Brand Manager, Marketing & Innovation, Babybel & The Laughing Cow

Bel, makers of iconic cheese brands including Babybel, The Laughing Cow, and Boursin, is a growing global company that values your contributions, strives to create a sense of belonging for everyone and offers career growth and development opportunities, as well as competitive total compensation and meaningful well-being benefits from day one. For All, For Good, our company signature, reflects Bel’s commitment to sustainability and healthier and responsible food for all. Bel Brands USA has been named Chicago's "101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" for 10 years in a row. The company is headquartered in Chicago and operates three manufacturing plants in Little Chute, WI, Leitchfield, KY, and Brookings, SD.

Job Description Summary

Bel Brands USA has Innovation at its core, and the Senior Brand Manager of Marketing Innovation will play a pivotal role in reenergizing and shaping the innovation landscape for the Babybel and The Laughing Cow brands.  Working closely with cross-functional teams and global counterparts, you will identify, evaluate, and drive innovation opportunities that align with brand strategies and customer demands.  Leveraging market and consumer insights, you will contribute to the development of a robust innovation pipeline that fosters sustained, profitable growth for our portfolio.  This role requires collaboration with internal and external partners to champion innovation initiatives and cultivate an innovative culture within the organization.

 

This is a hybrid role based in our Chicago Loop office.

 

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Innovation Pipeline Development: Facilitate creation of a multi-year local US innovation pipeline that aligns with brand strategies.  The pipeline should encompass various forms of innovation, including new technologies, new products, renovations, packaging enhancements, and commercial innovation including activations.  This includes innovation in both retail and foodservice.
• Global Innovation Rollout: Lead the localization of globally-led innovations, playing a pivotal role on global cross-functional teams to ensure that products meet the needs of the critical US market.
• Consumer-Centricity: Demonstrate a deep curiosity for trends and insights that lead to innovative product ideas addressing unmet consumer needs, while assessing their business potential.  Ensure that insights are turned into high-quality briefs to the development teams.
• Strategic Marketing Fundamentals: Develop and validate launch strategies complete marketing mix for new product launches.
• Business Case Development: Build and analyze a 3-5 year volume projections, pricing strategies, and trade plans.
• Cross functional leadership from brief to post-launch.

 

 

Qualifications and Competencies

• Startup mindset: Ability to constantly challenge the status quo internally and externally,
• Consumer and Market Curiosity: Seek out new insights and ideas, implement and share them with your organization.
• Organizational agility, communication, and interpersonal skills: Action oriented, collaborates effectively, ability to navigate a global organization, self-motivated.

 

Position Requirements

• Minimum bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred
• 5+ years of relevant marketing experience

 

 

Worki