Senior Brand Manager - Pizza Senior Brand Manager - Pizza

Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA•Solon, OH

About The Position

Foods you love. Brands you trust. And a career that empowers you to grow. At Nestlé USA, we’re all working towards the same goal – to delight and deliver for our consumers. With a rich portfolio of beloved brands, including DiGiorno, Toll House, and Coffee mate, in 97% of U.S. households, we have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to be there for every moment in our consumers’ lives. Joining Nestlé means becoming part of an inclusive workplace that inspires innovation, encourages strategic thinking and creativity, and celebrates your achievements. No matter where you work within the organization, you are empowered to challenge the status quo, embrace risk-taking, and pioneer new ideas. Our supportive and collaborative environment encourages bold ambitions and continuous learning so that everyone can grow and thrive. This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship. Nestlé Professional Solutions is accelerating growth in the out of home pizza category — and we are seeking an entrepreneurial, strategic, and highly collaborative Senior Brand Manager to build and scale this emerging business from the ground up. This leader will define the brand vision, shape the long-term portfolio strategy, and deliver a pipeline of operator centric innovation that unlocks new customer occasions and market opportunities. The role requires a blend of strategic brand building, commercial acumen, consumer and operator insight mastery, and the ability to influence and lead cross functional teams in a fastmoving, highly matrixed environment. The Senior Brand Manager will lead a high performing team of strategic brand professionals (an associate and an innovation manager) and cross functional teams to execute best-in-class campaigns, insights, promotions, and channel strategies that support Nestle Professional Solutions as a market leader. You will partner closely with Sales, Technical Applications Group, R&D, Manufacturing, Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership to deliver compelling value propositions that fuel customer growth, strengthen market competitiveness, and achieve business objectives. This role will drive the development and planning of consumer, customer & market-led brand strategies and marketing plans for our Pizza portfolio. Responsibilities include portfolio management and analysis, B2B & B2C (grab & go) marketing plan development including brand & promotional planning, innovation pipeline development, commercialization and portfolio optimization.

Requirements

Foodservice Dough, Pizza, or Bakery experience is preferred.
Bachelor’s degree required; MBA strongly preferred.
5+ years of progressive experience in Brand Management, Innovation, or B2B/B2C Food & Beverage marketing. Foodservice specific experience in brand marketing and/or innovation is preferred.
Demonstrated brand ownership and experience managing full brand P&L.
Proven success leading cross-functional teams through complex commercial initiatives.
Mandatory experience with culinary categories or operator driven foodservice environments preferred.
Strong strategic thinking, financial acumen, influence leadership, storytelling, and decision-making skills.
Proven track record developing and launching a brand
Ability to thrive in ambiguity, build something new, and drive toward impact with speed and rigor.
Demonstrated experience driving and inspiring insight-led plans to deliver strong, impactful creative product meeting consumer and business objectives.
Strong analytic abilities centered on consumer and customer intelligence and data. Ability to synthesize insights and demonstrate strong presentation and storytelling in a clear and concise narrative.
Ability to lead cross-functional teams, driving organizational and planning clarity and applying strong problem-solving principles. Drive decision-making favoring compromise and alignment over consensus
Strong communication skills with keen ability to balance multiple priorities and deliver timely results.
Ability to set expectations and hold individuals and team members accountable.
Seeks and provides honest, transparent feedback
Excellent facilitation, written and verbal communication skills with adaptable approach
Ability to develop and lead robust business case development, effectively articulating insight led rationale, measurable KPIs laddering to broader business goals.
Improve and enhance capabilities in data-led assessment, leading the development of strategic plans grounded in customer/consumer insights.
Represent the organization to establish the plan roadmap, critical strategies to win and best practices to optimize ways of working.
Establish and lead implementation of marketing learnings and insights that aid continuous improvement, driving prioritization and/or course corrections to existing strategies as needed.
Lead development and performance culture building functional capability, foster collaboration, teamwork and performance excellence.
Serve as primary lead maintaining critical external partnership and vendor relationships and creative agency relationships with Nestle business strategies.

Responsibilities

Build and own the end-to-end brand strategy for Nestlé Professional’s Pizza platform, including brand positioning, value proposition, strategic narrative, and differentiation in the marketplace.
Build a 3–5 year growth strategy grounded in operator needs, category trends, and competitive insights, with clear priorities for channels, formats, and capabilities.
Champion the brands within the commercial organization, inspiring stakeholders with a vision for category leadership and high quality execution.
Shape the future-state portfolio: product roadmaps, architecture, pricing corridors, and channel-specific assortment.
Lead cross-functional teams (Culinary, Finance, Sales, CDSE, Supply Chain) to assess performance, identify opportunities, and optimize the portfolio for growth and profitability.
Evaluate and prioritize investments to ensure long term brand health and commercial impact.
Own the innovation roadmap from idea generation through product launch, grounded in operator insights, culinary trends, and evolving market needs.
Drive concept development, business cases, product design, testing, and commercialization, ensuring projects meet financial and customer expectations.
Partner closely with Culinary, R&D, and Operations to enable breakthrough innovation
Oversee I2L projects and deliverables
Define the GTM strategy including claims, messaging, pricing, packaging, and launch excellence.
o Sales and CD teams to develop operator ready selling stories, activation programs, campaign development, channel strategy, sales tool kits and distributor engagement tools.
Lead cross-functional alignment to ensure visibility, accountability, and on-time delivery of launch milestones.
Oversee weekly I2L status with cross-functional team
Serve as the category expert by tracking competitive dynamics, emerging technologies, and consumer/culinary trends.
Translate operator pain points and channel-specific behaviors into actionable brand and innovation opportunities.
Leverage analytics, research, and feedback loops to continuously refine strategy and enhance relevance.
Influence across a highly matrixed environment; build strong partnerships with Sales, Culinary, R&D, Finance, Supply Chain, and Digital Marketing.
Mentor junior marketers and play a central role in developing marketing talent and capability.
Cultivate a mindset of agility, test and learn experimentation, and proactive problem solving.