnering with the field organization to win alongside our customers. The six years that I spent on active duty in the Army, from 1998-2004, serve as an excellent foundation for the diverse set of skills (strategic thinking, executional focus, people leadership) that I use in my role today.

Transitioning from the military can create a lot of anxiety, but I assure you that the skills and experience you bring to the civilian work force are applicable and highly valued! The most important elements of the transition are effectively translating your training and background to the needs of the new organization and displaying confidence throughout the process. You've been trained to make decisions in the toughest of circumstances, to work as a team member as well as a leader, and to constantly adapt to new situations. These will serve you well in any organization, and you should highlight them as your most valuable skills.