Director, Inhalable Brands

Philip Morris International•Stamford, CT

17h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director Inhalable Brands leads the strategy and execution for the U.S. inhalable portfolio (e.g., heat-not-burn and new product launches), driving long-term brand equity building, consumer adoption, and sustainable growth. This role translates business ambition into distinctive brand and portfolio strategies, drives portfolio choices and innovation pipeline, and oversees the execution across channels while ensuring compliance with all legal, regulatory, and responsible marketing requirements. Anchored in consumer obsession, this role ensures deep understanding of category education needs, switching behaviors, and adoption barriers, translating them into differentiated brand strategies and immersive consumer ecosystems. This role operates at the intersection of consumer insight, commercial rigor, creative excellence, and brand ROI – ensuring brands are not only visible and differentiated, but also profitable and scalable. Acts as an orchestrator of a full consumer ecosystem; integrating product, digital engagement, activation, field deployment, and post-purchase experience into one seamless and measurable consumer journey.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; MBA/advanced degree preferred.
12+ years of progressive brand leadership experience in complex, multi-brand, or multi-market environments; experience in categories requiring strict regulatory oversight and categories driven by rapid brand iteration; balancing compliance-driven environments with entrepreneurial, market-led contexts.
Demonstrated experience defining brand positioning, portfolio architecture, and long-range growth strategies at scale.
Experience in digitally driven, engagement heavy consumer ecosystems preferred.
Strong exposure to consumer education models and behavior change frameworks.
Proven track record influencing brand-level commercial performance, with strong exposure to P&L drivers and investment allocation decisions.
Proven track record in launching and scaling complex consumer products with omni-channel deployment.
Track record leading and developing brand management teams responsible for integrated brand programs delivery.
Strong strategic and analytical capabilities, including consumer insights, financial acumen, and GTM planning.
Excellent stakeholder management skills across Commercial and Enabling functions and external partners.
Experience working in matrixed organizations where activation, innovation, commercial, finance and other teams operate as distinct but interdependent units.

Responsibilities

Define & Evolve Brand Strategy: Define and lead inhalable brands and portfolio strategies, including multi-year plans, annual brand plans, and scenario options. Own the development and continuous refinement of the brand positioning, value proposition, architecture, and long-term growth agenda. Translate consumer insight, category dynamics, and competitive intelligence into a clear strategic direction that guides innovation, communication, and portfolio choices. Champion a consumer-first and education led strategy, recognizing the unique complexity of inhalable categories and the importance of structured switching journeys. Design brand strategy as an integrated consumer ecosystem – ensuring product experience, digital engagement, activation programs, and deployment frameworks reinforce one another coherently. Ensure brands remain distinctive, relevant, and resilient as market conditions evolve.
Own Brand Performance and P&L Partnership: in partnership with relevant teams & functions, drive sustainable top- and bottom-line performance. Establish clear growth drivers, assess performance levers, and proactively course-correct based on data and market feedback. Balance investment between equity building and short-term revenue delivery. Establish KPI governance for brand health and commercial outcomes. Embed rapid test and learn cycles, enabling agile course correction through structured performance feedback across engagement, conversion, and retention metrics.
Translate Insights into Actionable Choices: Lead the integration of consumer, shopper, and market insights into practical decisions that shape portfolio and channel focus. Ensure insights inform real trade-offs rather than retrospective explanations. Lead competitive/category analysis, opportunity sizing, and the input for innovation pipeline and investment decisions. Guide the translation of consumer insights into propositions, messaging, and activation toolboxes; ensure consistent deployment of brand guidelines across touchpoints. Ensure insights are activated consistently across high touch, 1:1: and digital engagement ecosystems; driving measurable adoption and retention outcomes.
Influence Innovation agenda: Provide clear strategic briefs and guardrails to innovation team, ensuring pipeline concepts strengthen core equity and expand the category intentionally. Evaluate global innovation proposals against brand ambition, portfolio logic, and USA specific needs. Ensure innovation supports structured consumer education, onboarding journeys and long-term ecosystem participation, not just isolated product launches.
Align Activation with Brand Intent: in partnership with commercial leadership and teams, ensure campaigns, channel plans, and creative platforms reflect brand positioning and long-term equity goals. Offer decisive input at key strategy and creative milestones. Partner closely with Consumer Engagement & Activation team to design immersive, education-driven engagement journeys across physical and digital environments. Ensure alignment with Commercial Transformation & Deployment to translate strategy into scalable, repeatable field execution models with measurable performance loops. Intervene when brand drift or short-termism threatens long-term equity or ecosystem coherence.
Act as Enterprise Brand Integrator: serve as the connective tissue between Commercial, RGM, Innovation, and Activation to ensure unified brand delivery. Resolve tension between short-term volume pressure and long-term adoption strategy. Align innovation timing, activation intensity, digital engagement, and field deployment into a unified consumer ecosystem architecture. Lead structural learning reviews to continuously improve ecosystem effectiveness.
Lead and Orchestrate Brand Team: lead and develop a high-performing team of Brand Managers responsible for end-to-end brand programs delivery. Ensure the team translates brand strategy into clear, integrated program roadmaps that align innovation launches, activation priorities, and commercial objectives into a cohesive brand agenda. Drive rigor in briefing, planning, milestone management, and performance tracking. Foster a mindset of experimentation, speed and rapid iteration, encouraging structured testing, and continuous improvement. Develop talent that can operate confidently in a matrix environment, influencing cross-functional partners while maintaining clear accountability for brand outcomes.