Marketing Innovation Manager

Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc.•Santa Fe Springs, CA

About The Position

The Marketing Innovation Manager leads early-stage innovation by identifying emerging trends, uncovering consumer insights, and translating them into strategic product opportunities. This role blends creative intuition with analytical discipline, turning cultural and market signals into actionable strategies that drive meaningful business growth. A strong understanding of Asian food culture is highly valued to ensure relevance and authenticity in the U.S. market.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business or related field; MBA preferred.
5 years in innovation, brand marketing, product marketing or related roles within CPG or food.
Experience leveraging insight tools and frameworks to validate opportunities.
Strong ability to interpret trends, data, and competitive landscapes into strategic direction.
Excellent collaboration and communication skills with proven cross-functional leadership.
Strategic thinker with both analytical rigor and creative intuition.
Strategic Thinking: Connects insights to business and product vision.
Business Acumen: Understands profitability, competition, and long-term value creation.
Trend Fluency: Detects and interprets cultural and category signals.
Insight-to-Execution: Moves from insight to actionable product strategies.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Works effectively with sales, procurement, product teams.
Cultural Intelligence: Leverages Asian food understanding to guide authentic innovation.
Must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis for any employer.
Pre-employment Drug testing is required.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.
Strong interest or experience in Asian food and U.S. consumer culture.
Experience in the food industry, especially with a focus on Asian food innovation, is highly desirable.
Certifications in relevant innovation platforms (e.g., Design Thinking, Advanced Analytics, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consultant) is a plus.

Responsibilities

Trend Discovery & Insight Development
Identify and analyze emerging food, lifestyle, and cultural trends using diverse data sources and industry tools.
Connect trend observations to consumer needs, category dynamics, and whitespace opportunities.
Translate insights into clear consumer inputs that guide product and portfolio strategy.
Share insight learning with cross-functional teams to align on priorities and focus.
Innovation Strategy & Concept Development
Lead concept development using insights, data, and competitive benchmarking.
Build consumer-focused concept briefs and align direction with internal partners (Procurement, Product Management, Sales).
Review sourcing options and evaluate OEM opportunities with Procurement and Product Management teams.
Ensure that innovation projects are insight-backed and aligned with business strategy.
Go-to-Market Collaboration
Partner with cross-functional teams to shape launch strategies, messaging, and early-stage consumer touchpoint planning.
Work with Brand Communications to ensure innovation stories are compelling and culturally grounded.
Monitor post-launch performance, analyze results, and integrate learnings into future planning.