Brand Manager, Bitesize & Adjacent

mars; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars UAE is seeking a Brand Manager to lead local brand strategy and marketing activities across the chocolate portfolio. You will design and execute a local calendar, ensuring alignment with global guidelines while driving NSV and penetration targets.

You will own the brand, analyze performance, manage budgets, and lead cross-functional teams to deliver an integrated business plan and on-ground execution. Experience in MEA markets is advantageous.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; Master's is a plus.
• 5-7 years in brand management and/or innovation, preferably in a multinational CPG company.
• Track record of owning and growing large-scale brands; strong strategic, commercial and analytical acumen.
• Hands-on with full-funnel marketing plans - media, in-store, digital; matrix organization experience.
• Middle East & Africa experience a plus, with focus on GCC/Egypt.

Responsibilities

• Own & manage the brand and ensure alignment with global framework.
• Analyze category and brand performance to identify whitespace opportunities for growth.
• Set short- and long-term brand strategy to deliver growth and penetration.
• Manage budget and resources to deliver the marketing/activity calendar.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to build an integrated market plan.

Skills

Brand management

Innovation

Strategic planning

Analytics

Budget management

Cross-functional collaboration

Market research

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree a plus

Job description

Job Description:

Job Purpose

A brand custodian with responsibility and accountability for designing and executing the local brand strategy and marketing activities that deliver specific brand objectives, including NSV and penetration targets, in alignment with the global framework.

The brand manager must have the experience, expertise and skill set to develop an optimum calendar in local market, while ensuring excellence in execution on ground.

The role also leads innovation across the chocolate portfolio. The brand manager is the go-to person for identifying and valuing new opportunity spaces, building the business case, validating it with consumers and working with factories and co-manufacturers to take the right ideas from concept to launch.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Own & manage the brand
• Analyze the category and brand performance and identify whitespace opportunities to accelerate growth.
• Set the brand's short and long term strategy to deliver quality growth and growing penetration.
• Manage budget and resources effectively to deliver marketing/activity calendar
• Connect with cross functional teams to support creation of an integrated business plan that ensures delivery of key initiatives in market
• Create and develop the local market brand marketing plan and activity calendar, and manage budget and resources to deliver it.
• Deliver market relevant brand content
• Leverage the right global content when relevant & work with the content team & media team to find the most effective ways to support the brand
• Ensure content & executions are consistent with global brand guidelines and are locally relevant
• Manage & deliver projects & activities
• Co-lead with the activity management team a cross functional ATG team to collect all inputs required to deliver a 3-year activity plan including media plans, NPIs, BPIs, consumer promotions and other national activities.
• Lead innovation across the portfolio
• Identify and map opportunity spaces across chocolate brands and markets, using category, consumer and competitor data.
• Size and value each opportunity (size of prize, MAC, GM%, incrementality) and recommend which to pursue.
• Validate the right innovations with consumers through various market research methods
• Build the business case and present it at stage gates to secure resources and leadership alignment.
• Lead early conversations with factories and co-manufacturers on feasibility, capex, MOQ, and timelines.
• Develop and manage a 3Y innovation pipeline that balances locally developed innovation with global innovations relevant to the market, and hand validated projects over to brand teams for launch.

Education & Professional Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; Master's is a plus.

Knowledge / Experience

• 5-7 years in brand management and/or innovation , preferably in a multinational CPG company.
• Track record of owning and growing large-scale brands; strong strategic, commercial and analytical acumen.
• Has taken innovation from whitespace to shelf, ideally across more than one brand or category.
• Hands-on with full-funnel marketing plans - media, in-store, digital; works well in complex matrix organizations.
• Middle East & Africa experience a plus, with focus on GCC/Egypt.