Senior Brand Manager Rajah

Work Level:  2A

Reports to: Nutrition Southern Africa Marketing Lead

Scope: Southern Africa Nutrition

Location: La Lucia Ridge / 61 Katherine Street

Terms & Conditions: Full time; SA Citizens only

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

NUTRITION SOUTHERN AFRICA

Our vision is to be a world class value creating Nutrition business that delivers consistent category value, by providing affordable, deliciously nutritious foods, powered by trusted strong brands in every South African kitchen every day. The SNA Nutrition business is a profitable business valued at R5.5bn.

Nutrition Southern Africa consists of 3 core categories: Seasonings (25 %) Bouillons (18 %) Soup (40%). With high volume and value share that we must focus on landing our top dish strategy to maintain and grow share across modern trade and traditional trade.

JOB PURPOSE

Find your purpose at Unilever. You will lead innovations, big and small, that will make our business win and grow. You will learn from brilliant business leaders and colleagues in a truly global and diverse culture to ultimately become a better you. If you are  keen to lead the development and execution of national brand marketing plans to deliver financial and market share ambitions; Engage on the Brand Purpose and innovation/renovation agenda for South Africa; End to End ownership of Rajah Brand in Southern Africa strategic ambitions and activity plans; Support the Marketing Director in developing the team through capability building and representing the Nutrition agenda where necessary,  then this role is just for you.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• Lead the development of the brand strategy and brand marketing plan for Rajah brand .
• Understand and uncover root issues and opportunities across the 6Ps
• Understand and build insights from retailer, customer, shopper and consumers into actionable plans
• Work with the global team and brand community to influence and shape brand strategy, and integrate these into local brand plans and 8Q rolling plans
• Develop clear JTBD and activity schedules arising from these JTBD
• Lead the development and execution of activity plans on time, in full
• Develop cost effective annual activity plans to execute the strategies and targets agreed
• Lead execution of plan, including media planning, digital programs, PR, events, in-store and sponsorship.
• Lead cross functional Sales & Operational Planning on the brand (and where necessary across category)
• Lead cross functional teams to ensure successful execution of launch plans and post launch evaluation
• Manage the brand budget to ensure spend is in line with agreements
• Constantly review brand and initiative performance for ongoing improvement
• People management and development - develop the capabilities (SOL) and business/marketing skills of the ABMs’

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

Minimum:

• Relevant Degree or equivalent
• 5+ years of relevant work experience
• Experience in managing a complex portfolio (e.g. sub-brands, formats, local/global networks)

Preferred:

• Brand Mix Development:
• Leading local mix development
• Experience in managing a Brand restage
• Experience in delivering brand growth strategy
• Localizing and Executing Brand Plans
• Landing Shopper Focused Activity plans in Shoprite and Independent/Traditional Trade
• Leveraging PR and/or Digital to drive brand plans
• Competitive Battle:
• Leading a competitive battle in the context of a portfolio of brands
• Strong rigor and analytical skills in surfacing issues and opportunities for the brand

Skills

• Strong business/financial acumen
• Consumer and customer focus – curiosity, ability to uncover relevant insights and translate these into actionable plans
• Ability to assess business challenges, articulate these, and drive right levels of influence across all stakeholders and cross functional teams
• Strong understanding and management of S&OP
• Growth mindset – a winning, competitive mindset
• Commercial Acumen & Net Revenue Management
• Brand Guardianship
• Brand Activity Planning

Leadership

• You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team deliver with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.
• You are still responsible for your own results and as a manager, you also need to motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate around you. You can balance challenge with support and coaching. You understand the wider business context and you are emotionally intelligent enough to motivate people to deliver what is needed.

• Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors
  • PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.
  • PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.
  • TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.
  • PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
  • CONSUMER LOVE: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
  • BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicates from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an equal opportunities employer and committed to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.  We are intentional in employing the best talent that reflects the demographics of our country and which will help build representation of currently under-represented groups. We therefore invite applications from all candidates representing diversity of age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief. When appointing potential candidates, the South African Employment Equity and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Legislation will be considered. 

We are required by law to verify your ability to work lawfully in South Africa. If you are applying as a foreign national, please note that you may be requested to provide supporting documents supporting this.

This is an office-based role and requires 100% of time attendance on site.

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.