Sr Brand Manager

About Us

Hometown Food Company was formed by Brynwood in 2018 to acquire a portfolio of brands from The J.M. Smucker Company, including the U.S. rights to the Pillsbury shelf stable baking products, Hungry Jack pancake mixes and syrups, Martha White and White Lily. Since then, Hometown has furthered its product offerings through the acquisition of Arrowhead Mills from The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. in 2019, the merger with De Wafelbakker in 2022, and the acquisition of Birch Benders from Sovos Brands, Inc. in 2023. With Chef Boyardee, Hometown will has annual gross revenues exceeding $1.6 billion, with four manufacturing facilities across the Northeastern, Midwestern, South Central, and Southeastern U.S., supported by approximately 1,500 employees.

Position Overview

Hometown Food Company is looking for a strategy-oriented Senior Brand Manager to help lead the growth-driving activities of their Dry Baking business. This person will manage all aspects of marketing related to driving long-term, profitable growth. Day-to-day activities include, but are not limited to, innovation development, portfolio management, sales support, agency relationships, setting pricing and promotion guidelines, and in-market activations. A successful candidate thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and excels at leading cross-functional teams. This role reports directly to the VP of Marketing for Hometown Food Company.

Key Responsibilities

• Business Management: Responsible for driving short and long-term growth for the business portfolio including budget management & recommendation, financial delivery of business P&L.
• Product Portfolio Management: Use syndicated data to analyze item performance in the context of category & competitive trends to understand key market dynamics and recommend strategies to optimize long-term brand growth.
• Innovation and Renovation: Work with the R&D function to lead and manage innovation pipeline and commercialize new SKUs as well as update artwork and packaging on existing portfolio.
• Sales Collaboration & Support: Has strong brand acumen in both brick and mortar and ecommerce – specifically and Walmart.com. Can provide the sales organization with best-in-class materials for retailer presentations working closely with Category Management.
• Strategic Planning: Create comprehensive data-backed annual planning for brands within managed portfolio. Execute plans and track & optimize existing strategies to help achieve brand goals.
• Activation and Engagement: Lead and manage agency partners to execute in-market consumer communication across different forms of media and marketing.
• Category Management : Analyze consumer insights to help shape decisions related to product placement, pricing, and marketing campaigns.
• Cross Functional Partnership and Leadership: You’ll be driving the leadership of cross functional activities (e.g., Supply Chain) to achieve financial deliverables, as well as being the cross functional leader for the Innovation leadership team
• Leadership & Coaching: This role will have 1 direct report. Track record in coaching, developing and managing junior marketers.
  
  

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a related field, MBA preferred.
• Experience: Relevant CPG marketing role (food-specific experience is a plus).
• Syndicated Data: Comfortable pulling and analyzing IRI and/or Nielsen data.
• Digital Marketing: Proven skills in Shopper Marketing, Digital Marketing, and Social Media
• Project Management : Experience commercializing & launching new items to market.
• Agency Management: Able to work with agencies and deliver clear briefs & communication.
• Strong Communication: Ability to present findings clearly to leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Can-Do Attitude: Self-motivated with a proactive approach to problem-solving, should be adaptable and willing to learn new processes and tackle new challenges.
• Technical Skills: Expertise in Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel.
• Strategic Thinking Skills: Ability to deliver against the long-term brand goals. Prioritizes marketing initiatives to effectively achieve both short-term and long-term goals.
• Financial Acumen: Solid foundation in financial analysis & comfortable with P&Ls. Ability to convert analysis into insights, sustainable strategies, and actionable plans. Able to sort through complex data to identify the core issues and develop a plan of action to resolve them. Resourceful at achieving objectives / results despite obstacles.
• Detail-Oriented & Process-Driven: Focused on operational efficiency & driving business growth
• Energized by an entrepreneurial environment: Not afraid to do things themselves to get things done. Must be comfortable with a hands-on environment. Ability to make decisions with limited information and resources. Self-reliant / proactive and has a pioneering spirit. Takes initiative and follows-through on commitments to achieve results.
  
  

Personal Characteristics

• Strong leadership presence, communication skills, and ability to influence
• Great attitude and drive: Ability to roll up sleeves and get things done.
• Ability to thrive in and handle ambiguity & fast paced environment.
• Track record of successful people development.
• Passion for food and marketing.
  
  

Bonus Points

• Demonstrated ability to succeed in startup and/or private equity backed company
• Baked Goods / Sweet Treat category experience is a strong plus
  
  

Must work on-site M-F