Brand Manager

At Russell Stover not only do we love chocolate, but we love our jobs! Every day we go to work exhibiting our values of excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. Working at Russell Stover you’ll be part of the leading manufacturer of boxed, seasonal, and sugar-free chocolates. For over 100 years, our American-made brands – Russell Stover Chocolates, Whitman’s, and Pangburn’s – have been crafted with the finest ingredients to bring happiness to generations. Today, we produce over 55 million pounds of chocolate annually, and our legacy brands can be found in 13 company-owned stores and over 9,000 wholesale accounts. Join our team and let’s continue making chocolate lovers happy! 

A day in the life…

As a Brand Manager, you must have a passion for brand management to join our dynamic and growing Marketing Team. In this role, you are responsible for developing plans and executing projects and initiatives for their assigned brand segment or portfolio, which support both the short and long-term marketing strategy. You will find yourself collaborating cross-functionally to ensure the brand remains relevant to consumers, drives profitable corporate growth, and that all activities support brand equity. You will take a lead in managing vendor and agency partners and all aspects of their projects.

While this role is very analytical and requires strong attention to detail, it is also highly collaborative both within the Marketing team as well as key stakeholders across Sales, R&D, Finance, and Operations. You will be an ideal candidate if you have a strong foundation in CPG brand management. Based on performance and career progression, your role presents significant opportunities for growth within Russell Stover and opens up possibilities within Lindt & Sprüngli worldwide.

What you will be doing…

Marketing Strategy

• Develop consumer-relevant, annual marketing plans which contribute to sales, profit, and brand health objectives and execute for the assigned brand
• Leverage working knowledge of consumer, category, and brand and continually identify and recommend business-building initiatives which deliver against the company's business and marketing objectives.
• Thoroughly understand the Russell Stover Brand and sub-brands. Develop brand plans and initiatives, including PR, digital support, promotions, packaging, and creative, which fully align and strengthen the brand’s positioning.

Research and Analytics

• Lead or conduct routine analysis of the brand, key initiative, competition, category, customer, and consumer. Synthesize key findings and indications which enhance brand and company performance.
• Lead and assist with insight, gathering research that collects consumer and competitive knowledge that can be utilized to enhance and evolve the brand's product development, promotional acceptance, and communication evolution, among others.
• Maintain a thorough understanding of internal brand metrics, such as sales and profit, and contribute to sales projections and financial planning.

Product/Portfolio Management

• Responsible for managing an assigned portfolio to include SKU rationalization, mix strategies, and profit optimization.
• Responsible for meeting the full portfolio P&L
• Evaluate product portfolio and the marketplace and make recommendations for new product launches and product improvements to ensure Russell Stover’s growth and brand relevance in the marketplace.
• Analyze market potentials on an ongoing basis for existing and new products and develop competitive concepts to ensure the long-term, profitable growth of the Russell Stover business
• Analyze viability and profit/sales potential for new segments, markets, and consumers.
• Develop and implement strategies and plans to maximize the profitability of assigned products/product categories while maintaining consistent quality standards.
• Manage NPD development from ideation and concept to launch working with R&D, Operations, Production, Engineering, and Creative. Secure and engage cross-functional support to meet required deliverables in a timely manner.

Brand/Customer Support

• Develop marketing communication plans including consumer promotions, digital and social media, and PR.
• Communicate regularly with the Sales Directors, Field Sales Force, and Trade Marketing to ensure that marketing programs are properly implemented.
• Attend sales calls and actively participate in selling at the customer level.

Do you have what it takes? 

(Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree
• 5 years of marketing experience
• Proficient in using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Do you stand above the rest?

(Preferred Qualifications)

• MBA
• Marketing experience within CPG focused on brand management; chocolate industry experience highly preferred
• Project management and leadership skills
• Confident Problem Solver / Solution-driven individual
• Able to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Displays a commitment to continuous self-improvement to develop critical marketing management skills
• Strong time management skills to accomplish tasks and meet projects deadlines

At Russell Stover Chocolates, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community. Russell Stover Chocolates is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

We provide equal-employment opportunities to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition, genetic information, military service, veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.

Employment by Russell Stover Chocolates is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, education verification, and satisfactory reference and background checks.

Make Happy. Work Happy.