Associate Brand Manager - Back To Nature

Job Title: Associate Brand Manager - Back to Nature

Barilla is an Italian family-owned food company. Established in 1877, it’s now an international Group present in more than 100 countries.

A world leader in the markets of pasta and ready–to–use sauces and Pesti in continental Europe, bakery products in Italy, and crispbread in Scandinavia, the Barilla Group is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Italian know–how.

In the United States we are known as a company that primarily sells delicious pasta. We are thrilled to be expanding our portfolio, leveraging on our 145 years of Italian know-how in bakery expertise in leading categories such as Cookies and Crackers. With the acquisition of Back to Nature, Barilla is extending our ambitions in the U.S. to expand and build a portfolio of brands in these categories with a clear focus on quality and sustainability of our planet. We will operate this new bakery business independently out of Minneapolis and are building a small “insurgent brand” culture with financial backing and resources of Barilla.

“The Joy of Food for a Better Life” is Barilla’s purpose to bring people closer to the joy of good food and making quality the choice for a better life. It's a commitment from field to fork, to bring to the world tasty, joyful and wholesome products, made with selected raw materials from responsible supply chains. Because what we eat today can change our tomorrow. Because good food is a joy for the present and a choice for a better future.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Sr. Brand Manager – Back to Nature, the Associate Brand Manager - Back to Nature is responsible for assisting in the developing and executing of marketing plans for the brand portfolio to meet annual sales, market share and profit goals. The position offers a range of projects requiring creativity, solid analytical experience, project management and strong interpersonal/communications skills. As a key contributor to the Back to Nature marketing team, the Associate Brand Manager is responsible for the planning, execution and analysis of various brand, marketing, and business initiatives.

This position is accountable for brand strategy, short- and long-term brand plans, demand planning, marketing budget, innovation, pricing, and margin expansion plans.

How the Role Will Measure Success

1. Assist the Sr. Brand Manager in the development of the annual marketing plan including objectives, strategies, plans and P&L.
2. Collaborate with Sales on Pricing, Customer Marketing/Partnerships, and promotional strategy.
3. Assist in the development of the annual innovation and renovation pipeline. Execute launch plans, including integrated marketing programs, pricing, media, and customer support. Collaborate with Sales to maximize performance.
4. Customer and Channel Expansion: Work with Sales to achieve volume targets and successfully penetrate new customer and channels. Support PPA efforts as needed to develop right offering for distribution expansion
5. Work with Consumer Insights to ensure brand team has a deep empathy for our consumers, understands drivers and motivations, trends, and barriers to entry.
6. Analyze data for actionable insights to keep team informed of business performance, anticipate problems/opportunities and understand competitive activity.
7. Keep abreast of industry changes and developments (tools, tactics, trends etc.).
8. Support key business processes: Innovation/PPA, Innovation Pipeline Development, Demand Planning, Margin Expansion, Annual Planning

What You Will Bring to the Table

• Problem-solver with ability to deal with ambiguity
• High degree of personal integrity and work ethic
• Strong presentation and communication skills to influence both internal customers (senior management & cross functional teams) and external marketplace distributors, customers and consumers
• Knowledge of consumer demographics, consumer purchase decision tree, consumer purchasing habits, segmentation, current trends and need gaps
• Proven success working with cross-functional teams
• Minimum of 3 years of Brand Management experience in a CPG environment; food industry preferred
• Solid familiarity with marketing skills, market research methodology and analytical tools for sales and marketing
• Financial acumen including analytical ability
• Effective project management skills
• Proficient in MS Office including Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook
• Fundamental understanding of other functions that impact the business P&L
• BS in Business or Marketing; MBA preferred
• Self-starter comfortable with independent and collaborative work

Barilla is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of Barilla to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status or any other classification protected by federal, state and local laws and ordinances, nationally and internationally. Other classifications include, but are not limited to, family status, health status, multicultural differences, political ideas and sexual orientation and identity.