Strategic Portfolio & Innovation Manager at Mondelez International

Purpose:

• The successful candidate will work in partnership with Category Brand team as well as the Insights & Analytics team to develop and lead the innovation strategy and priorities for the Chocolate Category in SSA, based on deep consumer insights, brand strategy and positioning, to ensure future growth of the brand/category across markets.
• Working alongside cross functional teams, you will be responsible for executing commercial innovation plans from idea to execution, ensuring they are integrated into the broader marketing communication plans and campaigns.
• You will be responsible for the delivery of innovation and initiatives that are both incremental and profitable to support growth for the brand and category, and for leading the performance tracking against key performance indicators post-launch.

What you will bring:

The following experience and knowledge, as well as a desire to drive your future and accelerate your career:

• Marketing, ideally in a matrix environment in the Consumer goods industry
• Developing and managing product Innovation strategy and pipelines at a cross-country level
• Ability to build strong working relationships, working & collaborating effectively with other marketing disciplines and cross-functional teams
• Stakeholder management
• Analytical, commercial and creative skills—a balance of creative, commercial and strategic acumen
• Strong analytical skills to interpret data to further understand our consumers, shoppers and market trends in order to identify growth opportunities.
• Communicating effectively, verbally and in writing, and executive presentation skills

Key Responsibilities:

• Reporting to the Category Marketing Director, the Portfolio Strategy & Innovation Manager – Chocolate, SAROA is required to:
• Lead the development of the Brand Innovation Strategies and 3-year Innovation funnel
• Lead Innovation projects, including value enhancement and new product development (NPD), from ideation through to execution, ensuring launches are achieved within agreed timelines
• Idea to market, best in class project management including realistic and timely critical path management as well as conflict resolution
• Analyse data to identify business opportunities and propose portfolio improvements to increase brand efficiency and focus                
• Identify and understand key market trends                                                                                                 
• Liaise and manage key stakeholders to ensure project buy-in, whilst unpacking cost, capacity, capability, and complexity of innovation projects
• Deliver Net Revenue, Volume, GP% targets; assess required marketing investment; and assess and track incrementality on projects executed.
• Complete post-launch evaluation in partnership with the Brand team, and ensure monitoring the performance against key performance indicators
• Stakeholder management and the ability to influence key stakeholders throughout the Innovation process.

Key Stakeholders include:

• Brand Management teams
• Project Commercialization Managers
• Category Planning and Activation / Trade Marketing teams,
• Category Development teams
• Research & Development,
• Supply Chain,
• Procurement,
• National and Key Account Managers

Key Criteria required:

• Tertiary Qualification in Marketing or related field of study
• Minimum 6 year’s experience within Marketing
• Minimum of 2 years as the Innovation / Portfolio Manager / Senior Brand Manager or in a similar role (Marketing, Brand and/or Project Management)
• Proven experience in Marketing/Brand strategy & and Innovation management
• Proven experience leading and managing Innovation projects from end-to-end
• Project management experience  
• Effective stakeholder management skills
• Self-motivated
• Bigger picture thinker
• Resilience and ability to adapt in forever changing business contexts
• Strong communication skills
• Team player with strong leadership skills