Director, Emerging Spirits RTD

Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Beam Suntory is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

 

 

Director, Emerging Spirits RTD  

 

The following position is open in New York, United States.

What makes this a great opportunity?

We’re seeking a leader who thrives in a complex, fast-paced, high pressure, growth environment. A restless leader who wants to build businesses and brands from the ground up and brings bold thinking. 

A brand builder with demonstrated experience igniting new products and marketing to Gen Z. 

An inspiring and experienced people leader who effectively leads direct reports and x-functional teams through change and ambiguity, spearheading new ways of working, problem-solving and inspiring/ influencing teams, and partnering with global teams.  

A leader with experience managing brand P&Ls, who brings financial acumen and turns data and insights into compelling growth strategies and execution plans. 

Role Responsibilities

The RTD Canned Spirits Marketing Director will be accountable for building and launching a breakthrough ‘new to world’ portfolio of can products in spirits RTDs, a critical part of Beam Suntory’s $1 billion dollar US RTD ambition, 

This leader’s focus in the immediate term will be leading the US launch of -196, a breakthrough RTD, legendary in Japan, that’s powered by Suntory’s proprietary ‘freeze crush’ technology.  

This role is a high-profile position with senior level exposure to the Beam Suntory Executive Leadership team, Suntory Holdings leadership and the US RTD Managing Director. 

It requires a visionary who will shape the RTD segment with leading brands and products.   

This role requires championing, building, and embedding capabilities that are new and/or nascent to the US organization, calling for high connectivity and collaboration across strategy, innovation, data/insights, finance supply chain, supply chain and US sales. 

This person will lead a team of 2 direct reports (near-term) and 10-15 indirect marketing & innovation reports. 

STRATEGIC PLANNING 
-Lead the brand strategy & execution that will exponentially grow  -196 to a 1MM case brand in 3 years and build a pipeline of canned products. 
-Lead development of 3-year strategic growth plans and annual operating plans. 
-Build market/channel/ key account strategies, connection moment planning, product mix and pricing. 

EQUITY BUILDING 
-Build iconic brands with the ability to break through clutter. Lead packaging, visual ID, brand foundation and positioning work. 
-Translate insights into powerful brand narratives and in-culture activation. 
-Deliver marketing strategies & execution plans that puts -196 on the map, unlocking scale. 
-Establish and lead cohort of agencies (packaging, viz ID, creative, digital, PR, media, promotions) to build iconic, instantly recognizable and differentiated brand worlds. -Effectively manage relationships working collaboratively to deliver compelling results 

P&L MANAGEMENT 
-Manage brand P&Ls, balancing in-year growth with long-term value, aligning brand investment plans against priority jobs to be done. 
-Lead team in rapid-response business tracking and analyzing business performance to identify areas of focus for plan optimization month-to-month. 
-Lead sales and operations planning process for the brand, including forecasting, base liquid allocations and inventory management. 
-Lead Brand Investment effectiveness initiatives to maximize brand investment ROI. 
-Partner closely with region and channel marketing leads to drive market/region/channel priorities and investment guidance in support of commercial execution and depletion plans 

MARKETING EXECUTION 
-Lead consumer strategy, mining data, and insights to drive action, growth, and revenue, including for in-culture consumer growth opportunities. 
-Lead communications and content strategy and execution plan that effectively engages a Gen Z consumer cohort. 
-Develop overarching Commercial Marketing strategy; to ensure alignment and connectivity between North America brand strategy and all on & Off Premise programming. 
-Lead planning, funding, and deployment of innovation, linking back innovation strategy to overall brand strategy and growth plans 
-Embed ‘plan do check act’ best practices, leveraging data and insig