Senior Brand Manager of Cereal Innovation

In Big G, we believe in the power of cereal to change lives. With nearly 4 consecutive years of share growth, we are soundly positioned as the leader of the $8.3B Cereal Category, with $2.4B in annual sales. As we look forward and chart a course towards undisputed leadership of a growing cereal category, essential to our success will be our ability to deliver consumer-first innovation that meets evolving consumer, customer, and business needs.

The Big G team is looking for a Senior Brand Manager of Cereal Innovation who will develop a balanced portfolio of new products that will help return the cereal category to growth. Our innovation portfolio consists of both brand strengthening innovation and category expanding innovation, both of which are critical to category health and growth potential. In this role, you will lead brand strengthening innovation on established brands such as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, and Reese’s Puffs; build a joyful pipeline of culturally relevant and exciting news such as PJ Masks and Dunkaroos cereals; and invite lapsing consumers back to the category, by meeting new and emerging consumer needs and building new brands to deliver against them - such as our new Wonderworks KETO-Friendly cereals. You will lead activation across the 4Ps, building a TPO for each launch that meets consumer needs and delivers on our customers’ desire to unlock category growth. As you build holistic annual innovation plans, you will be accountable to deliver ~$120MM in annual RNS, with strong incrementality to both General Mills and the broader cereal category. The growth you deliver will be critical not only to the Morning Foods OU, but also to NAR.

The Morning Foods OU and Family Favorites BU (FFBU) is exciting place to be right now. We have iconic brands, we are leaders in the cereal category, and we are ready to lean in and return the cereal category to growth. We win as a team and are looking for an agile and creative leader to deliver breakthrough innovation.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Build and own the rolling 3-year Cereal Innovation Strategy through Commercialization. Assess opportunities for growth exposure, solidify clear strategies, develop innovation solutions and commercialize pipeline to deliver sustainable brand growth and deliver financial forecast (RNS & Profit) 
• Orchestrate innovation initiatives across all 4Ps to deliver on the F22+ metrics including a monthly and quarterly P&L review to inform shifts to plans to deliver financial targets 
• Partner with key cross-functional team members to profitably grow share and distribution, and win with key customers 
• Bring ideas and pilot new ways of innovating and experimenting, throughout every phase of the Consumer First Design process, including the post-launch phase. 
• Collaborate across NAR with key stakeholders in the Innovation process, including iSquad, Sparks team, PEAK team and ITQ leadership. 
• Unleash the power of people by empowering and developing team through Engaging Leader behaviors and across a very large portfolio with 5 direct reports.
• Engage and inspire the extended, cross-functional innovation team through regular touch-points that build culture, provide critical business context, and develop new skillsets and ways of working. 
• Propose how projects are resourced and navigate organization to secure cross-functional resources by leading a weekly cross-functional manager team meeting 
• Steward Morning Foods OU PMR process and facilitate the monthly meeting with the OU Leadership team.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree and 9+ years of work/internship experience, ideally background in: CPG Brand Management or P&L 
• Ownership/General Management experience 
• Large, matrixed organization experience 
• Success in leading & coaching others

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• MBA 
• Experience as Brand Manager or similar role 
• Ability to strategically choose levers to balance short-term commitments and long-term brand health 
• Understand P&L mechanics and how to impact topline and bottom-line drivers 
• Comfortable pitching brand plans to internal and external customer stakeholders 
• Ability to identify and evaluate brand building ideas across 4Ps and make connections across other brands in portfolio 
• Ability to determine how to use 4Ps to achieve brand strategy and goals 
• Demonstrate comfort and capability with brands in all stages of growth