Senior Customer Marketing Planner - Kroger - Cincinnati, OH

General Mills•Cincinnati, OH

9h•Onsite

About The Position

Customer Marketing (CM) plays a direct role in driving incremental volume at our priority retailers through customer‑centric marketing and event programs, in partnership with our Brands, Sales Teams, and Retailers. We are seeking a Sr. Planner to help lead General Mills’ customer marketing paid search strategy at a key North America Retail (NAR) customer - Kroger. In this role, you will be a strategic partner to Sales and Customer Marketing, responsible for translating brand and customer priorities into best‑in‑class paid search programs that drive measurable performance and support our omnichannel plans. You will collaborate closely with customer marketing planners, 84.51/Kroger Precision Marketing, and other retailer media partners, media and analytics teams, and brand/business units to design, optimize, and report on paid search campaigns that ladder up to both customer and brand objectives. Strong candidates will be analytically minded, results‑oriented, and highly collaborative, with a bias for test‑and‑learn and continuous optimization. Key capabilities and experiences this role will build include Business Impact & Acumen, Digital & Commerce Excellence, Strategic Partnership, External Partner Management, Matrix Relationship Management, and Cross‑Functional Partnership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Marketing, Business, Analytics, Communications, or a related field
2+ years of hands‑on experience managing digital performance campaigns, ideally including paid search (can be in‑house, agency, platform, or retail media environment)
Comfort working with campaign data (e.g., impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, ROAS, conversion rate) and using it to make optimization recommendations
Demonstrated collaboration with cross‑functional teams and/or agency or platform partners
Strong project management and attention to detail; ability to manage multiple campaigns and deadlines simultaneously
Strong presentation skills and comfort sharing recommendations with internal and external partners
Clear and concise communication skills (written and verbal), including experience presenting results and recommendations
Ability to work independently in a fast‑paced, evolving environment and take initiative to solve problems
Willingness to travel to attend customer meetings, planning sessions or team on-site events (estimated to be about 10%)

Nice To Haves

3+ years’ experience in digital marketing, performance media, or customer/shopper marketing role
Retail media or commerce marketing experience (e.g., retailer search platforms, retail media networks, marketplace search)
Direct experience with at least one paid search or retail media platform (e.g., Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, retailer search/retail media tools)
Experience building learning agendas and leading structured test‑and‑learn plans
Familiarity with omnichannel shopper marketing and how search fits within broader media and customer marketing plans
Strong analytical skills with experience using tools like Excel and/or data visualization platforms (e.g., Power BI, Tableau) for performance reporting
Proven ability to lead through ambiguity and influence without direct authority

Responsibilities

Lead paid search strategy and execution
Translate customer marketing and brand strategies into paid search plans across key customers and platforms.
Recommend budgets, bid strategies, and keyword approaches that support sales and share growth objectives.
Partner with customer marketing planners to integrate paid search into broader omnichannel shopper marketing plans and NAR portfolio events.
Campaign planning, activation, and optimization
Build and/or oversee campaign set‑up (audiences, keywords, negatives, match types, bidding, ad copy, landing pages) in retailer and retail media platforms.
Monitor performance daily/weekly and drive ongoing optimization to improve ROAS, CTR, conversion rate, and other relevant KPIs.
Develop and manage test‑and‑learn roadmaps (e.g., creative, keyword, audience, bid strategy tests) to improve effectiveness over time.
Measurement, reporting, and insights
Define KPIs and measurement plans in partnership with analytics and media partners.
Build recurring and ad‑hoc performance reports that clearly communicate results, drivers, and recommendations to CM, Sales, and Brand partners.
Conduct post‑event and post‑campaign analyses that translate performance into actionable insights for future planning.
Cross‑functional and external partnership
Foster strong working relationships with Sales, Customer Marketing, Brand/OU teams, media/agency partners, and retailer media/insights teams (e.g., 8451/KPM and other retail media partners).
Represent paid search in key planning and customer meetings, clearly articulating strategy, performance, and next steps.
Share best practices, playbooks, and learnings across the CM team to elevate digital and search capabilities.
Operational excellence and governance
Support budget tracking and stewardship for paid search within shopper/customer marketing investment pools.
Ensure campaigns follow brand guidelines, retailer policies, and internal governance standards.
Assist with data, process, and tool improvements that make paid search planning and reporting more efficient and scalable.