Senior Brand Manager - Light Duty Lubricants Strategy & Innovation

Valvoline Global•Lexington, KY

13h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Brand Manager for Light Duty Lubricants Strategy & Innovations is responsible for Valvoline Global Operations light duty portfolio in the Americas. The role is the conduit between the regional business units and the supply chain to drive organizational growth. This role will input to and drive the global strategy at a regional level. The Senior Brand Innovation Manager will utilize global processes (Innovation Master Plan creation, New Solutions Development, target margins, etc.) that have been created to build cross-functional collaboration. This role will facilitate the success of the region through three pillars and also teach, train, mentor two direct reports to help deliver success. The Senior Brand Innovation Manager will implement the 3 main pillars of Product Strategy: 1. Product Discovery - identifying customer unmet needs, 2. Product Planning - creating the innovation roadmap 3. Product Development - New Solutions Development Process. Additionally, the Senior Brand Innovation Manager will ensure direct reports are clear on execution strategy and implementing a cohesive innovation master plan locally, which connects to the global vision while meeting regional needs to win in the market. This role will conduct regular meetings with regional leaders (Channel Marketing, R&D, Pricing, Equity, etc.) to ensure support for the innovation master plan, portfolio recommendations, and enhancements to drive growth and increases in profitability across the portfolio. Additionally, the Senior Brand Manager will be the subject matter expert on portfolio innovation within Product Strategy & Management.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Management, or related discipline, demonstrating strong foundational knowledge
5 - 10 years of progressive professional experience in a fast-paced or growth-oriented environment
Proven management experience leading teams, developing talent, and driving operational results
Exceptional cross-functional communication skills with the ability to influence, collaborate, and build alignment across diverse teams
Strategic thinking and intellectual curiosity with a demonstrated ability to analyze complex problems, identify opportunities, and propose innovative solutions.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred

Responsibilities

Utilize market, enterprise, and business unit data to build a vision of the global future for the VGO commercial and industrial product portfolio.
Drive consumer research to create research plans that will identify consumer unmet needs and answer critical business questions to unlock innovation pathways.
Constantly ideate against strategic business questions.
Evaluate the competitive landscape and identify portfolio gaps and claims opportunities.
Develop claims that drive product superiority and overall Valvoline competitive advantage.
Create a long-term product portfolio vision.
Develop a 5-year innovation road map (product, package, portfolio) that is aligned to the corporate and business unit strategies.
Maintain the road map based on market and business unit trends.
Help prioritize product-related projects for the organization.
Maximize product profitability for the portfolio by identifying and maintaining regional target margins.
Be the center of excellence for VGO innovation.
Follow the New Solutions Development stage gate process for all new initiatives.
Create gate documents for all products on the innovation master plan.
Lead key initiatives globally to drive international harmonization of the Valvoline product portfolio.
Cross-connect between all Valvoline segments to deliver a single solution branding and product promises for customers & consumers.
Conduct Strategic Portfolio Reviews in accordance with annual timelines to determine long-term strategic fit vs. competition, along with market opportunities for innovation refinement.
Ensure global vision is understood and executed upon by direct reports.
Ensure all regional needs are met and that direct reports maintain a strong connection with local counterparts.
Help break barriers as needed to achieve objectives.
Teach, train, and mentor direct reports to help foster future organizational leaders and growth.
Ensure mastery of the regional and product nuances.