Marketing Director - CPG Food Co - Southern California
Job Title: Director, Marketing
Overview:
Global CPG food client seeking highly motivated and strategic Director, Marketing, to lead the Frozen business unit, reporting to the VP Marketing. The Frozen Portfolio consists of a wide variety of frozen fruit, smoothie blends, and frozen snacks. The candidate will be responsible for overseeing the day to day management of the portfolio and related P&L, developing the innovation pipeline and creating/executing annual operating/marketing plans that lay out a clear vision which will drive sustainable sales and profit growth.
The candidate will be exposed to challenging opportunities within a highly competitive category and rapidly changing market conditions and must be well suited for this type of environment. The ideal candidate is a proven marketer that thrives working with and leading cross functional teams, is ready to hit the ground running, has a great attitude, enjoys working in a fast-paced environment, exerts strong leadership skills and exhibits initiative and a sense of urgency to deliver goals. Challenging the status quo and pursuing new ideas and ways of thought will be essential to this role. Above all, this individual must be passionate for and highly motivated by our organization’s belief that everyone, no matter who or where they are, has the right to healthy food, nutrition, wellness and overall well-being and that we can help solve this problem.
Responsibilities:
Provide strategic direction and guidance for a growing portfolio of products marketed primarily in the grocery, mass, and club channels. Will also be responsible for formulating a channel expansion strategy to extend the brand’s presence beyond its current footprint and customer base to drive growth and reach new customers/consumers.
Lead all new product efforts and pipeline development, including product strategy, generating and testing new product concepts, overseeing the commercialization process, and creating market launch plans to guarantee success in the marketplace.
Identify industry, consumer and competitive trends and make recommendations for action plans and programs based on key learnings, both immediate and longer term.
Establish priorities and strategic direction for all marketing activities including advertising, promotions, packaging, sales and trade marketing.
Ensure brand messaging and positioning is consistent across all touch points and lead our marketing agencies to deliver holistic and break-through marketing plans and creative.
Work with Sales to create and execute sales plans for key customers to significantly grow market share and product distribution while improving customer profitability.
Maintain full P&L responsibility, with the ability to forecast, react to, and deliver financial performance according to quarterly and annual financial objectives and commitments.
Provide direction and coordinate with other functions such as consumer insights, sales, manufacturing, procurement, distribution, legal and finance as necessary.
Lead and develop the marketing team of 2-3 Business Managers, partnering with them to create imaginative marketing plans,product innovations and a thorough understanding of the consumer and trade.
Other duties, as assigned.
Qualifications:
EXPERIENCE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:
Minimum 7-10 years of brand management experience within the consumer packaged goods industry, with a proven track record of increasing responsibility and achieving extraordinary results both individually and by leading teams.
Experience marketing products with health and wellness related benefits (preferred) to a diverse set of channels and consumers, including traditional grocery, mass, club, natural and e-commerce.
Proficient and effective at leading marketing agencies in strategy and creative development for fully-integrated marketing communications, driven by both paid and earned media.
Significant new product development experience, from the ideation phase through commercialization supported by successful consumer adoption and market results.
Proven success at identifying and executing positioning and product renovation efforts to revitalize or turn around mature and/or commoditized products and categories.
Capable of successfully penetrating new customers and channels to drive growth by utilizing insights and unique product features (flavors, packaging, etc.).
The ability to effectively communicate with and motivate the Sales team by developing and delivering clear direction as it relates to product line and channel strategies, and portfolio, pricing, and promotional optimization.
In depth understanding of retailers and broker network, with clear evidence of the ability to call on customers and manage brokers to achieve distribution and merchandising goals.
Strong presentation skills, including the ability to develop and communicate compelling selling stories and strategic plans, both to customers and business partners. Ability to present to and gain consensus from senior management concering direction, milestones and project investments.
Strong familiarity with the entire P&L, with the ability to assess and perform financial analysis related to pricing, volume, margins, and spending.
An expert at leading the annual planning and budgeting process (both near and long term plans).
Demonstrated operations experience (supply chain, production, R&D/product development, sensory, packaging/label development, etc.) for food related categories.
Thorough knowledge of consumer goods regulatory considerations specifically as it relates to product formulation and marketing claims.
Proficient with MS Office Suite and syndicated data (IRI or Nielsen).
CHARACTER TRAITS AND VALUES DESIRED:
Exudes an entrepreneurial and creative spirit
Thinks differently and has the desire to convince others to do so as well
Employs a strategic approach to each and every task
Thinks big, but acts practically
Is hands-on but can delegate effectively
Can multi-task and prioritize without losing focus
Flexible enough to deal with anything but still stay the course
Can effectively communicate (be heard by others) as well as listen
Is a team player at heart, but independent and decisive
Is results oriented and accountable by nature
Is able to lead others but be led when appropriate
Has the courage to step up when others won’t
Is fair, honest, respectful and ethical first and foremost
Is smart, but humble
EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, or Communications (or related field) required
MBA highly desired
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: