Innovation Brand Manager

Premier Nutrition: The Good Energy People; Emeryville (CA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Half-day Fridays

In-office massages

Free lunches & snacks

Dogs in office

401k match

Paid family leave

Bonus-eligible for all positions

Company-wide volunteer days

Charitable donations by company

No dress code

Coaching conversations instead of perf

Job summary

Premier Nutrition Company is seeking a Brand Manager, Innovation, to drive Premier Protein’s growth by taking early-stage platforms from concept to commercialization and launch. You will shape and launch innovation that expands the brand into new need states and formats, leading cross-functional teams end-to-end and building scalable playbooks for long-term growth.

This hybrid, Bay Area-based role focuses on commercialization, product launch execution, and strategic leadership within Premier

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 7+ years of relevant work experience, with 3+ years of Brand Management experience in the CPG industry.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and leadership.
• Excellent communication and executive presence.
• Hands-on product launch and commercialization experience.

Responsibilities

• Own commercialization of innovation platforms from idea to launch.
• Lead go-to-market planning, packaging, pricing, and sell-in.
• Develop annual commercialization plans aligned with consumer insights, brand strategy, and financial objectives.
• Collaborate with Innovation, R&I, Creative Services, Procurement, Ops, Sales Strategy, and Finance to move concepts to Launch.
• Operate as GM for platforms, driving alignment and delivering consumer-led results.

Skills

Cross-functional team

Influence & leadership

GM mindset

P&L analysis

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Here’s What All The Hype Is About… Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the proactive wellness space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and powders. We make the brands Premier Protein and Dymatize, and are part of our publicly traded holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR).

Here’s What All The Hype Is About… Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the proactive wellness space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and powders. We make the brands Premier Protein and Dymatize, and are part of our publicly traded holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR). We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which we’ve been nailing since our founding in 1997. We start with an organization powered by our company purpose—Changing Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with remarkable people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture. We don’t mind sharing our formula, since we believe the world would be a better place if more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their lives—alongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why don’t more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead, trusting them to make the right decisions. The result of our vibrant culture speaks for itself: We were certified as a Great Place to Work™ for the 9th year-running in 2025. And we currently rank #8 on Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in our category and were in the top 12 for each of the last 7 years. We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most:

• Year-round ½ day Fridays
• in-office massages
• free lunches & snacks
• dogs in the office
• culture of belonging celebrations
• engaging in-office events like bring your kids to work day
• 6% 401k match after 1 year
• generous paid family leave regardless of gender
• all positions bonus-eligible
• company-wide volunteer days
• company-matched charitable donations
• no employee handbook
• no dress code
• coaching conversations instead of performance reviews
• walking meetings

PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on…

We believe in the power of mindset, and specifically what we call the Challenger Mindset. Do you take smart, bold risks, display relentless hunger, and see yourself as a builder? We’re looking for individuals who choose action over analysis paralysis—those who start before they feel completely ready, make calculated moves based on the best information available, and build momentum through decisive action rather than perfect planning. You should have an insatiable drive that keeps you agile and forward-thinking, always challenging assumptions, seeking new opportunities, and focusing on long-term impact over short-term wins. Above all, you’re a builder—someone who transforms the status quo, finds smarter, simpler, faster ways to get things done, and inspires others to do the same.

The role you’re interested in…

The Brand Manager, Innovation, will be a key driver of Premier Protein’s next wave of growth by taking early-stage platforms from concept to commercialization and through launch. This role is responsible for shaping, building, and launching innovation that expands the Premier Protein brand into new need states, occasions, and product formats.

This is a highly cross-functional, entrepreneurial role focused on commercializing innovation, building scalable brand foundations, leading product launches end-to-end, and creating the playbooks needed to unlock sustained long-term growth.

The work environment…

So, what’s it like to work here? If you’re based in the greater Bay Area, you’ll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues, some sitting with their dogs, talking excitedly through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead.

We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace, with an expectation that all employees come into the office Tuesday through Thursday. We are very intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories during virtual meetings just don’t happen. The expected pay scale for this role is $150k to $165k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role.

At the beginning of 2026, we moved into our massive modern 133,000 square foot headquarters in Emeryville, California, complete with spacious personal workspaces, gym with rock-climbing wall, a café, free onsite parking, tons of greenery, and many transportation options.

You’re excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with…

Product & Platform Commercialization: 60% of your time

• Serve as the P&L owner for innovation platforms.
• Translate platform strategy into commercial-ready product launches across form, format, and channel.
• Develop annual commercialization plans that align consumer insights, brand strategy, customer needs, and financial objectives.
• Partner closely with Innovation, R&I, Creative Services, Procurement, Ops, Sales Strategy, and Finance to take early concepts from idea → scope → development → validation → launch.
• Lead go-to-market planning, including packaging development, claims strategy, portfolio architecture, pricing, and customer sell-in.
• Build and refine commercialization frameworks and repeatable processes as the Emerging Products team scales.

Marketing & Launch Activation: 20% of your time

• Support development of integrated launch plans, including messaging hierarchy, creative needs, activation strategy, and in-market test frameworks.
• Collaborate with IMC, creative, media, and PR partners to shape early brand storytelling for new platforms.
• Monitor in-market performance and support optimization of campaigns, messaging, and activation ladders.

General Management & Leadership: 20% of your time

• Operate as a GM for the platform: connect dots, navigate ambiguity, and drive clarity across teams.
• Influence cross-functional partners and senior leaders to drive alignment, remove barriers, and move quickly.
• Champion consumer needs—ensuring all innovation and commercialization decisions stay anchored in demand and insights.

What are we looking for?

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required

Experience

• 7+ years of relevant work experience, with 3+ years of Brand Management experience within the Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) industry required.

Skills And Mindset

• Cross-functional project team experience
• Ability to influence and lead others
• General manager mindset and ability to connect dots
• Highly curious & results-driven behavior
• Strong project management and organizational skills
• Self-starter – comfortable ‘figuring it out’
• Quantitative strength –very comfortable with numbers and P&L analysis
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; strong executive presence
• People management experience preferred

The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role:

• Thrive in ambiguity amid competing priorities
• Drive and own results
• Learning & growth mindset
• Start & end with consumer
• Embody a strategic mindset

You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if…

• You want to be an integral part of shaping and nurturing an amazing work culture
• You can be flexible in your approach to people challenges and abandon past practices if they don’t make sense or would lead to a poor outcome
• You are comfortable being natural, casual, open, and even a bit playful at work
• You don’t have a big ego
• You like to get sh*t, I mean—stuff done
• You can be friendly, vulnerable, and self-deprecating in one moment, and deal with a challenging, delicate people-related matter as a professional in the next
• You can do periods of focused, deep work on projects that drive the needle

This may not be your ideal next career move if you like…

• …a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity
• …order, hierarchy, command and control management
• …avoiding ambiguity or experimentation are not your jam
• …to resolve challenging interpersonal situations over email or instant messaging
• …managing from your house with your camera off and demonstrating excellence through email
• …to chase whatever shiny object presents itself, even if not strategic

Here’s the deal with our not-so-standard, um…standard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why you’re still reading this…

• Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have
• Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for you—and who wants that, right?):
  • A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we don’t do panel interviews because they don’t give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so we’re probing different capabilities)
• A case study or job task to simulate what you’d actually be doing in the role might be included (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you don’t have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops.
• Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so, because this place is the real deal, and don’t just believe us—just ask the 91% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey.

We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.