Brand Manager Innovation

General Mills; Uxbridge; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food company in Uxbridge is seeking a Marketing Innovator to lead innovation for Old El Paso. The ideal candidate will have at least 4 years in the CPG food industry, practical innovation experience, and strong communication skills. This role involves shaping the strategic plan, executing ideas across the marketing mix, and driving growth opportunities. The company offers a hybrid work policy and comprehensive benefits.

Benefits

Hybrid work policy

Free Headspace account

Bonus scheme

Health & Dental Insurance

Family & Carers Leave

Enhanced pension contributions

Qualifications

• At least 4 years of experience in the CPG food industry.
• Practical innovation expertise and a track record of launching disruptive ideas.
• Ability to balance consumer desirability, technical feasibility, and business viability.

Responsibilities

• Shape the innovation pipeline and design strategic plans for growth.
• Bring breakthrough ideas to life across the full marketing mix.
• Act as the champion of innovation and secure buy-in from stakeholders.

Skills

Communication and influencing skills

Innovation expertise

Agile experimentation

Job description

Overview

Great things are happening in the Europe and Australia (EUAU) region. Each day, our 2,500 plus colleagues bring their passion to our offices, manufacturing sites, R&D center, and commercial/distributor markets across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. We are energized by over 150 years of bringing people together with the food they love. With beloved brands Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Fibre One, Latina Fresh and more, we are on a mission to become the undisputed growth leader in food for EUAU. In a world that’s ever-changing, we look to stay ahead and seek people who share our love of food and are hungry to shape the future.

We have an exciting opportunity for you to shape the future of one of our most beloved brands, Old El Paso, with strategic innovation that drives category growth, delights consumers and advances the agenda in the Mexican Food category.

We are looking for an ambitious marketing innovator to lead this work, someone who can bring passion, grit, agility and disruptive thinking as they work to discover and execute strategic innovation projects. They will develop deep empathy for consumers to understand potential demand spaces, develop strategic ideas to meet those spaces, learn in the real world through experimentation and then ultimately leverage the scale of General Mills to accelerate growth for Old El Paso in our International markets.

You will be part of the Old El Paso brand development team serving the International segment, and partner with the markets to drive innovation strategy, positioning, and growth opportunities for the brands in our key markets across Europe and Australia.

Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll be at the forefront of shaping our innovation pipeline. You’ll design and validate a bold strategic plan that sets the vision, defines the business model, and prioritises opportunities for long-term growth—constantly refining assumptions as you learn. Being part of a high-performing, cross-functional team, you’ll unite diverse expertise behind ambitious objectives and keep everyone motivated to deliver.

From insight to launch, you’ll bring breakthrough ideas to life across the full marketing mix, ensuring product, price, promotion, and placement come together seamlessly. Agile experimentation will be central to your approach, helping you test and adapt quickly before scaling. Beyond execution, you’ll act as the champion of innovation—selling the vision, generating excitement, and securing buy-in from stakeholders, markets, and retailers to bring new growth opportunities to market.

Qualifications

You’ll bring at least 4 years of experience in the CPG food industry, with practical innovation expertise and a track record of creating, testing, and launching disruptive ideas. You understand how to balance consumer desirability, technical feasibility, and business viability, and you have the curiosity and drive to turn insights into opportunities.

Strong communication and influencing skills will help you gain buy-in across the organisation and with external partners. You thrive in fast-moving environments with the resilience to adapt quickly and the willingness to challenge “business as usual.” Above all, you’re passionate about solving consumer problems, eager to experiment, and unafraid to roll up your sleeves to make innovation happen.

Benefits

• Work with Heart - offers us flexibility that also requires partnership to ensure we regularly come together in person for those moments that help drive our business forward. Our hybrid work policy means an average of 2 days per week in the office with the opportunity to finish at 15:00 on Fridays.
• Wellbeing - We want our people to feel well and thrive, for this we offer free Headspace account for you and up to 5 friends or family members, ongoing activities, Employee Assistance Program and more.
• Bonus - Our people are at the heart of what makes General Mills great, so when goals are reached, you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.
• Health & Dental Insurances – All colleagues get the opportunity to join our insurances from day one.
• Family & Carers Leave - Every family is unique. Our approach allows every family to have the opportunity to spend quality time-off to support them from the point of birth or adoption to care, with enhanced covers.
• Enjoy other perks like enhanced pension contributions, subsidised canteen, access to both peer-to-peer recognition and discount platforms, 2 extra days for volunteering work, and more...
• Great Place To Work