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Brand Manager, Snacking and Chunk

Chicago, IL (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=540+West+Madison+Street+Chicago+IL+USA+60661) • Marketing

Job Type

Full-time

Description

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose.

At Lactalis in the USA, we’re committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive—whether you’re just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family-owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we’re proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani® Italian cheeses and ricotta, Président® specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft® natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone’s® cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel®, Black Diamond® cheddar, and Parmalat® milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi’s®, Stonyfield Organic®, Brown Cow™, Oui®, Yoplait®, Go-Gurt®, :ratio®, Green Mountain Creamery®, and Mountain High®, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun®, Gopi®, and Arz®.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values—Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone’s unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

From yourPASSIONto ours

The Brand Manager is responsible for developing the brand strategies and relaunch of the Cracker Barrel Cheese Brand, along with managing all elements of the marketing mix for the various product lines within the cheese snacking & chunk business. This role leads cross-functional teams to develop and execute portfolio and support programs while delivering against financial, strategic, and mission-driven objectives.

The Brand Manager works closely with the broader marketing organization, cross-functional partners, and external agencies to drive short-term performance and long-term brand growth. A key focus of this role will be leading a full brand relaunch, including creative repositioning, packaging modernization, communications evolution, and renovation/innovation efforts that elevate brand relevance and accelerate growth.

From yourSTORYto ours

+ P&L Management:Own full brand P&L and understand the essential financial levers that drive sustained profitability and long-term brand health.

+ Brand Strategy & Planning: Lead annual and long-term strategic brand planning to deliver market share, volume, cash flow, and contribution margin goals.

+ Consumer Understanding:Serve as custodian of the consumer, competitive landscape, and data analytics to build and optimize brand strategy, ensuring alignment with financial objectives.

+ Commercial Execution:Drive the brand relaunch, including repositioning, packaging restage, communications refresh, renovation, and innovation initiatives.

+ Project & Agency Management:Manage all agency partnerships, media, creative, PR, digital, and independent shops, to ensure seamless execution of integrated brand campaigns.

+ Innovation & Renovation:Partner with R&D, Consumer Insights, Manufacturing, Engineering, Sales, and Finance to bring innovation from concept to commercialization.

+ Channel & Shopper Activation:Translate brand strategy into channel-specific programs, shopper plans, and executions that win at retail.

+ Cross-Functional Leadership:Own end-to-end business processes with cross-functional partners to ensure operational excellence and flawless execution.

+ Customer Strategy Alignment:Collaborate with Omni-Channel Marketing and HQ Sales to shape segment and account-specific customer strategies that drive consumer demand and customer support.

+ Sales Enablement: Provide field sales with the resources, messaging, and selling materials needed to achieve distribution, velocity, and merchandising targets.

+ Performance Measurement: Analyze and report on multi-channel marketing and promotional effectiveness, optimizing tactics based on data and insights.

+ People Management: Lead, coach, and develop direct reports (Assistant Brand Manager and Senior Analyst) to build capability and deliver against brand objectives.

+ Other Duties: Perform additional responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

From yourEXPERTISEto ours

Education and Experience

+ Bachelor's degree is required. Master’s degree is preferable.

+ Minimum 5 years of Brand or Product Management experience with P&L responsibility in a consumer goods company.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

+ Strong leadership, business acumen, strategic thinking, and analytical rigor.

+ A high bias for action and strong ownership mindset; thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic, and ambiguous environment.

+ Experience in food, natural products, or CPG marketing is a plus.

+ Demonstrated ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, and adapt to unexpected changes.

+ Proven track record in new product development, commercialization, and successful product launches.

+ Deep understanding of consumer advertising, promotional strategy, and integrated marketing.

+ Experience using syndicated data (IRI, Nielsen) to drive decisions and influence stakeholders.

+ Strong grasp of consumer research methodologies and insight translation.

+ Excellent verbal, written communication, and presentation skills.

+ Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

+ Willingness to travel as required.

At Lactalis, we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Program with a variety of affordable benefits and coverage options. We support insurance costs significantly, contribute generously to retirement plans, and offer Paid Time Off from day one. We are committed to your professional growth, providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement. Join us and grow your career.

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affirmative Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.

Salary Description

$130,000 - $140,000 + 20% Annual Bonus