Organic Valley is on a mission to champion small family farms in America and all the benefits small farms bring. From more tasty and nutritious food to healthy happier animals and more sustainable farms, at Organic Valley, our philosophy and decisions are based on the health and welfare of people, animals, and the earth. We’re a mission-driven cooperative, owned by family farmers, and we’ve been leaders in organic agriculture from the very beginning. Once pioneers of organic agriculture, we’re now an established leader. If you share a common vision for the world, we need your help in bringing it to market in the Cheese category. 

Summary of Role
The Associate Marketing Manager plays a key role developing and executing the strategy for the Cheese category. You will be expected to develop an in-depth understanding of the category and develop fact-based strategic recommendations that will drive business growth. In the position you will immerse yourself in the target consumer and customer landscape while leveraging and building upon your analytical skills, project management expertise, leadership, and strategic & creative thinking.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
•Champions a compelling vision for the category. Implementing category strategies to deliver annual plans that meet revenue and profit goals. 
•Demonstrates a deep understanding of drivers of performance for the brand. Leads business analysis; monitoring and reporting business performance against KPI’s. Identifies opportunities and issues to drive brand growth and profitability. 
•Leads cross-functional category team and collaborates closely with internal cross-functional teams including Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance, Product Development, and Consumer Insights.
•Leads the commercialization of new initiatives within the Commercialization and Stage Gate processes. Communicates project status, issues, and opportunities to the broader organization.
•Collaborates with Customer Planning, Sales, and Marketing to create strong selling and consumer promotional materials.
Key Competencies
•Analytical thinking – able to ascertain a point-of-view by integrating data with critical thinking and judgment.
•Consumer insights – considers needs of consumers and customers when making recommendations. Goes beyond obvious facts to seek out key insights that make a difference in strategy and execution.
•Strategic thinking – capable of seeing where the category, consumers, and trends are heading to create short and long-term success.
•Initiative & follow-through – anticipates business needs and consistently executes in a timely manner.
•Builds relationships – able to partner with both internal departments and external agencies to produce best-in-class work. 
•Verbal and written communication – communicates well with peers, cross-functional teams, management, and outside vendors.
Additional Duties and Responsibilities
•Other duties as assigned by supervisor 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 
•Minimum 3-5 years in a consumer-packaged goods and/or natural foods company 
•Bachelor’s degree required. MBA preferred 
•Food experience preferred
•Syndicated data experience including SPINS, IRI, and Nielsen
•Must be able to build trust and effectively lead cross-functional teams 
•Entrepreneurial mind-set: creative, resourceful, risk taker, business savvy, adaptable, and curious
•Project management experience and ability to manage multiple tasks and projects in a fast-paced environment