Director, Brand Management

Director, Brand Management

As our Director, Brand Management you will drive a growth agenda & drive its integrated execution across all functions, growing our mission to Kick Sugar, Keep Candy!™ This role reports to the CMO and will be hybrid in Vancouver (preferred) or remote in Toronto or the US (PST or CST timezone).

Who We Are :

SmartSweets is revolutionizing the candy industry by innovating the delicious candy you know and love with less sugar. We are passionate about growing and championing a diverse Squad of high-performing individuals and are fueled by our sweet culture.

We are proudly Female-Founded and on our way to kicking 5.5 billion grams of excess sugar out of candy in a single year, what we call our Mission to Mars.

How You Will Support Our Mission (Responsibilities) :

Lead the development of a growth agenda / go-to-market plan for the brand : inclusive but not limited to consumer target, brand positioning, channels & category impact.

Growth / go-to-market plan driven from deep understanding of in-market performance, financial results, panel data, consumer research data, competitor analysis & category dynamics.

• Lead integrated execution of go-to-market plans across all functions : This role is the glue / hub that links commercialization efforts together against a common goal.
• Project manage and ensure executional excellence of important company-wide commercialization initiatives.
• You take a general manager view of the business. You passionately track revenue, in-market performance and profit, understanding drivers.

You proactively identify ways to improve company financial performance in both the short and long term and enable yourself and others to seize opportunities.

• Champion company understanding of consumer insights, competitive intelligence, and consumer / category trends. This role leads timely discovery / synthesis of these insights (from various quantitative / qualitative sources) and summarized communication of these insights to all stakeholders.
• Partners with Sales to drive growth at key customers through the SmartSweets brands. Represents brand management and SmartSweets marketing to strategic customers.

Partners with Sales to develop offerings / insights that will drive wins for SmartSweets.

• Partners with Marketing Director to drive marketing excellence : Marketing OGST development, KPI determination, quantitative evaluation of results, summarization of marketing performance to the Company / Board, marketing spending choices, idea generation to improve marketing ROI.
• Partners with R&D in evaluation of new product / product improvement opportunities and provides important thought leadership in the development of innovation strategies.
• Leads paid advertising strategy, ROI evaluation and improvement.

What You Bring (Qualifications & Experience) :

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in CPG brand management, with at least 4 years in the US market.
• Excellent strategic and analytical skills. Data driven decision-maker. Proficiency working with SPINs / Numerator or other large data sources, and working with outside parties to field episodic consumer research.
• Passion for building a brand via deep consumer understanding and delivering consumer value.
• Strong communication skills, including both written and oral. You simplify the complex.
• Leader and Doer : You can inspire with strategic thinking while also rolling up sleeves / moving fast in a startup environment.
• Excellent team player / interpersonal skills / managing others.
• Proven success in collaborating with Sales to drive growth with customers.

Compensation and Sweet Perks (Benefits) :

The approximate base salary range for this position is $120,000 - $140,000. The actual base salary will be based on various factors, including the candidate's geographic location and level of skills and experience.

This position is eligible for participation in a bonus program based on performance and company results. Please note, individuals must be employed by 09 / 30 / 24 to be eligible for the 2024 bonus.

In addition to base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits (Sweet Perks) package :

Bear Benefits (free candy!)

Extended Benefits (health, dental, life & disability, EAP)

2 Gummy Days (personal days)

5 Paid Restore Days (sick days)

SweetWeek (company shutdown in December)

Summer FriYAYs (half days off on Friday in the summer)

Life, Work, Flow Philosophy (flexible work environment)

Monthly Cell Phone bill reimbursement

Individual Development Program

Community Love (paid Volunteer Day)

Puppy Friendly Office

Regular Squad Social Events

If this sounds like a sweet opportunity for you, apply directly on our Careers Page. Include your resume, cover letter, and let us know what excites you about kicking sugar out of candy!

Our Commitment to Celebrating Individuality (DEI)

We are committed to elevating the voices of Squad and community members on the mission to Kick Sugar, Keep Candy! We believe representing the uniqueness of all makes us stronger as a whole .

We are making a difference by encouraging all Squad Members to practise allyship, educate themselves, inspire others to take action and support underrepresented communities.