Marketing Associate – Innovation APAC

HERSHEY ASIA PACIFIC PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading international food and beverage company is seeking an Innovation Associate in Singapore. This role will design and develop projects for core brands in the APAC Markets, requiring strong project management, business analysis, and marketing skills. The ideal candidate has 3-5 years of experience in brand management, particularly in FMCG, with proficiency in IRI/Nielsen. Competitive benefits and opportunities for career growth are offered.

Qualifications

• At least 3-5 years working experience in marketing or brand management.
• Strong project management skills with ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Proficient understanding of business processes and data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Lead regular multi-functional project team meetings.
• Manage consumer-led innovation projects for the APAC market.
• Conduct business review analysis to identify opportunities.

Skills

Project management

Data analysis

Marketing strategy

Creative problem-solving

Education

Bachelors Degree or equivalent

Tools

IRI/Nielsen

Job description

This role is responsible for designing and developing innovation projects for core brands in the APAC Markets. He or she will work with the direct supervisor to create a pipeline of initiatives on core brands that will address trial barriers, expand Hershey’s brand penetration and grow Hershey’s sales and shares in Key APAC Markets.

The role will manage the innovation process and lead collaboration with internal resources and stakeholders, partnering with cross functional teams to advance innovation projects through the Gate process, advocating the use of Project Management Tool (Accolade). Proactively launching based on agreed dates, resourcefully mitigating risks and maintaining a list of ‘Opportunity’ projects as back ups to replace ‘Plan’ projects that may fall down.

The Innovation Associate will support the direct supervisor with a set of concrete plans for the projects he or she is responsible for. The role requires strong project management skills and a well developed set of marketing and general management skills to convert strategies into successful innovation projects that will grow sales, share and profit across APAC. He or she should have strong analytical skills to sort through complex data, make well-reasoned conclusions, and translate these into sound plans, with a drive for protfiability through strong P&L management, overall linked to the Innovation Strategy.

Lead Innovation Process for Projects

· Lead regular multi-functional project team meetings for his or her assigned innovation projects to move these through the Gate process, providing meeting notes with clear actions and timings.

· Present Gate documents and lead discussions on innovation projects during Sales & Marketing / Integrated Business Management meetings.

· Ensure Accolade is up to date, with SKU plans locked in time. Keeping projects on track to hit ETA and key deliverable dates.

· Collate and build all elements of the P&L, with a clear understanding on areas that can be influenced to drive a profitable product, within a portfolio mix.

· Work with design agencies / procurement and packaging engineers to deliver a strategic look and feel to the portfolio, through cost effective solutions.

· Drive R&D / OBD discussions to ensure profitable COGS on all projects, through clear briefs and benchmarks.

Design and develop innovation on core brands and platforms for APAC

Under the supervision of the direct supervisor, he or she will:

· Manage consumer-led and insight-driven innovation projects geared towards building a robust pipeline of innovation initiatives.

· Manage initiatives that will address trial barriers and enable the Reese’s and Hershey’s brands to expand penetration.

o Collaborate with internal resources (Consumer Insights) and stakeholders (Brand Marketing / Customer Marketing) to discover and validate trial barriers, and to initiate innovation projects that will effectively address these.

o Lead multi-functional teams (R&D, OBD, QRC, Supply Chain, Finance and Legal)

o Support the APAC Brand Marketing Team to: (a) build a validated 2-Year Gross Sales Forecast for each project, (b) develop Year 1 Marketing Plans for each project, and (c) finalize the region-specific packaging and labels for each project.

Business Analysis and Recommendation

· Conduct business review analysis to identify and propose opportunities, and develop innovation plans to address trial barriers, expand Hershey’s brand penetration and drive sales, share and profit growth.

· Leverage insights and knowledge gained from market, consumer, customer and competitive data to build actionable recommendations and plans to address uncovered opportunities to the business.

· Use available internal and external information to review business performance and to influence marketing plan formulation and implementation in APAC.

Requirements

Education: Bachelors Degree or equivalent

Experience:

• At least 3-5 years working experience in marketing or brand management (preferably in innovations) of international Food and Beverage Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
• Strong project management skills, with prioritization and ability to work under pressure with sizeable workloads and tight deadlines
• Strong knowledge of business process, key functions and data analysis
• Ability to understand and drive an impactful P&L
• Proactive in finding creative solutions outside of scope
• Must be proficient in IRI/Nielsen