Associate Brand Manager, Innovation – Heinz

Kraft Heinz • Chicago, IL

5d

About The Position

An Associate Brand Manager, Innovation will play a crucial role in driving the development of new & delicious products from concept to launch, for our frozen snack brands. This position requires a creative and analytical thinker with a passion for food innovation and the ability to work collaboratively across various departments. You’ll lead a cross-functional team of colleagues from Product & Packaging R&D, Culinary, Consumer Insights, Sales, Finance, and Supply Chain, and manage the end-to-end commercialization process to bring new and exciting innovation products to market. This position is best suited for someone who is has a strong bias for action, ownership mentality, able to deal with ambiguity, strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills. This person must be comfortable working both horizontally and vertically across an organization to keep multiple projects and priorities moving forward to achieve deadlines.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree (or advanced degree) in Business, Marketing, or related field
• 3 to 5 years of experience (prior experience in marketing or product innovation, especially CPG, preferred)
• Strong project management skills with ability to successfully handle multiple projects simultaneously and deliver on timelines (Experience in cross-functional team management preferred)
• Outstanding verbal, written and interpersonal communications skills
• Creative thinker with strong analytical skills
• Operates with a sense of urgency
• Strong leadership and results driven
• Passion for food and flavor innovation
• Growth mindset and consumer obsessed

Responsibilities

• Lead the ideation, development and execution of new products
• Leverage syndicated data sources to understand own and competitor category performance, bringing forth insights and recommendations that drive business impact
• Develop product concepts, prototypes, and formulations in collaboration with R&D and culinary teams
• Manage the product commercialization process and lead cross-functional teams (including R&D, Marketing, Culinary, CIS, Supply chain, Sales & Finance) ensuring timely, on budget and successful project completion
• Manage agency relationships for packaging design of new products, and lead validation with consumers in partnership with the consumer insights team
• Contribute to the Masterbrand innovation strategy and 3-year pipeline by identifying trends, consumer jobs to be done and innovation territories that align with our Masterbrand strategy and point-of-difference
• Partner with the Marketing & Sales teams to develop compelling product launch plans, product positioning, packaging, and promotional strategies and customer & sales presentations

Benefits

• Coverage for employees (and their eligible dependents) through affordable access to healthcare, protection, and saving for the future, we offer plans tailored to meet you and your family’s needs.
• Coverage for benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.
• We offer events, resources, and learning opportunities that inspire a physical, social, emotional, and financial well-being lifestyle for our employees and their families.
• You’ll be able to participate in a variety of benefits and wellbeing programs that may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors, for example: Physical - Medical, Prescription Drug, Dental, Vision, Screenings/Assessments Social - Paid Time Off, Company Holidays, Leave of Absence, Flexible Work Arrangements, Recognition, Training Emotional – Employee Assistance Program , Wellbeing Programs, Family Support Programs Financial – 401k, Life, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Disability

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level