Job Description:
Senior Brand Manager, Cheez-It®
Position Summary
The Senior Brand Manager, Cheez-It® is a strategic brand steward and business leader responsible for helping shape the growth agenda for one of the most recognized, beloved, and iconic brands in the snacking category. This pivotal role will translate consumer, shopper, category, and business insights into clear brand strategy, integrated activation plans, innovation priorities, and commercial actions that strengthen the Cheez-It® brand position in the minds and hearts of consumers across core, tentpole, portfolio, omni, and innovation growth opportunities.
Key Responsibilities
Brand Strategy & Business Leadership
- Lead development and execution of annual and long-range brand plans for Cheez-It®, ensuring clear linkage between brand ambition, consumer needs, portfolio priorities, and business objectives.
- Translate data and insights into strategic choices that drive household penetration, purchase occasions, share growth, profitability, and long-term brand health.
- Manage business performance through ongoing consumption, shipment, share, margin, and P&L analysis; identify risks and opportunities and recommend action plans to deliver commitments.
- Partner with Sales, Finance, Insights, Category Strategy, R&D, Supply Chain, Shopper, Omni, Media, PR, Legal, and agency partners to align the organization behind the brand growth agenda.
Consumer, Communications & Cultural Relevance
- Champion deep understanding of the Cheez-It® brand’s target audiences, snacking occasions, category dynamics, and cultural growth spaces.
- Develop integrated marketing strategies and briefs that connect brand positioning, product benefits, and cultural relevance across consumer touchpoints.
- Orchestrate agency partners through creative, media, PR, social, shopper, and experiential planning to deliver breakthrough brand-building work with clear objectives and measurable outcomes.
- Help ensure Cheez-It® shows up consistently and distinctively across major tentpoles, moments, and activations.
Innovation, Portfolio & Commercial Growth
- Shape the consumer-led innovation and renovation pipeline that strengthens the core, accelerates priority sublines, unlocks new occasions, and drives recruitment.
- Guide cross-functional commercialization from insight and concept through business case, package development, demand planning, sales sell-in, launch readiness, and post-launch optimization.
- Partner with Category Strategy, Customer Marketing, and Customer teams to build compelling retailer stories, merchandising recommendations, and activation plans that improve assortment, shelf productivity, display quality, and conversion.
- Assess and prioritize growth opportunities across innovation, licensing, limited-time offers, partnerships, and emerging snacking needs.
Leadership & Ways of Working
- Operate as a high-impact cross-functional leader who creates clarity, drives alignment, and accelerates decision-making.
- Coach, develop, and support marketing talent where applicable, building capability in brand strategy, analytics, execution, and enterprise leadership.
- Model strong ownership, intellectual curiosity, and accountability for both strategic thinking and flawless execution.
- Influence senior stakeholders through clear storytelling, sound business judgment, and fact-based recommendations.
What We’re Looking For
- Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Marketing, Business, Finance, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- 8+ years of progressive experience in brand management, marketing, commercial strategy, innovation, or related CPG roles.
- Strong strategic marketing capability, including experience developing brand strategy, integrated marketing plans, creative briefs, and commercial growth plans.
- Excellent analytical and financial acumen, including experience managing P&L drivers, budgets, forecasts, business cases, and performance dashboards.
- Proven ability to lead and influence cross-functional teams and external agency partners in a fast-paced, collaborative stakeholder environment.
- Strong communication, storytelling, and presentation skills, with the ability to simplify complex information and influence leadership decisions.
- Consumer-first orientation, passion for building iconic brands, and ability to translate cultural and category trends into growth-driving action.
The ideal candidate is a commercial, consumer-obsessed brand builder who can both set the strategy and drive the business day to day. You bring the judgment to protect and strengthen Cheez-It® brand’s distinctive equity, the creativity to unlock culturally relevant growth, and the operating discipline to convert plans into measurable results. As a senior marketing leader, you are comfortable with ambiguity, energized by cross-functional leadership, and motivated by the opportunity to shape the future of a beloved, high-momentum brand.
At Mars, The Five Principles of Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom guide how we do business today and every day, Our Five Principles are the essence of Mars and inspire our approximately 170,000 Associates to act every day to help create a better world for people, pets and the planet.
What can you expect from Mars?
- Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
- Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
#LI-KS1
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.
The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 134,400.00 - USD 184,800.00
