VP, Marketing & Innovation

Description

The VP of Marketing & Innovation will own brand strategy, business management, and innovation for the CPG division with the goal of driving accelerated revenue growth. They will be the catalyst for growth through the development of forward-thinking strategy, disruptive marketing and innovation, and inspiring leadership that excites and unites their team and the entire Krusteaz organization. A successful candidate is a leader with creative, strategic, and financial acumen coupled with strong business intellect necessary for taking the business and our brands to the next level. This role is highly collaborative with cross-functional partners throughout the organization, including R&D, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Operations.

Essential Functions: Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time.

• Oversee all activities in the marketing department, which include; Brand Marketing, Brand Creative and Consumer Insights.
• Create innovative marketing strategies, including leading edge social and digital strategies that will create consumer engagement, leading to increased awareness, relevance, and revenue among the brands' target audiences.
• Develop brand portfolio architecture, vision and growth strategy, business models for product development, product optimization, and business implications from consumer insights
• Align the organization around consumer and customer centricity. Utilize data insights and analytics to deliver superior consumer experiences and measurable business results.
• Develop robust marketing capabilities (e.g., technology fluency, digital expertise, customer data insights, data analytics, AI) to help the organization compete and thrive in the future.
• Create breakthrough consumer offerings and advance marketing by experimenting with new technology platforms, alternative media, new tools and techniques.
• Create/optimize a robust 5-year Innovation strategy and product pipeline that delivers accelerated revenue growth and is consistent with company and brand strategies. Take ideas from concept through commercialization (launch ready) by working closely with cross-functional teams.
• Develop a repeatable and consistent process for continuous, ongoing idea generation to feed the front-end of the Innovation pipeline
• Work closely with PMO, Growth Team, and Operations to optimize internal Innovation process and ensure adherence to internal Stage Gate process
• Partner with CPG sales team on customer strategies and implementing strategic plans to grow market share in key channels while maximizing and expanding in new and existing markets.
• Inspire, coach, and develop individual and team capabilities by championing individual strengths and team collaboration, aligning teams around strategies and decisions, and empowering leaders to elevate and inspire their teams, solve problems, and navigate conflict in alignment with the company culture

Position Requirements: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals qualified with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• A strong consumer marketer first and foremost
• Ability to inspire rally an organization around the notion of becoming more consumer-centric and brand-led
• Ability to build credibility and trust across the organization to drive change by challenging conventional thinking and increasing cross-functional coordination
• Ability to set a clear vision on Innovation across the organization, ensure team has resources needed to deliver against that vision, and hold team accountable for results.
• Ability to navigate through ambiguity, adapt, and thrive in a fast-paced dynamic environment
• Ability to bring others along and enroll them as partners in the journey
• Catalyst for change, shifting organization bias from "what can go wrong" to "what's possible."
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a bias toward action and a willingness to trust experience and instinct to make decisions.
• Strategic thinker able to develop business growth strategies through a combination of competitive analyses, understanding of consumer/customer trends and integrating market-based inputs.
• Strong problem-solving and influence management skills
• Innate curiosity and continuous drive for better solutions
• Passion to drive ideas through an organization and build followership
• Ability to connect the dots to see/create a unique and breakthrough idea to disrupt the status quo.
• Develop and coach direct reports, establishing performance standards, and creating a creative climate where the broader, cross-functional team is self-motivated to achieve their goals.
• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This leader will carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or Marketing and/or equivalent experience. MBA a strong plus.
• 15+ years of marketing experience in a consumer products environment, CPG experience strongly preferred. 2+ years as a VP Marketing preferred.
• Ideal candidate would have large company CPG training as well as proven track record of driving profitable growth in a smaller/mid-sized company.
• Experience revitalizing a mature brand or building a new brand from the ground up.
• Demonstrated track record of leveraging modest budgets to drive big impact.
• Experience developing and launching disruptive innovation.
• Understanding of and experience with Innovation stage-gate process.
• Demonstrated ability to be a positive change agent.

Get to know us:

• A people-focused company that cares: We're a 90-year-old company with the entrepreneurial spirit of a startup and a focused eye on the future. As a midsized, privately held company with a portfolio of beloved food and beverage brands, our people are the most important ingredient in our success.
• A valued and supported workforce: We place tremendous value in our employees and provide competitive pay and comprehensive benefits to ensure our employees can create the best life for themselves. Benefits include a top tier health insurance plan with lower-than-average employee cost share, generous PTO, 401(k) match, and more.
• An engaged and energized culture: At The Krusteaz Company, collaboration and ingenuity drive our fierce commitment to creating extraordinary product experiences that people love.
• A place to grow and make a difference: An entrepreneurial spirit has been at the core of our company since the beginning, attracting self-starters who are curious and love to learn and to share ideas.

Location: The VP of Marketing & Innovation will need to reside in the Greater Seattle Area.

Hybrid Work Model: At The Krusteaz Company, we have in-office "core days" of Tuesdays and Wednesdays where all corporate employees are expected to be onsite. Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays are flexible remote days to allow for work/life balance. You may be asked to come in outside of a core day from time to time, based on business needs. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days provides an opportunity for employees to build connections and collaborate together.

Benefits: We are proud to offer generous benefits including comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance (starting at $60/month for employee-only coverage on the PPO Plan or starting at $30/month for employee-only coverage on the HDHP), 401(K) matching, 4 weeks of paid vacation, 10 paid holidays, 1 paid personal holiday, company provided life insurance and disability insurance, flexible spending account, healthcare saving account, voluntary accident insurance, voluntary critical illness insurance, and tuition reimbursement.

Salary Information: An employee in this position can expect a salary range between $240,226 and $396,345. We typically pay out between $271,000 and $310,000. The actual salary offered will be carefully considered based on a wide range of factors, including internal equity, experience, education, certification, training, and location. All positions are eligible for additional incentives based on business performance.

Physical Demands and Work Environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone along with reaching. Specific vision abilities include close vision requirements due to computer work. Moderate noise, ability to work in a confined area, and ability to sit at a computer for an extended period of time are also included.

The policy of The Krusteaz Company, Inc. is to hire, train, and promote all persons in all job groups in accordance with law, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital or military status, national origin, gender identity, the presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability, genetic information, or any other status or characteristic protected by local, state, or federal law.

The Krusteaz Company is not sponsoring new applicant employment authorization at this time, and please, no third-party recruiters.