Senior Brand Manager

ROLE TITLE: Senior Brand Manager - Ice Cream Innovation

REPORTS TO: Regional Brand Development Manager - Ice Cream

LOCATION: Bangkok

DIRECT REPORTS: N/A

BACKGROUND

Innovation is a key function responsible for the generation of insight and landing of Transformational Action primarily focusing on New Product Development, Core Renovation, and Disruptive Innovations.

SCOPE

Innovation will be focusing on 2 pillars:

- New Product Development (NPD) and Core Innovations: The focus here will be on funnel innovations and renovations of the core and NPD. We will help the business generate & implement high growth & market/trend responsive innovations in a short time. We will do that by delivering bigger, faster & leaner innovations, & implementing a new suite of approaches & toolkits in developing and testing innovations.
- The Disruptive Innovations: It is all about Game Changers in this pillar. We will identify and introduce new to the world products & services, and new business models. This will include adjacencies, channels, and brand experiences as well as M&As (mergers and acquisitions) and Partnerships (licensing). We will identify and utilize macro trends, Innovation metrics, monitoring & feedback to come up with disruptive innovation ideas and move them from ideation only to implementation (including prototyping, launch models, etc.)

DELIVERABLES

This role will be responsible for driving innovation GROWTH and ensuring profitable innovation for Unilever Ice Cream in SEA & ID, and not just about generating and testing new ideas. We will get there through rapid build/measure/learn loops as well as best-in-class research approach and implementation of cheaper and more agile research tools without sacrificing the required rigour.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Identify & integrate consumer insights into various innovation projects. This will include funnel innovations & renovations on Core and NPD.
- Lead different innovation research projects from ideation/co-creation workshops to final testing of the full mix, using a differentiated pathway of methodologies depending on innovation type and risk to Unilever.
- Ruthless simplification of all systemic processes and standardizing & automating research methods.
- Lead meta learnings, cross-pollination, innovation monitoring and real time management of innovation projects.
- Be responsible for building and developing relationships with the global-wide Innovation team and across key business partners including CMI (consumer market insights), CTI (consumer technical insights), Marketing, R&D and Finance.

COMPETENCIES:

- You should be _proactive_ in identifying new trends and innovation ideas on various categories and acting with speed & agility in landing them with the business partners.
- You should be _connected externally_ with the latest competitive moves, innovation ideas and trends.
- You need to demonstrate _strong collaboration, communication & presentation skills_ as you will be required to give internal
- presentations to senior brand and category leadership teams.
- You should have a _founder mentality_ & _Bias for Action_ in speed and simplification to embrace new disruptive innovation ideas that transform the business and unlock growth opportunities.

SKILLS/EXPERIENCES/QUALIFICATIONS:

- 6+ years’ experience in Brand Marketing, Consumer Insights and Market Research
- Personal passion for Innovations & Trends
- Innovation research experience
- Strong project management skills
- Good analytical thinking and communication skills to present clearly, simplify complex topics and influence decision-making
- Strong communication skills both written and verbal
- Ability to prioritize and deliver pipeline of innovations across brands and workstreams
- Comfortable working with data (analysis, synthesis and interpretation)
- Comfortable working independently and as part of a virtual and global team, including reporting to a line manager not based in in the same location.
- Resourceful and able to upskill yourself on new tools and systems through online learning and support from co-located agency partners
- A team player: accountable, open minded who likes to work in rapid and agile way