Industry 1: Consumer Goods
Industry 2: Food & Beverages
Industry 3: Food Production
Job ID: EB-4941981325
Category: Sales and Marketing
Location: Oakbrook, IL
Reporting to the Marketing Director, the position of Brand Manager will manage and support all aspects of the marketing mix to drive consumer demand for the Appetizers Portfolio in the North America Quick-Service Restaurant channel. The Brand Manager will act as a partner to Sales, Customer Marketing, Innovation, and other cross-functional groups, with the goal of growing the category with major chain partners. This person will have specific ownership and accountability for projects that range from new product launches to product renovations, packaging design changes, portfolio and material management to business reporting and financial feasibility exercises. The ideal candidate will be both consumer- and operator-centric, possess strong analytical and financial acumen, have a passion for innovation project management, and the ability to create and present inspiring market propositions through story telling. The position will be based out of our Oakbrook Terrace or Toronto office, which currently have a hybrid-working model.
Key Responsibilities:

• Lead multiple complex QSR customer-innovation project teams to deliver agreed metrics with excellence
• Develop and present QSR projects to leadership for Stage-Gate resourcing approvals from initial ideation to launch
• Hold self and others accountable by leading weekly cross functional QSR customer-innovation project status calls
• Lead QSR portfolio renovation and simplification initiatives
• Make data-driven decisions on projects that impact timing, resourcing, and P&L (e.g., Cost of Goods)
• Conduct business analysis and reporting (e.g., pipeline, limited time offer and promotion tracking)
• Be a category, channel, and customer expert, proactively identify and assess portfolio opportunities
• Partner with Insights team to execute channel learning plans
• Provide critical support to QSR category/channel annual- and long-term planning processes
• Issue and reconcile purchase orders and invoices for expenditure, manage budget to agreed spend
• Serve as SME on day-to-day business management processes and systems (e.g., Coupa, P360)
• Act as main point of contact for Sales Managers on day-to-day operations and questions
• Partner on customer presentations and account specific programs to drive results
• Contribute to and build team & functional culture
• Support or lead other projects/duties as assigned or needed

What will make you successful in this role:

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or related field (MBA strongly preferred)
• Minimum 3 to 5 years of Marketing, Brand or Category Management experience, preferably QSR experience either with a leading Consumer Packaged Food company or in a B2B industry
• Experienced in commercialization and product launch execution, ideally in B2B environments
• Desire to lead multiple complex projects in a fast-paced, ambiguous, and dynamic environment
• Strong project management skills, ability to multitask against several complex projects at a time
• Self-starter, intrinsically motivated and curious, capable of independent decision making
• Can easily maneuver between high level strategic, bigger-picture thinking and project details to execute with excellence
• Strong financial and strategic acumen, understands how to create business value
• Demonstrated analytical abilities, can turn data into insights and action recommendations
• Has the courage to step up and address difficult situations directly, find creative win-win solutions
• Influences through effective storytelling, can clearly summarize complex issues to communicate recommendations in a simple, compelling manner (verbally and written)

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