Job Description

Senior Brand Manager, Innovation Marketing

Company Description

Simple Mills is a rapidly-growing company on the forefront of the clean food movement, transforming center store grocery aisles with products made from nutritious, purposeful ingredients. Simple Mills is a female-founded business, started by Katlin Smith in 2012 out of her own Kitchen. In the company’s short history, Simple Mills has disrupted the market to become the #1 bestselling natural baking mix, the #1 bestselling natural cracker, and the #1 bestselling natural cookie .

The company’s mission is to advance the holistic health of the planet and its people by positively impacting the way food is made. Simple Mills is distributed in 25,000+ stores nationally including Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Kroger, Costco and more, and available online at retailers like Amazon and Thrive Market. The brand’s newest products include: Organic Seed Flour Crackers, Seed & Nut Flour Sweet Thins, and Soft-Baked Almond Flour Bars. Simple Mills has earned broad recognition from top tier media and industry associations- including a segment on our Founder & CEO Katlin Smith on NPR’s How I Built This . Our products have been featured in a wide array of top publications including Vogue, Women's Health, Forbes, Business Insider, mindbodygreen, NOSH and many more. Simple Mills was also a 2020 Health Magazine Snack Award Winner!

Role Description

The Senior Brand Manager, Innovation Marketing will be responsible for leading innovation including identifying new white space opportunities and closer-in opportunities as well as driving commercialization. This role will lead innovation strategies, consumer research, idea and concept development and more.

The position will report to the Vice President of Innovation and responsibilities will include:

• Develop multi-year innovation pipeline and strategies by:
  • Adept foundational consumer marketing skills including product positioning, idea generation, concept writing and forecasting
  • Maintaining a deep understanding of the category, the competitive landscape, and consumer dynamics
  • Utilizing strong analytics skills to draw insights from data, to identify white space opportunities
  • Synthesizing vast amounts of data and consumer research into actionable insights
  • Effectively presenting and communicating innovation strategy with leadership and key cross functional stakeholders
  • Collaborating with Consumer Insights to develop consumer learning plans and execute research to identify key insights and develop concepts to test for  viability.
  • Partnering with the Brand Marketing team to ensure innovation strategy aligns with category strategy.

• Lead discovery, design, and commercialization of product innovations by:
  • Championing the voice of the consumer in all innovation projects by translating consumer needs and desires into design specifications for cross-functional partners
  • Leading R&D in product development from concept to shelf, including incorporating our people & planet mission throughout food  design.
  • Ensuring all innovations meet all financial hurdles including leading P&L  development.
  • Develop contingency plans and translate business strategy, consumer needs, and product readiness to manage project delivery and avoid  delays.
  • Effectively influencing and facilitating alignment among key cross-functional and leadership stakeholders to advance key projects and  initiatives.
  • Testing product acceptability, including concept & sensory testing.

Position Requirements

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in Brand Management, in both Brand & Innovation roles, is required with a preference for prior experience in food and beverage consumer packaged goods (CPG) or natural food  industry.
• A Bachelor’s degree is required; MBA degree is preferred , however, years of relevant experience will be considered in lieu of Master’s  degree.
• Experience leading strategically complex and large scope projects and launching new  products.
• Demonstrated success leading through ambiguity across multiple, simultaneous innovation projects and/or  categories.
• High level of curiosity about and familiarity with the marketplace, competitors, consumers, and macro food trends.
• A deep understandin g of consumer research methods (qualitative and quantitative) is  required.
• Experience interpreting syndicated data (Nielsen, IRI, SPINS, etc.)
• Ability to lead with confidence, gain consensus and influence amongst cross-functional peers, and facilitate critical thinking and  problem-solving.
• Strong communications skills, both written and oral presentations.
• Comfortable synthesizing large amounts of information into the key takeaways.
• Naturally curious, with an appreciation for ambiguity and the ability to embrace the “test and learn” mentality in pursuit of continuous  improvement.
• A passion for natural food and healthy eating as well as a desire to change the way we think about ingredient  labels.
• An essential function of this role includes tasting and working in the vicinity of various food allergens.
• Ability to travel, roughly 6-8 times per year, for company reunions, innovation team offsites as well as consumer research.

Compensation will be competitive for the ideal candidate. Simple Mills operates with a hybrid-model: a balance of in-person and virtual work. Hybrid employees will work from our Chicago, IL office at least once per week. When working remotely, employees must work from a designated location in the United States (the new hire’s permanent residence, as documented in our HR System, Rippling) with sufficient internet access to support video conferencing. Safety protocols in accordance with CDC recommendations are followed.

At Simple Mills, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect and inclusion. Equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, past or present military service, physical or mental disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of business need, job requirements, and individual qualifications. #LI-DNI

Simple Mills is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Simple Mills will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodations are needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact careers@simplemills.com.

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