Associate Brand Manager

Russell Stover Chocolates, LLC; Kansas City (MO); On-site; USD 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as an Associate Brand Manager, where your passion for chocolate meets your expertise in brand management. In this dynamic role, you will collaborate with the Sr Brand Manager to drive product innovation and market analysis, ensuring our portfolio remains competitive and profitable. Utilize your analytical skills to interpret consumer data and develop strategic recommendations that enhance brand growth. This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact in a beloved industry, where your contributions will help shape the future of our products and delight chocolate lovers everywhere. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and are eager to take on new challenges, this position is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business or marketing is required.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Analyze market trends and consumer data to enhance product offerings.
• Develop strategies for product profitability and brand relevance.

Skills

Project Management

Data Analysis

Communication Skills

Creative Evaluation

Time Management

Education

Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or related field

MBA

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Nielsen

IRI

Job description

At Russell Stover, not only do we love chocolate, but we love our jobs! Every day we go to work exhibiting our values of excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. Working at Russell Stover you’ll be part of the leading manufacturer of boxed, seasonal, and sugar-free chocolates. For over 100 years, Russell Stover Chocolates, Whitman’s, and Pangburn’s have been crafted with the finest ingredients to bring happiness to generations. Today, we produce over 55 million pounds of chocolate annually, and our legacy brands can be found in 13 company-owned stores and over 9,000 wholesale accounts. Join our team and let’s continue making chocolate lovers happy!

A day in the life…

As the Associate Brand Manager, you will work with the Sr Brand Manager to develop & manage a broad variety of products & projects from beginning to end. You will also pull and analyze market and consumer panel data and use that data to enhance product offerings within your assigned portfolio. You should have strong project management skills in order to constantly update and steer your portfolio of products towards sustainable and profitable long-term growth.

What you will be doing…

• Understand syndicated data reporting systems such as Nielsen and/or IRI to provide strategic analysis for the company’s heritage brands.
• Catalog relevant consumer information relating to respective categories (Unify, IRI Panel Data, Shopper Sights, Consumer Studies, etc.) to feed the Marketing & Sales planning process.
• Analyze market and competitive trends, including working with the Category Management team on retailer loyalty data and recommending actions to achieve annual sales and objectives.
• Developing portfolio including SKU rationalization, mix strategies and profit optimization.
• Responsible for meeting the full portfolio P&L.
• Evaluate product portfolio and the marketplace and make recommendations for new product launches and product improvements to ensure Russell Stover growth and brand relevance.
• Analyze market potentials on an ongoing basis for existing and new products and develop competitive concepts to ensure the long-term, profitable growth of the Russell Stover business.
• Analyze viability and profit/sales potential for new segments, markets, and consumers.
• Develop and implement strategies and plans to maximize the profitability of assigned products / product categories while maintaining consistent quality standards.

Do you have what it takes?

(Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or related field.
• Proficient using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting data.

Do you stand above the rest?

(Preferred Qualifications)

• MBA.
• Brand or product management experience with a CPG company.
• Experience working with IRI or Nielsen.
• Able to manage ambiguity and thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
• Strong creative skills to properly evaluate; an eye for creative.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Exceptional presentation and communication skills.
• Self-starter, able to act with agility and time management skills to accomplish tasks and meet project deadlines.
• Commitment to continuous self-improvement to develop critical marketing management skills.

At Russell Stover Chocolates, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community. Russell Stover Chocolates is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

We provide equal employment opportunities to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition, genetic information, military service, veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.

Employment by Russell Stover Chocolates is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, education verification, and satisfactory reference and background checks.

Make Happy. Work Happy.