Brand Manager

Description:

Brand Managers of Innovation are leaders in our Canadian business, defining and executing the long-term innovation agenda for our iconic brands. As a Brand Manager, Innovation, your responsibilities will span from consumer insight generation and concept ideation to product development, packaging design, and business case development. You’ll manage cross-functional teams to bring the brands innovation plan to life for consumers and drive overall category growth for retailers by focusing on bigger and bolder bets.

What's on the menu?

• Manage the creation and validation of a multi-year innovation strategy and Now, Near, Next pipeline that is rooted in meaningful consumer pain points and white space in the category.

• Execute the innovation strategy by collaborating with cross functional team (R&D, consumer insights, quality, legal, engineering, operations, sales and finance) to take ideas from concepts to reality by validating or invalidating critical desirability, feasibility & viability assumptions.

• Manage agency relationships for packaging design of new products, and lead validation with consumers in partnership with the consumer insights team

• Own innovation through the stage gate process, providing access to senior leaderships on risks & opportunities, and aligning them to next steps/tradeoffs

• Leverage syndicated data sources to understand own and competitor innovation performance, bringing forth insights and recommendations that drive business impact

• Bring forth a consumer-first mindset to day-to-day decisions, ensuring the integrity of the brand remains protected while balancing financial and operational considerations.

• Be a champion of an innovation culture across the Canadian Innovation team, bringing outside in, challenging the status quo and driving continuous improvement in how we innovate

Recipe for Success - apply now if this sounds like you!

• Proven experience in Marketing and Innovation for an established or startup CPG company

• Innovative mindset – is inherently innovative & collaborative and prioritizes resourcefulness over resources

• Consumer first, iterative approach – the skills to put the consumer first, understand their pain & pleasure points and iterate quickly based on consumer learning

• Marketing passion - enthusiasm for consumer marketing, culture, new product ideas and trends

• Demonstrated leadership skills - ability to inspire teams by forging strong relationships and commanding the respect/trust of others

• Strong communication & simplification skills – ability to synthesize data/insights in order to tell and sell a strong story

• Excellent Execution- propensity to move with speed/agility, fueled by an ownership approach and strong time management skills

• Navigating Ambiguity – must feel comfortable paving the path to growth

• Experience in design thinking and agile innovation methodologies a plus