Brand Manager – Automotive Care & Innovation

ITW; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

ITW Car Care, a division of Illinois Tool Works, Houston, TX, seeks an experienced Brand Manager to drive Rain-X and Black Magic initiatives. You will lead cross-functional teams, translate consumer insights into product strategy, and manage lifecycle activities from ideation through launch.

The role focuses on brand growth, market analysis, and asset development across packaging, ecommerce, and retail strategies, reporting to the Senior Brand Manager.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 5-7 years of Consumer Product Marketing and/or Brand Management experience with MBA preferred.
• Automotive aftermarket experience preferred; familiarity with DIY appearance, maintenance, or performance product categories is a plus.
• Solid command of brand management principles and product innovation, with a proven track record of developing new product opportunities from consumer insight through commercial launch, including line extensions and portfolio renovation.
• Strong analytical skills with experience leveraging POS data and syndicated research (IRI/Circana, Nielsen).
• Knowledge of P&L management including pricing, margin analysis, and budget fundamentals.
• Demonstrated experience aligning and leading cross-functional teams across R&D, Supply Chain, Sales, and Finance; excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present to senior stakeholders and key retail customers.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple complex projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. Ability to travel up to 25% of time.

Responsibilities

• Develop a deep understanding of target consumers — their needs, attitudes, purchase triggers, and unmet jobs-to-be-done — to serve as the consumer’s voice in all brand and product decisions.
• Drive the new product pipeline by translating consumer and market insights into clearly defined innovation briefs; evaluate concept viability in partnership with R&D, Supply Chain, and Finance to build a commercially sound innovation roadmap.
• Partner with Consumer Insights Manager to design and execute qualitative and quantitative research that validates innovation concepts, measures brand health, and informs strategic decision-making.
• Lead cross-functional teams through the full product development cycle — from identifying market white space and defining product concepts through stage-gate milestones, commercialization, and launch — for both new products and core line improvements.
• Continuously monitor market trends, competitive activity, POS performance, and consumer insights to surface opportunities for innovation and portfolio optimization; identify growth, renovation, and rationalization candidates and manage the discontinuation of underperforming SKUs.
• Partner with Sales to develop a strong understanding of key retail customers and channel dynamics; create compelling brand sell-in materials for line reviews and attend retailer meetings to present brand strategy and support new product introductions.
• Support the Senior Brand Manager in directing external agencies and internal creative teams; assist in the development of marketing assets including A+ ecommerce content, demo videos, packaging copy, and digital/web updates.
• Partner with the Senior Brand Manager on annual and long-range P&L planning, monitoring brand financial performance against plan and supporting the development of strategies to drive revenue and margin growth.
• Monitor the brand marketing budget, tracking spend against plan, optimizing resource allocation, and evaluating ROI to inform future investment decisions.

Skills

Brand management

P&L management

Cross-functional leadership

Market analytics

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA preferred

Job description

ITW Car Care, a division of Illinois Tool Works, Houston, TX, seeks an experienced Brand Manager to drive Rain-X and Black Magic initiatives. You will lead cross-functional teams, translate consumer insights into product strategy, and manage lifecycle activities from ideation through launch.

The role focuses on brand growth, market analysis, and asset development across packaging, ecommerce, and retail strategies, reporting to the Senior Brand Manager.