Food Service Brand Manager MENA
Job Description
<strong>Brand Manager Retail MENA without KSA & Israel, Food services</strong><p><br></p>Location: <strong>Dubai, UAE</strong><p><br></p>Upfield is a global leader in plant-based nutrition with a great history and a portfolio of iconic brands that people have used and trusted for generations. This includes Flora, Sana, Rama, Becel, Blue Band, Country Crock and ProActiv.<p><br></p>We are a global food company with 26 business units operating in 95 markets. We have the mind-set of a start-up. This makes us fast, agile, entrepreneurial, cost conscious and accountable for our products – from seed to serving at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table.<p><br></p>We take quality seriously and around the world we taste products every 30 seconds. We take our consumers seriously and more than 150 people will taste test each of our new innovations before they hit the shelves.<p><br></p>At Upfield our purpose is clear: we make people healthier and happier with nutritious and delicious, natural, plant-based products that are good for you, our planet; and with packaging that’s free from plastic. We’ve got iconic brands like Rama, Country Crock, Blue Band and Flora that people all over the world know and love. We’ve been a trusted category leader since 1871 and yet we feel like we’re only just getting started.<p><br></p>Performance, Care and Passion define who we are as a company, how we work every day, and the responsibility we feel toward our Associates, our consumers, our business partners and our world.<p><br></p>We have big ambitions to grow this business and we want to attract the right people – those that love what they do, thrive on responsibility and are looking for career defining opportunities. Our mission at Upfield is to continue to be the largest plant based consumer packed goods and to remove all plastic by 2025.<p><br></p>From the outside we might look like a traditional business, but inside our marketing is on a rocket ship to insurgency and that’s why we need <strong><u>YOU!</u></strong><p><br></p><strong><u>Your Main Responsibilities</u></strong><p><br></p>Reporting to the Marketing Manager, the Brand manager will be responsible for developing and driving the Upfield Food Service’s entire marketing activities in MENA region excluding KSA & Israel. The following are the key activities but at the end of the day you are responsible for your brands top line, bottom line, equity and market share growth.<p><br></p>The ideal candidate is entrepreneurial and resourceful, with a proactive & goal orientated mind-set looking to break out from the status-quo. He/she is fully responsible marketing end-end process, which is development as well as Deployment. This includes, but is not limited to, Consumer Insight, Concept-, Product, and Communication Mix Development, Digital, Research (which we try to keep to a minimum).<p><br></p><ul><li>Develop and drive the Upfield Food Service business, including optimize its base and set, execute, and implement strategies.</li><li>Monitor the market, understand the needs of our partners and customers and identify new opportunities for growth</li><li>Develop and drive long-term brand vision delivering category and market share growth.</li><li>Building deep channel understanding from real life customer perspective, channel issues and trends – at chef, manager and diner level. Ensure this understanding is shared and developed throughout the sales organization to support solution selling approach. Be the Channel champion within the organisation.</li><li>Implement launches/rejuvenation driven by global/local needs</li><li>NPD full process management from idea, business case to production & go to market execution catered for the food service business.</li><li>Manage the promotional calendar at various B2B partners and channels</li><li>Develop and implement brand marketing plans taking considering local market and customer insights as well as 12Q plan and full year activity plan.</li><li>Optimising product assortment to fit market demands and introducing relevant innovations to expand the portfolio</li><li>Managing pricing strategy in order to drive profitable growth as well as savings initiatives.</li><li>Responsibility for creative/media/PR communication, campaign briefing and planning for Food services channel. </li><li>Developing Digital Platform (including CRM) for Food services channel. </li><li>Defining optimal product basket for the Channel, annual plans and channel budget.</li><li>Developing all FS selling materials in the channel, ensuring they closely mirror the FS selling approach & target customer so they are practical, relevant and useable, incorporating & tailoring content from category mix teams.</li><li>Ensure accurate monitoring and controlling of Advertising & Promotion budget. Coordinate the trade spend and investments across all communication channels and customers within allocated budget.