Group VP- Brand and Innovation

As a key member of the Retail Executive Leadership Team, the Group VP for Brand & Innovation reports to the President, Retail and leads the Retail Brand Management and Innovation agenda to accelerate growth, drive excellence in marketing execution E2E, and elevate the company’s portfolio of food brands.  This role serves as the steward of brand equity and innovation excellence, operating with General Manager accountability across the portfolio. The role ensures marketing strategy, innovation pipeline, commercialization, and omnichannel activation are fully aligned to deliver sustainable revenue growth, margin expansion, and long-term enterprise value. 

Essential Functions/Primary Responsibilities: 

• Owns brand portfolio strategy and long-range growth plan, including a robust innovation strategy and pipeline.  Defines and champions a clear brand architecture and positioning strategy across the portfolio. 

• Build differentiated, culturally relevant brands that win with consumers and retail partners. 

• Drive long-range brand planning grounded in insights, financial rigor, and measurable outcomes with a focus on excellence in execution 

• Ensure consistent, high-impact brand expression across packaging, digital, retail media, shopper marketing, PR, and in-store activation. 

• Strengthen retailer partnerships through compelling category insights and joint value creation initiatives 

• Establish clear KPIs linking marketing investment to revenue, share, and margin growth. 

• Drive fact-based prioritization of initiatives based on competitive dynamics, customer segmentation, and financial impact. 

• Implement data and analytics capabilities that inform agile decision-making. 

• Build and lead a high-performing Brand and Innovation organization aligned to future capabilities. 

• Develop top talent through coaching, succession planning, and clear performance accountability. 

• Create an environment that encourages collaboration, ownership, creativity, and continuous improvement. 

• Model enterprise leadership and partnership across Sales, Supply Chain, Finance, and R&D. 

• Lead change initiatives that elevate marketing impact and organizational effectiveness. 

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred. 

• 15+ years of progressive brand management and marketing leadership experience within CPG; food and beverage experience strongly preferred. 

• Demonstrated success building iconic brands and scaling innovation pipelines. 

• Proven ability to deliver profitable growth in multi-channel retail environments. 

• Strong financial acumen and experience managing investment trade-offs. 

• Deep expertise in consumer insights, digital marketing, omnichannel activation, and commercialization excellence. 

• Track record of building high-performing teams and leading organizational transformation. 

Strategic Mindset 

Cultivates Innovation 

Customer Focus 

Collaborates 

Builds Effective Teams 

Courage 

Instills Trust 

Drives Results 

Ensures Accountability

Works in a normal office environment where the employee is regularly required to speak, see, hear, sit, stand, talk, type, walk and bend while moving about the facility.  The noise level in the office is quiet. Extensive travel to each market is required.