Brand Manager

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

Icelandic Provisions is an early-stage growth company that provides essential nutrition rooted in the Nordic Food Philosophy.  The flagship product, dairy Skyr, is the only authentic Icelandic Skyr brand in the United States that uses heirloom Skyr cultures and the original recipe that is beloved across Iceland.

The Nordic way of life is not only deeply rooted in the quality of the Icelandic Provisions’ products but runs deep in the organizational culture through the WÁOO (pronounced WOW!) values.  When we are attracting talent to join our growing organization, a natural question we ask is whether the candidate brings the “wáoo” factor?  We describe is as: Welcoming, Ámbitious, Optimistic, and On with the butter!

With a strong consumer and business base to build on, we are looking for product-obsessed, passionate individuals who are energized about rapid growth and achievement and want to be a part of the happy, healthy cultural movement that we are leading.  We believe in putting best-in-class products in the market and take pride in what we are building, “making everything count” along the way.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

 The Icelandic Provisions brand successfully relaunched in 2021 with a new brand identity and campaign, and the company is investing in Marketing to be a key driver of future growth. We are looking for a digitally-savvy, detail-oriented strategic marketer to help grow awareness and love for the Icelandic Provisions brand. This brand marketing position is a critical role at the company and will work with the Director of Brand Management to establish the brand management function at IP, acting as the connective glue and cross functional leader across a range of marketing and commercialization projects, as well managing the overall health of the business and brand and supporting the development of marketing programs that grow both. We are a startup, so it’s essential that this individual is comfortable with working in a dynamic, ever-changing work environment and wearing many hats – no two days or projects will be the same!

KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Partner with the Director of Brand Management to establish a thriving Brand Marketing function at Icelandic Provisions.
  • Develop integrated marketing plans, collaborating with other partners including the Director of Marketing Communications & their team, to support our base business, new product launches and distribution expansion.
  • Analyze consumption, Numerator and other data sources to monitor health of business, identifying trends pertaining to category, brand and competition.
  • Identify rich consumer insights, turning them into actionable brand and portfolio strategies to grow the business.
  • Lead ongoing brand performance tracking and competitive intelligence, as well as support the Director of Brand Management in a regular assessment of the brand, product portfolio, consumer health and competitive landscape, identifying strengths and vulnerabilities along with opportunities and related action plans.
  • Support the Director of Brand Management in development of the State of the Business, 3-year Strategic Marketing Plan and Annual Marketing Plans and planning process.
  • Support in the partnership with and management of media agency (Junction 37), owning flawless execution of specific paid media campaigns, as well as leading performance tracking across all campaign efforts.
  • Lead e-Commerce strategy, activation and agency/vendor management, ensuring we are meeting brand and retailer partner goals.
  • Lead new flavor, product & packaging commercialization and execution projects, inclusive of cross functional team leadership, design and agency management, project management, etc.
  • Partner with Sales team on channel strategy and MAPS (Merchandising, Assortment, Pricing and Shelving plans) for the portfolio.
  • Partner with Sales in creating compelling and impactful sell-in decks for key customer meetings.
  • Partner with Innovation to deliver marketing thought leadership, consumer insights and analysis, etc. in their efforts to create an innovation roadmap and pipeline that delivers business and brand objectives
  • Develop integrated marketing plans to launch new product innovation, and own new product launch performance tracking and optimization plans.
  • Manage the marketing team budget.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree required; MBA a plus
  • 2+ years of relevant marketing and strategy experience from a food or CPG company
  • Agency management, project commercialization and e-commerce experience a must; deep digital marketing experience and expertise a plus
  • Experience developing business strategies and marketing plans, grounded in insights and data, establishing success criteria, measuring performance and identifying learnings and implications.
  • Success leading/supporting cross functional teams in creating and launching integrated marketing campaigns.
  • Proven track record of managing successful paid media campaigns from strategy/development to performance, analysis and optimization.
  • Proven track record of successfully taking commercialization projects from ideation to shelf, inclusive of insight development, forecasting and financial analysis, cross functional project management, etc.
  • MAPS and sales strategy experience.
  • Has very strong analytical skills, adept at forming hypotheses and using data to validate or invalidate them.
  • History of digging into data to discover new insights and identifying implications and actions.
  • Has extensive experience working with large syndicated data sets (Nielsen/Spins) and consumer panel data (Numerator).
  • Has best in class storytelling skills and a high proficiency in creating Powerpoint presentations.
  • Has led existing external partner relationships successfully.
  • Has a strong sense of entrepreneurialism and proactivity. Identifies opportunities and actions against them vs. waiting to be told what to do.
  • Works well in a collaborative environment. Invites and brings others along with them.

ORGANIZATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

The ideal candidate for any role within Icelandic Provisions needs to align to the values by exemplifying WÁOO (pronounced WOW!)  in the way that they lead.  We will naturally be assessing for the “wáoo” factor (i.e., did they “wáoo” you and will they “wáoo” others?)  Here’s how we describe it:  Welcoming, Ámbitious, Optimistic, On with the butter!

  • WELCOMING – Food is one of the greatest connectors we have as humans.  In the English language the word “companion,” in Spanish the word “companero,” in Italian the word “compagno,” and in French the word “copain” all come from the Latin meaning“with whom one eats bread.”  We love this because we are a provisions company, and we value and embrace how food brings us together.  So, it’s only natural that we are looking for talent that is hospitable, welcoming everyone and treating & accepting everyone as this is a core part of the culture at IP.
  • AMBITIOUS – We have big dreams.  We are eager, brave, passionate and love to punch above our weight. We compete in one of the most competitive categories in the consumer-packaged goods retail landscape and we are a small and mighty team.  We are seeking individuals who are smart, entrepreneurial believers who are energized by charging toward a common goal to join our team.
  • OPTIMISTIC – We are a glass half full company.  Iceland is regarded as one of the happiest countries on earth despite being dark for much of the year. We are looking for individuals who are focused on the upside and shy away from negativity and know how to persevere no matter what the circumstances are.
  • ON WITH THE BUTTER! – Put simply we do not like to dilly-dally. We connect dots, move, and then move on. There is an Icelandic phrase that is used to encourage people to get on with it called “áfram með smjörið” which literally translates as “get on with the butter.”  We are seeking individuals who know how to make informed decisions and then quickly action them.

YOU’RE AN IDEAL CANDIDATE IF…

  • You think working in a fast paced, ever changing, entrepreneurial environment is exciting
  • You believe there is always a better way. You ask lots of questions, actively seek the opinions of others and love working collaboratively
  • You are a “Swiss Army Knife” of talents and are comfortable with the often fluid, changing environment of a startup and want to make a positive and lasting impact
  • The unknown, the ill-defined or the uncharted motivates you
  • You are looking for a work environment without a lot of hierarchy, you like empowerment and have a “roll up your sleeves” mentality
  • You have strong analytical skills balanced with a great sense of logic and pragmatism when it comes to problem solving
  • You are self-aware, you pay attention to organizational dynamics, and you are comfortable pacing how you influence and drive organizational change
  • You are both a doer and an optimist

WHAT ICELANDIC PROVISIONS OFFER: 

  • Exciting work environment in a small team and a great deal of autonomy
  • Flexibility to work remotely or in our New York City offices
  • Salary range: $90,000 – $130,000
  • Competitive benefits package including health, dental, vision insurance and 401k matching
  • Flexible paid time off allowing to manage your time as it works for you
  • Delicious Skyr available (for free) in the office