</li><li>Representing UPRO as channel expert in industry (trade orgs) and working with key customers</li><li>Support the creation and implement the trade marketing plans and strategies at our B2B partners in FMCG & Gastro business</li><li>Support and coordinate the company presence and presentation at dedicated B2B fairs and events</li><li>Support the development of local toolboxes, including sell-in materials for the sales teams</li><li>Support the sales team to execute marketing and sales plan efficiently with customers</li><li>Build relationships with key stakeholders, customers and suppliers</li><li>Evaluate efficiency of strategies, plans and investments and take optimal next steps</li><li>Close co-operation with Sales Team and Customers/Distributors to execute marketing strategy</li><li>Creation and execution of trade activation plans for distributors and C&C</li><li>Preparation of presentations and trainings for Sales Team and Customers/Distributors</li><li>Preparation and distribution of leaflets, catalogues, brochures and POS materials</li><li>Implementing and running distributor loyalty program</li><li>Analyzing business results and making reports for the Leadership Team</li><li>Following up on marketing investments to deliver business targets</li><li>Executing digital strategy incl. own website, e-commerce and portfolio/brand presence on web and in social media</li><li>Cooperation with advertising, PR agencies, printers, graphical studios</li></ul><p><br></p><strong><u>Profile</u></strong><p><br></p><ul><li>The skills, personality and experience to truly listen to our customers, consumers and business stakeholders. This is a specialist Food Service role, but it’s a marketing role first and foremost.</li><li>High Bias for Action! Mount Everest high!</li><li>Entrepreneurial mind-set! You want to have your own company a couple of years from now! But hack, let’s do this first!</li><li>Can work in an agile, test and learn, iterative manner as part of cross functional rapid response teams</li><li>A driver of collaboration, can lead a cross-functional team internally, delegate effectively and influence across levels to make things happen</li><li>A creative problem solver who can find solutions for business challenges and ensure internal barriers do not get in the way of external success</li><li>Regularly challenge your own assumptions and those of your team to improve our work</li><li>Thrive on ‘making things happen’ and seeing ideas through to action</li><li>Proven track-record of managing a total marketing budget. You spend what you need to deliver and not a cent more! You are part of the team that owns the total P&L. Every cent saved, is a cent earned.</li><li>You have a strong preference for working-media over non-working media.</li><li>Strong business acumen and organizational awareness. This means, you know what is going on around you at all times. You see BS coming from a mile away.</li><li>Relevant experience with managing agency relationships (creative, digital, research, media buying) because we will not hire a dedicated team to do that for you. Sorry.</li><li>Oversight of external and internal media partners/relationships.</li><li>Strong communicator, ready to lead projects & present to senior management.</li><li>Dedicated to performing research and staying current with best practices.</li><li>Track record of developing and deploying EFFECTIVE communication assets across all media channels. We want to touch the hearts and minds of our consumers, and we want them to buy our products. That is where you come in. You will be our consumer advocate and marketing rock star!</li><li>You love competitive pressure; you think outside of the box (what box?), you would have been an Olympic Gold Medalist if you were not always working that hard on creating consumer love. Every working hour of every working day. It is what gets you up in the morning! It’s a bit silly really.</li><li>You are part of a TEAM. And these teams are sacred. They are built on trust and mutual respect. And you respect that!</li></ul><p><br></p><strong><u>About you!</u></strong><p><br></p><strong><u>Minimum Requirements</u></strong><p><br></p><ul><li>University degree, preferably in business management/marketing</li><li>Previous Food Service experience is an advantage. We are looking minimum 4-5 years marketing and sales experience in a reputed organization.</li><li>Proven experience of Digital Marketing / Media experience with a real digital Native Mindset</li><li>Food brand experience and capability with a track record of nurturing and growing brands</li><li>Experience of doing things with a progressive, original approach – you are unique after all….</li><li>360 Marketing communications experience</li><li>Fully understand the commercial journey and possess strong financial acumen</li><li>Ability to travel 30% of the time</li></ul><p><br></p>You’ll have to enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and it will take hard work and determination; we will give you the ownership you need to make an impact.<p><br></p>Your Personal Power! :<p><br></p><ul><li>At Upfield we want you to bring your ideas, your motivation and desire to succeed! This part of the role is up to you to complete.</li></ul><p><br></p>Mission Statement<p><br></p><ul><li>At Upfield our purpose is clear… Making people healthier and happier with great-tasting, healthy and natural plant-based products which are good for our planet!</li><li>If you are an entrepreneur at heart and have a passion for winning, a strong understanding of the FMCG business, ad would like to join us, apply and speak to one of our Talent Matchmakers!</li></ul>
