Senior Brand Manager

Spirit Cartel Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company pension

Employee Assistance Programme

Staff discount on wine

Birthday wine bottle

Job summary

Spirit Cartel Limited in London is seeking an experienced Senior Brand Manager to lead the growth of our premium spirits portfolio. The role blends strategic brand planning with hands-on campaign execution across consumer, customer and trade channels.

You will drive annual brand plans, manage budgets, and collaborate with sales and agencies to deliver impactful activations and events, including tastings. Hybrid role with 3 days in head office and a flexible schedule.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in brand marketing, preferably within spirits, drinks or FMCG.
• Strong understanding of brand management principles and integrated marketing.
• Good knowledge of the UK drinks market, including on- and off-trade channels.
• Demonstrable ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery across a broad range of marketing activities.
• Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple brands and priorities.
• Experience briefing, managing and evaluating external agencies and creative suppliers.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of annual brand plans, ensuring alignment with business objectives and commercial priorities.
• Drive the execution of integrated consumer, customer and trade marketing strategies across the brand portfolio, ensuring consistent delivery against objectives.
• Drive brand presence within the UK market through engagement with on- and off-trade customers.
• Lead development of marketing collateral, brand assets and promotional materials, ensuring brand consistency.
• Develop and maintain relationships with external agencies, designers, production partners and event suppliers.
• Plan and deliver brand activations, trade events, tastings and customer engagement initiatives.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on brand performance, campaign effectiveness, market trends and competitor activity.
• Manage marketing budgets, forecasts and project timelines.
• Serve as marketing contact for brand owners and collaborate with supplier objectives.
• Collaborate with Sales to develop trade marketing programmes, customer presentations and sales support materials.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams for delivery and continuous improvement of brand performance.
• Ensure compliance with legislation, codes of practice and brand guidelines.

Skills

Brand management

Campaign planning

Stakeholder management

Budget management

Project management

Market analysis

Tools

Microsoft Office

Marketing systems

Project management systems

Job description

Location, Hybrid working, 3 days working from the office, 2 days working from home

The Role

We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Senior Brand Manager to join our marketing team and play a key role in shaping the growth of our premium spirits portfolio.

This is a varied, hands-on role that combines strategic brand planning with the opportunity to bring campaigns to life in market. Working directly for the Marketing Manager, you will lead the development and delivery of integrated marketing activity across consumer, customer and trade channels, helping to build strong brands that resonate with customers and consumers alike.

If you enjoy working across every stage of the marketing mix - from developing annual brand plans and launching campaigns to supporting trade activations, tastings and industry events - this is an opportunity to make a real impact.

Key Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead the development and implementation of annual brand plans, ensuring alignment with business objectives and commercial priorities.
• Drive the execution of integrated consumer, customer and trade marketing strategies across the brand portfolio, ensuring consistent delivery against agreed objectives
• Drive brand presence within the UK market through regular engagement with on- and off-trade customers, identifying opportunities to enhance brand visibility, distribution and advocacy.
• Lead the development of marketing collateral, brand assets and promotional materials, ensuring consistency with brand positioning and identity.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with external agencies, designers, production partners and event suppliers, ensuring the successful delivery of marketing projects to agreed quality, budget and timescales.
• Lead the planning and delivery of brand activations, trade events, exhibitions, tastings and customer engagement initiatives, working collaboratively with the Trade Marketing Executive and Sales Team.
• Monitor, evaluate and report on brand performance, campaign effectiveness, market trends and competitor activity, providing insight and recommendations to inform future marketing strategy.
• Manage marketing budgets, forecasts and project timelines, ensuring resources are allocated effectively and activities are delivered within agreed financial parameters.
• Serve as a key marketing contact for assigned brand owners, building effective relationships and collaborating to ensure brand initiatives support both supplier and company objectives.
• Partner closely with the Sales Team to develop commercially effective trade marketing programmes, customer presentations, category insights and sales support materials that drive distribution and growth.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure the successful delivery of marketing initiatives and continuous improvement of brand performance.
• Ensure all marketing activities comply with relevant legislation, industry codes of practice, company policies and brand guidelines.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Significant experience in brand marketing, preferably within the spirits, drinks or FMCG sectors.
• Strong understanding of brand management principles and integrated marketing, with experience of delivering successful marketing campaigns.
• Good knowledge of the UK drinks market, including both on- and off-trade channels.
• Demonstrable ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery across a broad range of marketing activities.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple brands and priorities simultaneously while delivering to agreed deadlines.
• Experience briefing, managing and evaluating the performance of external agencies and creative suppliers.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work independently, exercise sound judgement and manage competing priorities.
• Commercially aware, with the ability to interpret market trends and campaign performance to inform marketing activity.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications and experienced in using marketing and project management systems

Working Pattern

This is a full-time role, working 37.5 hours per week, typically Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 5:30pm. However, given the nature of our clients in the hospitality sector, flexibility is essential - evening and occasional weekend work will be required to support customer needs, events, and tastings. Some activities may also involve international travel, so a valid passport is necessary.

Work Location

This is a hybrid role where you will be required to work in head office at least 3 days a week.

Offer

• Salary is up to £47,000 per annum, dependent on experience, plus up to 15% bonus based on the achievement of KPIs
• 25 days annual leave rising to 26 days after 5 years' service and 27 days after 10 years' service, plus bank holidays
• Company pension
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay
• Contribution to Dental Costs
• Generous staff discount on our wine
• A bottle of wine on your birthday and Berkmann anniversary

We cannot consider your application if you do not have the legal right to work in the UK. You must also satisfy the required knowledge and experience criteria detailed above.

Equal consideration will be given to all candidates, irrespective of their gender, race, disability, marital status, religion, age or sexuality.

No agencies please - We thank you for your interest in working with Spirit Cartel, however, we have our own internal HR and Recruitment team who support our recruiting needs.