Brand Manager, Entertainment Crackers
At a glance
Manager-level Brand Marketing role at Mars (External). Illinois-Chicago · full-time · $134,400–$184,800 base.
growthroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set yearly plans and longer-term direction for Toasteds and Carr’s, using consumer, category, competitor and financial signals to guide growth
- Track brand health and business results, then turn emerging risks and opportunities into changes in priorities or execution
- Build the crackers’ innovation and renovation pipeline, make the business case, and guide teams from concept through launch
- Protect each brand’s positioning and identity while shaping connected execution across consumer and customer touchpoints
- Guide online growth and portfolio choices, managing forecasts, budgets and investment decisions with partner teams
What you bring
- An undergraduate degree is required; an MBA is preferred, particularly with a marketing or business focus
- At least five years in CPG brand management, marketing or another relevant CPG role
- You bring analytical and financial strength, including experience with Nielsen or IRI and budget oversight
- You have led brand strategy, cross-functional teams and agency partners, and taken innovation from early insight through launch
Who this fits
This manager role suits someone who can connect consumer and business insights to brand plans, lead across teams, and make decisions in an evolving environment. It is based in Chicago, Illinois, with a hybrid arrangement. People-management experience is a plus, including coaching indirect team members.
From the employer
Job Description:
What Are We Looking For?
The Brand Manager, Entertainment Crackers, will lead the strategy and growth agenda for two premium cracker brands, Toasteds and Carr's. This role is responsible for holistic business leadership across brand stewardship, portfolio strategy, innovation strategy & execution, omni-channel acceleration, and commercial execution.
The Brand Manager must be skilled at translating consumer, category, and business insights into integrated plans that deliver in-market results. The Brand Manager will be responsible for leadership and partnership across a cross-functional team and will lead a critical external licensing partnership for the Carr’s brand, driving alignment on brand strategy, innovation, and business performance to support long-term brand growth.
The right candidate is a proactive, self-starter with a growth mindset, driven to deliver results for the consumer and the business.
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree required; MBA preferred, focus on Marketing/ Business is a plus.
- 5+ years of CPG brand management, marketing, or other relevant CPG experience.
- Strong general management, analytical, and financial skills (including Nielsen/IRI and budget management).
- Demonstrated track record of building, activating, and managing brand strategy to deliver consumer and business growth.
- Demonstrated ability to leverage insights and analytics to inform investment choices, prioritize strategic objectives and maximize results.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and agency partners in a matrixed environment, aligning stakeholders and driving high-quality execution.
- Experience developing innovation pipelines and leading initiatives from insight and concept through commercialization and launch.
- Expertise with integrated marketing strategy, including optimizing across channels, guiding creative development, and managing external stakeholders
- Bias for ownership and action, with sound judgment, comfort navigating ambiguity, and the ability to move work forward at pace.
- Passion and experience with people management is a benefit, including coaching and developing indirect team members.
Key Responsibilities
- Set the vision: own annual plan and long range strategy for Toasteds and Carr’s, using consumer, category, competitive, and financial insights to define priorities and deliver sustainable, profitable growth.
- Monitor brand health and business performance, diagnose opportunities and risks, and convert learning into decisive action and continuous improvement
- Build and advance a consumer-led innovation and renovation pipeline, develop robust business cases, and lead cross-functional teams through commercialization and launch.
- Champion, protect and strengthen each brand’s positioning, identity, and distinctive assets while ensuring consistent, relevant execution across consumer and customer experiences.
- Strategic lead for omni-channel acceleration across total DTM crackers portfolio, partnering with digital commerce teams to strengthen online fundamentals and drive share growth.
- Support development of the DTM Cracker portfolio growth strategy by leading cross-brand initiatives, identifying whitespace opportunities, evaluating investment priorities, and translating insights into actionable business recommendations.
- Manage brand performance, portfolio choices, forecasts, budgets, and investment trade-offs in partnership with Brand leadership, Finance, Sales, Insights, Media, Supply, R&D and other key functions.
- Coach and develop team members where applicable and foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, inclusion, and high standards.
What can you expect from Mars?
- Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
- Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.
The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 134,400.00 - USD 184,800.00