Director, US RTD - Innovation - Chicago or NYC

What makes this a great opportunity?

The alc/bev industry is an exciting, dynamic, and fast-paced business. Suntory Global Spirits is a top player in the spirits business and focused on becoming a top player within the Ready to Drink category, capturing new consumers and occasions not currently being serviced by our full bottle strength spirit brands in our key markets

This individual will serve as an integral part of the North America’s RTD innovation team to drive & lead growth in an exciting category will have the opportunity to shape Suntory Global Spirits’ long-term ambitions in the Ready to Drink Space in the US
Opportunity to work on an exciting, priority category – to set and implement brand strategies in conjunction with cross-functionals (R&D, Finance, Consumer Insights, etc.), and to partner with sales / commercial teams to ensure execution of strategies and tactics

Serve as lead brand steward in developing plans to extend Suntory Global Spirits’ presence in the Ready to Drink space in the US

Role Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy at a 3 year and 2030 level across a broad variety of Ready to Drink innovation projects including planning and prioritizing resources to execute agreed upon timelines.
• Ensure the innovation pipeline meets the growth ambition capturing an expected level of failure
• Lead development of new to world RTD’s including concept development, brand identity, positioning, and in-market asset development for all consumer touchpoints
• Partner with core marketing teams to influence the core brand innovation pipeline to unlock best in class innovation plans on a 3 year rolling basis and ready for strategic account timelines
• Manage a cross functional, multi-market team to deliver projects efficiently and effectively, from initial ideation, through concept development, liquid and packaging design, to commercialization in market
• Work side by side with key marketing and consumer insights partners to inspire and facilitate development of products that target emerging and unmet consumer needs
• Direct and influence the R&D product and packaging teams to develop excellence in taste delivery and pack presentation
• Monitor consumer trends in needs, occasions, flavors, and drink experiences, and recommend activities and projects to maintain our position of leadership within the spirits industry.
• Identify and implement best practices within innovation from seed to sip, to develop even better ideas and a more efficient development cycle
• Unlock significant improvement in the cross functional ways of working and closer alignment between the marketing top downsize of prize and sales forecast
• Lead the projects through the gate stage in a timely manner ensuring stakeholders are managed in a timely way.
• Coach, develop and lead direct and indirect reports to building innovation capabilities for all innovation roles and across the RTD business. Partner with the marketing director to unlock best in class core marketing plans.

Qualifications

• 7+ years Consumer Marketing or Brand innovation experience or a similar amount of solid experience in a related field
• BA required, (MBA preferred). Up to 30% travel
• Excellent interpersonal & leadership skills, with ability to communicate effectively in a multicultural, cross functional organization and a strong ability to develop and foster internal and external partnerships.
• Experience in FMCG, beer, beverage, RTD categories where highly agile innovation and strong competitor intensity exists
• Self-starter, flexible and comfortable working in unstructured environment, and able to manage multiple priorities effortlessly.
• Passionate and determined, committed to delivering projects on-time and above expectations
• Demonstrated experience in working across and up, within the organization, gaining credibility amongst peers, managers and other commercial leadership.
• Strong capability in effective decision making and influencing of stakeholders including ability prioritize resources against the biggest wins
• Experience of influencing commercial teams and driving alignment
• Resourceful, with a problem-solving attitude and willingness to think creatively to reach resolutions
• Collaborative and able to build bridges across cross-functional teams and geographies; more specifically strong communicator, active listening skills, ability to listen for feedback and validate and address concerns; and excellent influencing and presentation skills

Salary Range - The salary range for this role, based in Chicago  is $170,000 to $190,000, along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate with the candidate’s location, experience, and skillset. 

Outcomes/Success Criteria

• Grow our top line and profitability to help deliver financial goals for target RTD brands
• Apply competitive, category, consumer, shopper, and retailer insights to identify opportunities and validate and optimize concepts
• Help advance expansive innovation strategy, identifying white spaces, unmet consumer needs, and sources of future growth
• Drive for fewer bigger better innovation projects through PDCA and cross functional working
• Support ongoing innovation tracking and performance monitoring

Competencies – Organizational, Role Specific & Leadership

Organizational Competencies

• Entrepreneurial Approach
• Creating Innovative Solutions
• Beating the Competition….Together

Role Specific Competencies

• Adaptability/Flexibility
• Problem solving/Resolution
• Influence/Negotiate
• Self motivation
• Organizational skills/Planning/Time Management
• Tenacity

Collaboration

• Leadership Competencies
• Delivers impactful results with integrity
• Thinks and acts like an owner
• Inspires engagement, passion and performance
• Builds a winning team
• Consumer centricity and deep understanding of how to assess and deliver against consumer unmet needs