What are the responsibilities and job description for the Associate Category Manager - Dunkin position at Dunkin'?
Work with cross-functional team to bring product offerings from ideation to testing, and then through launch and post-launch analysis. Support innovation pipeline development, menu renovations, and calendar planning for Dunkin'.
Duties and Responsibilities
Manage Food (Savory, Donuts & Bakery) innovation pipeline through the following activities:
Identify and stay on top of product trends through trend tours, secondary research, conferences/trade shows, and partnership with competitive intelligence team
Partner with culinary team to ideate product innovation. Draft concept development briefs to start the product development process. Manage agendas and recaps for weekly meetings.
Partner with consumer insights team to evaluate opportunity size and determine positioning. Write idea and concept screeners to gauge consumer interest.
Evaluate new product cost model to ensure key margin requirements are met
Pull together business case including insights, competitive landscape, and target audience to align XF leaders on product kickoff
Plan out the calendar and get products ready for launch through the following activities:
Work with XF team of R&D, operations, supply chain, demand planning, QA, commercialization and legal to ensure products are ready for launch
Manage updates in the product tracker capturing all product details
Partner with operations team on in-store testing and evaluating product performance against set criteria
Partner with brand marketing team to help identify which products to launch based on learnings through screeners or testing
Assist in menu presentations to key franchisee and marketing stakeholders leveraging key business case details from pipeline project work to drive menu decisions Lead through and submit product readiness materials including readiness templates, POS forms, profitability forms, marketing input forms, app forms, and product one-pagers. Review all output from cross-functional teams.
Write product briefs to kick off XF partners for agency briefings to initiate the marketing communications process for new products
Identify and resolve project-related risks and issues throughout process
Lead through post-launch activities including partnering with business analytics to measure and analyze the impact of programs (including long-term category growth opportunities), and assisting in field and franchisee communication and collaboration
Requirements
4 Year Degree in Business and/or Marketing Preferred
2-4 years total work experience. Food and beverage or CPG industry experience preferred but not required, especially in marketing, product development, or consumer insights roles.
Creative and strategic thinking
Strong communications and interpersonal skills
Ability to work individually and with large cross-functional teams
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, multi-task, prioritize, and be detail oriented
Project management
Financial acumen
Problem-solving agility
Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills
Salary: 79,953.75 - 133,256.25 per year
The salary range above represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual placement within this range will vary based on various factors including but not limited to experience, education, training, and location.
Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.
We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.