General Mills
1 General Mills Boulevard, Minneapolis, MN 55426
Remote
2022-01-29
Senior Associate Brand Manager- Nature Valley Innovation (Minneapolis preferred, US remote eligible)
3.9
Job Description:
As Senior Associate Brand Manager, you will be responsible for accelerating our delivery against our NAR ambition to be the most innovative food company in North America, by leading pipeline initiatives against several Type 1 launches across both commercialization and whitespace stages. This role will be focused on strategy, full TPO development, and sell-in of these launches. The Bars Innovation team is an awesome place to work – starting with a BU that celebrates commitment, inclusivity, and FUN, with the strongest cross-functional partners GMI has to offer, in a dynamic, growth-minded OU.
The preferred location for this role is Minneapolis, MN however remote work-at-home applications will be considered.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
As the creator of the Bars category in 1975, Nature Valley has an incredible history of delivering against consumers’ unmet needs with convenient, intuitively good snacks that taste delicious. We deliver the biggest new product launch year in and year out, and we continue to find a way to move the brand forward with recent launches like Nature Valley Wafer and Muffin Bar. That said, in the fast-paced, increasingly competitive Bars category, retailers continue to look for category-expanding innovation to deliver on unmet consumer needs.
As Senior Associate Brand Manager, you will be responsible for accelerating our delivery against our NAR ambition to be the most innovative food company in North America, by leading pipeline initiatives against several Type 1 launches across both commercialization and whitespace stages. This role will be focused on strategy, full TPO development, and sell-in of these launches. The Bars Innovation team is an awesome place to work – starting with a BU that celebrates commitment, inclusivity, and FUN, with the strongest cross-functional partners GMI has to offer, in a dynamic, growth-minded OU.
The preferred location for this role is Minneapolis, MN however remote work-at-home applications will be considered.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
-
Advance TPO to commercialize the next Big Bet launch for F23 – Nature Valley Crunchy Dipped – and ensure strong IPP & Y1 performance
- Partner with BX on consumer support plan to drive trial
- Develop multi-year growth roadmap for PPA, LE’s and sizes across channels
- Own new item forecasting to maximize IPP impact and deliver against NPD annual plan commitments
-
Develop and own next Nature Valley pipeline build to unlock multiple Big Bets for F24+
- Define pipeline design target, consumer jobs to be done, lead product ways in
- Build conviction with key internal stakeholders and customers throughout pipeline & TPO building process
- Sales lead for innovation – including new item materials and innovation reviews
- Sufficiency lead for BU – partner with finance to communicate progress on delivering against innovation ambition
- Partner with Brand Manager to refine Bars Innovation Strategy, including ideal cadence & how to amplify Big Bets
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s Degree
- 5+ years of work/internship experience
- Skills: strategic & visionary thinking, consumer first design thinking, ability to simplify complex challenges to a simple narrative, relentless problem-solving, cross-functional leadership
- Motivated by identifying unmet needs through the innovation process, creating new solutions that didn’t previously exist, and getting them to market quickly
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- MBA
- 1+ year as Associate Brand Manager or similar role
- Strong accountability with a bias for action & results
- Ability to lead projects in both building a TPO for whitespace and commercializing a Big Bet launch
- Ability to maximize a new product across the 4P’s
- Command of VEP mechanics, how to impact topline and bottom-line drivers
- Desire to invest in coaching junior brand management team members
- Proven ability to navigate the organization and influence beyond the scope of your role (up to Snacks LT)
- Passion for new products, and tenacity to lead through the highs and lows of the innovation process!
We exist to make food the world loves. But we do more than that. Our company is a place that prioritizes being a force for good, a place to expand learning, explore new perspectives and reimagine new possibilities, every day. We look for people who want to bring their best — bold thinkers with big hearts who challenge one other and grow together. Because becoming the undisputed leader in food means surrounding ourselves with people who are hungry for what’s next.