Brand Manager

California Pizza Kitchen

203d • $85,000 - $95,000

About The Position

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is looking for a passionate and driven Brand Manager to help lead the evolution and expansion of our iconic brand. In this role, you will be responsible for developing consumer-facing marketing campaigns and brand strategies that deepen guest engagement and brand love. Reporting directly to the Sr. Vice President of Marketing, you will work cross-functionally to execute comprehensive go-to-market plans and communications across the customer journey.

Requirements

• 5-7 years of Retail or Restaurant Marketing experience.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Ability to work independently and meet aggressive deadlines.
• Strong organizational skills, teamwork, and project management skills along with excellent oral and written communication ability.
• Strategic and analytical thinker with the ability to interpret data and insights to make informed decisions about promotions, pricing, and campaign performance.
• Strong project management skills with a proven ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams across departments.
• Excellent time management skills.
• Self-motivated and take ownership of the tasks at hand.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

• Familiar with latest development trends and industry best practices.
• Ability to organize own time, schedule tasks for completion and deliver work to that schedule.
• Work independently or in a team environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute purpose-driven brand and channel strategies grounded in consumer insights and cultural relevance.
• Develop and execute integrated marketing plans across media, content, and innovation to drive long-term brand equity and short-term demand.
• Drive guest engagement, brand affinity, and traffic across all channels (in restaurant, digital, and experiential).
• Collaborate with the broader marketing, culinary, and operations teams to build and launch compelling marketing campaigns that reinforce CPK’s brand promise and deliver measurable business results.
• Steward the California Pizza Kitchen brand across all guest touchpoints, ensuring consistency in visual identity, messaging, and tone across creative, in-store signage, digital platforms, and advertising.
• Develop integrated marketing campaign briefs that deliver breakthrough comms strategies and creative.
• Oversee creative development and campaign execution for national and local marketing initiatives, seasonal promotions, and brand partnerships.
• Develop and implement integrated marketing plans that connect paid, earned, owned, and in-store media to deliver a seamless and engaging guest experience.
• Manage the brand activation calendar, ensuring all campaigns, promotions, and initiatives are strategically timed, integrated across channels, and aligned with broader brand and business objectives.
• Act as the internal voice of the guest, providing input on customer journey touchpoints, menu positioning, and storytelling to deepen emotional connections with the brand.
• Manage external agency and vendor relationships, including creative, media, and PR, to ensure high-quality and on-brand execution.
• Analyze campaign performance and key brand health metrics, providing regular reports, insights, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
• Support restaurant-level marketing needs, working with field and operations teams to localize brand efforts and bring national campaigns to life at the store level.
• Champion innovation and creative problem-solving to continually evolve the brand’s presence in a competitive and ever-changing restaurant landscape.
• Assist with additional marketing projects and initiatives as needed to support the overall goals of the Marketing team and the brand.

Benefits

• Tremendously passionate, one-of-a-kind company culture.
• Opportunities for growth and development.
• Unique electronic learning platform appropriately titled 'The Proof' to engage continuous development.
• All the pizza you can eat!
• An environment where you can express your unique talents and skills.
• Employee driven assistance program called the Kindness Fund which lends a helping hand to our team members encountering life challenges.
• Industry competitive compensation package including bonus potential.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental and vision and more.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees