Brand Manager - RTD Portfolio Growth

Gallo•Chicago, NY

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Brand Manager, Portfolio Growth will lead innovation initiatives for GALLO’s Ready-to-Drink (RTD) portfolio, from identifying opportunities through commercialization. The role translates brand strategy, consumer and customer insights, and business priorities into new products and experiences that support growth. Innovation workstreams may include new liquids, packaging, graphics, visual identities, and pack formats. Working with Brand, Design, Product Development, Operations, Packaging, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Regulatory, and other teams, the Brand Manager develops actionable plans that balance consumer appeal, customer relevance, financial opportunity, technical feasibility, and operational requirements. The role identifies portfolio opportunities, evaluates category and flavor trends, develops innovation briefs and business cases, and guides projects through key decisions and commercialization. The Brand Manager also partners with Marketing and Sales on customer-relevant strategies and sell-in materials, and communicates recommendations, risks, and next steps to stakeholders and senior leaders. The position is based in Dallas, Texas (four days onsite per week), Modesto, California (three days onsite per week), or remotely from Chicago, Illinois, or New York City, New York. Travel is required.

Requirements

Master’s degree plus 5 years of marketing or innovation experience with increasing responsibility; or bachelor’s degree plus 7 years; or high school diploma or state-issued equivalency certificate plus 10 years.
Brand marketing experience.
Experience in the RTD or beer industry.
Ability to influence management, lead cross-functional teams, and work through others.
Ability to manage competing priorities and operate with a sense of urgency.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Travel 25% of the time to perform core functions of the role.
Travel to company offices, sites, or meeting locations for onboarding, training, meetings, and events up to 5% of the time, potentially in addition to other travel requirements.
Must be 18 years or older.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree plus 8 years of brand marketing or innovation experience with increasing responsibility; or master’s degree plus 6 years.
Experience supporting innovation, new product development, or commercialization from concept through launch.
Experience evaluating category, flavor, consumer, and competitive trends and translating insights into brand or portfolio opportunities.
Experience collaborating with external agencies and providing clear creative, design, and artwork feedback.
Experience managing multiple projects through execution, including timelines, milestones, budgets, risks, and cross-functional dependencies.
Experience working with scrum or agile teams and coordinating work across cross-functional partners.
Experience influencing stakeholders, facilitating decisions, and building alignment across functions without direct authority.
Strong written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.

Responsibilities

Lead innovation initiatives from opportunity identification through commercialization for the Ready-to-Drink portfolio.
Lead multiple innovation workstreams, including new liquids, packaging, graphics, visual identities, and pack formats.
Coordinate cross-functional teams to turn ideas into actionable plans while balancing consumer appeal, customer relevance, financial opportunity, technical feasibility, and operational requirements.
Identify portfolio opportunities and evaluate category and flavor trends.
Develop innovation briefs and business cases.
Guide projects through key decisions and commercialization.
Partner with Marketing and Sales to develop customer-relevant strategies and sell-in materials.
Communicate recommendations, risks, and next steps to stakeholders and senior leaders.