Our client is an amazing internationally recognised values driven organisation seeking an Interim Portfolio Manager to join their team on a maternity cover contract of 9-12 months. This is a full time hybrid position, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with the flexibility to choose the days you wish to work from their stunning offices in Oxfordshire. Reporting into the Group Product Manager, you will lead the brand planning process for your specific portfolio, identify opportunities to improve profitability, and inspire ideas from concept to execution and post-launch review.
This exciting and varied role will include the following key responsibilities:
- Be the expert and champion of your portfolio internally and externally
- Work closely with Group Product Manager and Senior Innovation Manager to identify manufacturing/capability requirements to deliver the portfolio strategies.
- Lead the brand plan inputs and analysis for your UK portfolio to develop an NPD/EPD roadmap for the range.
- Proactively reach out to the whole team for relevant brand planning inputs.
- Own and deliver the inputs for your portfolio going into cross-functional meetings, to get the maximum engagement and alignment from the business, keeping projects running on time and on brief.
- Champion the consumers by keeping them front of mind and keeping projects on brief
- Lead projects from ideation through all gates, championing them through the process, presenting all requirements to pass each gate, including reporting the P+L, making clear recommendations to key stakeholders and ensuring the gate sign off process is achieved on time
- Work closely with the Junior Product Manager to ensure that projects are aligned to the portfolio strategy and achieve the desired outcomes for the range.
- Own the delivery of stand-out packaging (design + pack format) for your portfolio through the gate process, striving for right first time.
- Brief design agency (look, feel and structure of packaging), leading the process from concept development to artwork release, making recommendations and gaining inputs and approvals from the right stakeholders at the right time.
- Work closely with Technical Team to confirm packaging formats, cutter guides / guidelines, inputting into pack copy GRIDS, providing product imagery for review and approving final artwork files from repro and printers.
- Make packaging budget recommendations for your portfolio to Group Product Manager.
- Develop a deep expertise of the UK and international marketplaces, retail dynamics, consumer and shopper behaviour via consumer + category insights, relevant press + store visits and industry relevant events
- Manage UK NPD insight projects related to your portfolio using all the available insight tools (consumer panels, Brand Health Check, U&A, pen portraits etc.) and other data sources from internal teams
- Make recommendations and share insight with key stakeholders to drive your projects forward, delivering against consumer needs
- Ensure your insight projects come in on time and on budget.
- Make insight budget recommendations for your portfolio to Group Product Manager
- Share and collaborate with the wider marketing team, contributing your passion and ideas.
The skills, experience and qualities needed for the role:
- Solid portfolio management experience, ideally within FMCG.
- A successful record of developing products from concept to launch across different markets
- Experience of commissioning and using insight to guide product development
- Experience of managing packaging design, from brief through to approval
- Naturally creative, with an imaginative approach to innovation, product development and problem solving
- Great commercial skills
- Excellent influencing skills – the ability to persuade stakeholders of the commercial and brand value of our product proposition
- Demonstrable ability to live and breathe the client’s sustainable and inclusive values