Brand Manager

Urban Farmer LLC•Manteno, IL

12d

About The Position

The Brand Manager plays a key role in supporting customer-focused marketing initiatives, driving category insights, and leading new product development (NPD) efforts for Urban Farmer’s Caulipower branded products This role helps identify market opportunities, shapes product concepts, and collaborates cross‑functionally to ensure successful commercialization. The Brand Manager bridges customers, R&D, Sales, and Operations, ensuring new products are developed, positioned, and launched successfully. The ideal candidate brings strong analytical capabilities, creativity, and a passion for innovation within private label food manufacturing.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Food Science, or related field.
5+ years of experience in brand management, innovation, or category management; food manufacturing/private label experience preferred.
Experience supporting or leading new product development processes in CPG or food manufacturing.
Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret data and translate insights into actionable innovation strategy.
Experience with syndicated data tools (IRI, Nielsen, SPINS) preferred.
Strong communication, storytelling, and presentation skills, with customer-facing experience.
Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage complex timelines.
Creative thinker with a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

Support strategic brand and category planning for Caulipowerand product lines.
Analyze trends, consumer insights, and competitive data to identify whitespace opportunities for innovation.
Translate insights into recommendations for new product concepts, brand positioning, pricing, and assortment.
Contribute to long-term category strategies aligned with company goals and Urban Farmer capabilities.
Prepare category summaries, market updates, and insights for customer and internal meetings.
Partner closely with R&D, QA, Operations, and Sales to guide new product development from concept through commercialization.
Identify category gaps and consumer-driven opportunities for product innovation across frozen pizza, crusts, and related offerings.
Shape early-stage concepts, including product attributes, claims, packaging direction, and strategic fit.
Collaborate on NPD timelines, sample requests, packaging briefs, and key deliverables.
Support consumer validation of concepts, including tasting sessions, cuttings, and feedback loops.
Ensure readiness for launch by coordinating product specifications, artwork, and commercialization steps.
Track post-launch performance and develop insights for continuous pipeline improvement.
Review syndicated data (IRI, Nielsen, SPINS) to track category dynamics and evaluate opportunities for future innovation.
Monitor pricing, promotions, distribution, and competitive activity to guide NPD decisions.
Support business cases, ROI analysis, and margin reviews for new items.
Maintain dashboards and tools that help track performance of both existing products and innovation launches.
Work collaboratively with Sales, Supply Chain, R&D, Operations, QA, Packaging, and Design throughout innovation and commercialization stages.
Support strategic projects, corporate presentations, and innovation reviews for leadership.