Associate Brand Manager

Company Description

Simple Mills is a rapidly-growing company on the forefront of the clean food movement, transforming center store grocery aisles with products made from nutritious, purposeful ingredients. Simple Mills is a female-founded business, started by Katlin Smith in 2012 out of her own Kitchen. In the company's short history, Simple Mills has disrupted the market to become the #1 bestselling natural baking mix, the #1 bestselling natural cracker, and the #1 bestselling natural cookie.

The company's mission is to advance the holistic health of the planet and its people by positively impacting the way food is made. Simple Mills is distributed in 25,000+ stores nationally including Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Kroger, Costco and more, and available online at retailers like Amazon and Thrive Market. The brand's newest products include: Organic Seed Flour Crackers, Seed & Nut Flour Sweet Thins, and Soft-Baked Almond Flour Bars. Simple Mills has earned broad recognition from top tier media and industry associations- including a segment on our Founder & CEO Katlin Smith on NPR's How I Built This . Our products have been featured in a wide array of top publications including Vogue, Women's Health, Forbes, Business Insider, mindbodygreen, NOSH and many more. Simple Mills was also a 2020 Health Magazine Snack Award Winner!

Role Description

The Associate Brand Manager will be a critical role in driving brand awareness, product trial, category share, and revenue growth. The role will be responsible for supporting and growing Simple Mills product lines through management of shopper marketing programs, commercialization and packaging design projects, . In addition, the ABM will conduct performance analysis and reporting as well as leverage consumer insights, category drivers, competitive intel, customer needs, and market/industry trends to craft and implement marketing initiatives that create a competitive advantage for the brand and support company strategic and financial objectives.

This role will work closely with the sales team and agency partner to manage the shopper marketing strategy, budget, creative development, and activation planning across product lines and key retail customers. In this role, it is essential to have a passion for our products and mission and feel strongly connected to the brand. The position will report to the Senior Brand Manager.

Role Expectations

• Partner with retained agency to lead shopper marketing efforts across all Simple Mills product lines and key retail accounts. You will serve as the point person for strategic oversight as well as manage budget, agency, and stakeholder relationships, ensuring plans are coordinated effectively and meet the strategic objectives of the respective product line(s), sales team, and retail customer.
  • Correspondingly, you will be responsible for reporting on program/ campaign results, with a continuous eye toward plan, process, and KPI optimization and ongoing adaptation to organizational pivots for product line/retailer priorities and key timings.

• Work cross-functionally to support base business and new product launches:
  • Support development and coordination of IMC/go-to-market plans, ensuring synergies across Brand/IMC teams (influencer, content, media, PR, eComm, shopper), cross-channel integration, and driving efficiency through portfolio support.
  • Develop and manage product and brand content for e-commerce including DTC, Amazon and Omni.
  • Maximize effectiveness of marketing plans through deep understanding of brand positioning, target consumers, as well as top customers' agendas, philosophies, shoppers, and available tactics.
  • Manage packaging graphics/design process for brand maintenance projects, new pack sizes and renovation SKUs.
• Actively seek and seize opportunities for growth by translating consumption data, consumer insights, market research, and industry/category trends into actions that drive brand and company growth.
  • Partner with Category Strategy and Revenue Management to monitor performance and ensure brand and product line sales objectives are accomplished, implementing corrective actions as necessary.
  • Lead Brand inputs to monthly performance reporting and Demand Planning forecasting based on consumption data and market trends.
  • Monitor category/competitive activity and performance to inform deep dives, strategy, and tactics.
  • Manage other/various ad hoc projects, including setting scope/structure, timelines, and budgets, with coordination cross-functionally, as needs of the business warrant.

This is a full-time, exempt, benefited position within the Simple Mills Marketing team.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required in marketing or related field; master's degree /MBA preferred.
• 2-4 years of experience in CPG Brand Management (or equivalent). Shopper Marketing, Retail Marketing, and/or Customer Marketing experience, at either an agency or on the brand/manufacturer side is a desirable plus.
• Interpersonal savvy and project management dexterity, with the ability to be agile, navigate various internal and external stakeholders, and handle multiple complex projects simultaneously.
• Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty, ability to navigate unfamiliar situations and can handle organizational pivots.
• Experience interpreting and presenting on syndicated (quantitative) data (Nielsen, IRI, Numerator, etc.) to derive actionable insights and strategic implications.
• Experience developing and executing brand marketing plans and strategies.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the CPG industry, retail channels, and account-specific marketing.
• Strong analytical acumen and critical thinking skills complemented by well-developed marketing intuition to confidently take action and make recommendations.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and roll-up-the-sleeves mentality, including willingness to find scrappy solutions, take calculated risks, and act with a healthy sense of urgency.
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional team members and agencies/vendors to solve problems quickly and with limited direction.
• High level of curiosity about the marketplace, competitors, consumers, and technologies.
• Experience managing or working with agency partners or external vendors.
• A passion for natural food and healthy eating as well as a desire to change the way we think about ingredient labels.

Benefits of Working at Simple Mills

• You will make a huge impact as a key member of an emerging brand that's changing the way we eat and facing explosive growth.
• Working with a vibrant community of passionate team members that are driven by healthy food that tastes good and fuels your body.
• We strive to foster and embed a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our organization. We know it is not only critical to the success of diversity initiatives - but instrumental in creating an equitable and inclusive workplace! It also creates a positive employee experience. DEI will remain at the center of our people strategy as grow and scale our organization.
• Our culture is aligned with doing good in the world and we are committed to the environment, fairness to employees and to our customers.
• Integrating into a company that is passionate about its people and their development, with consistent training and multiple forums/platforms to participate in, contribute to and learn from
• Employee benefits include robust Health Benefits packages, 401(k) plan, Unlimited PTO offering, one-time stipend for getting your home workspace setup, monthly cell phone/internet stipend, health & wellness stipends, product stipends and many other perks!

Compensation will be competitive for the ideal candidate. Simple Mills operates with a hybrid-model: a balance of in-person and virtual work. Hybrid employees will work from our Chicago, IL office at least once per week. When working remotely, employees must work from a designated location in the United States (the new hire's permanent residence, as documented in our HR System, Rippling) with sufficient internet access to support video conferencing. Safety protocols in accordance with CDC recommendations are followed.

At Simple Mills, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect and inclusion. Equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, past or present military service, physical or mental disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. All aspects of employment are decided on the basis of business need, job requirements, and individual qualifications. #LI-DNI

Simple Mills is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Simple Mills will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodations are needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact careers@simplemills.com.