Senior Brand Manager - FTC

Nando's; Greater London; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food brand based in the UK is seeking a Senior Grocery Brand Manager to drive innovation and growth in retail for its products. The successful candidate will execute a 3-year innovation pipeline and manage relationships with various stakeholders. With over 7 years of experience in FMCG, you will focus on consumer-led growth strategies and ensure the effective rollout of new products. This hybrid role offers a chance to impact our brand and culture positively.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in FMCG Brand management, innovation, or category management.
• Experience developing, executing, and tracking innovation projects end to end.
• Strong consumer-led approach with both quantitative and qualitative data experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage and execute the 3-year innovation and renovation pipeline.
• Build relationships with UK&I Restaurant Food Teams for product value.
• Monitor competitor activities and propose responsive actions.

Skills

Influencing skills

Self-motivation

Presentation skills

Commercial awareness

Problem-solving

Growth mindset

Cultural driving

Job description

Overview

Salary: Competitive

This is a hybrid role based in our Putney office 3 days a week.

Nando’s is on a journey to make a difference to the lives of our People, our Customers and the Communities we work in.

The Grocery team are the people behind the Nando’s products found in major retailers nationwide and play a pivotal role in creating customer products that drive demand and deliver commercial growth and brand love. We have achieved huge growth in recent years by growing our range of PERi-PERi products for at home cooking occasions. The UK is our biggest market globally, with opportunity to do so much more.

The Senior Grocery Brand Manager role is responsible for helping to shape and deliver the customer-led growth plans for our world-famous PERi-PERi in retailers nationwide.

Our candidate should be looking for :

An opportunity to support the delivery of our global innovation strategy and pipeline, with a focus on the UK&I market.

Involvement in a variety of grocery innovation & renovation projects, with the opportunity to bring exciting new products to thousands of consumers nationwide.

The opportunity to work with and influence a variety of internal and external stakeholders in a complex matrix organisation.

A culture with strong purpose & values, intent on contributing to and driving positive cultural and societal change.

Purpose & Scope of Role

As the Senior Brand Manager for Grocery looking after innovation and portfolio within Nandos UK&I, your role will be to developing, defining and landing our rolling 3-year innovation (NPD) and renovation pipeline (EPD) – conducting quantitative and qualitative research where needed to fill in the gaps in our knowledge to ensure that we have a pipeline which delights consumers, gives us a competitive edge with retailers and delivers sustainable, incremental growth for Nando’s.

Stakeholder management and influencing will be key to this role. Internally, you will partner with the product development, food, food technical, marketing, and commercial teams. Externally, you will work closely with our licensee to create brilliant products and successfully land them with retailers and within market and help build the brand long term.

Role Accountabilities

Manage and execute the 3-year innovation & renovation pipeline, including leading qual and quant research where required to support consumer and brand-led decisions.

Own the NPD / EDP gate stage processes within the UK&I and collaborate with our licensee and Group team to take all projects through to completion, tracking performance and making recommendations for improvements.

Building relationships with UK&I Restaurant Food Teams to ensure all products we bring to market create value for our brand, whilst meeting the needs of the channel

Ensure the licensee are always equipped with the tools to excite the trade when talking about the Nando’s Grocery range and innovation, in collaboration with the Grocery Commercial Lead and Campaigns Manager

Continually balancing stakeholder engagement and enrolment between what’s right for the brand and what we need for the channel

Continually monitor how our products are showing up in stores, as well as competitor activities, launches, developments and performance, and propose responsive actions where required.

Applying rigour from blue chip UK FMCG experience or scale ups to a smaller brand whose heartland is hospitality and not CPG

This summarises the main key responsibilities of your role but there may be other reasonable requests and other responsibilities included from time to time.

Who you’ll be

• Killer influencing and relationship building skills – Able to confidently interact and influence various stakeholders with varying styles, you are able to flex your style, accordingly, work collaboratively, and be unafraid to challenge constructively and appropriately as needed
• Positive self-starter - With bags of self-motivation, organisation and self-discipline, you’ll take ownership to build the clarity needed to progress, not wait for it before starting, and do so with a can-do attitude even when things feel challenging.
• Storyteller – You’re able to construct clear and compelling narratives / presentations, with an ability to connect multiple insights to create compelling business cases that inspire and influence others.
• Commercially Aware - you’ll have a good understanding and be sensitive to the knock-on consequences of the actions and decisions of the brand, both operationally and financially.
• Natural problem solver - Hands-on mentality and a drive to find and propose workable solutions to challenges.
• Growth mindset - Humble and on an ongoing journey in your own self development.
• Culture Driver – as a leader, you will play your part in building our culture, living the Nando’s values in everything you do, with Purpose driving the core of our business operations and decisions. You’ll look to achieve growth without compromising on Nando’s brand positioning, product quality or profitability.

What you’ll need

• 7+ years of experience in FMCG Brand management / innovation / category management
• Experience developing, executing and tracking innovation projects end to end
• Passion for delivering products that strike the balance between delivering great customer experiences, protecting the long-term integrity of the brand and delivering profitable growth
• A consumer-led approach, with experience working with both quantitative and qualitative data
• Previous exposure to P&Ls and commercial route to market planning, would be an advantage

Key Stakeholders

• Internal :
• Chief Customer Officer
• Head of Food Marketing
• Head of Brand
• Grocery Commercial Lead
• Campaigns Manager
• Head of Food UK&I
• Group Head of Food, Head of Category & Innovation, Head of Packaging Design
• Group Grocery Product Council members various

External : Licensee Teams

• Research agencies, data providers and other industry professionals
• #LI-DNI