Assistant Brand Manager

The Assistant Brand Manager supports the planning, execution, and optimization of marketing programs to drive brand growth in the local market. You will lead insight-driven execution across social, media, retail, and sampling, working closely with cross-functional teams and agencies to ensure integrated, on-brand delivery. You will serve as a central resource for performance reporting and analysis, translating complex data into clear recommendations that guide strategy, media investment, and commercial planning.

You will also support budget tracking and financial planning, and helps bring innovation to life by collaborating on inputs to the BD team to successfully launch new products.

At Kao, we offer amazing benefits that are available to you on your first day of employment (healthcare, 401(k) plus company match), 36 total days off (vacation + holidays + sick) and a reasonable salary range of $90,000 - $100,000. We also offer a hybrid work schedule (Needs to be in Cincinnati area or willing to relocate to the area).

• Support integrated brand activation efforts (social, PR, influencer, Tik Tok Shop, sampling, retail, and/or paid media), in alignment to brand strategy and business objectives
• Review and guide agency-led concepts and executions, elevating work to ensure it is insight-led, on-brand, and platform-appropriate
• Partner cross-functionally with Trade Marketing, Consumer Engagement, Legal, and Media teams to ensure integrated, compliant, and effective execution
• Collaborate with other team members, providing prioritization, feedback, and context to elevate execution and impact
• Share key learnings, best practices, and insights with Business Division and other country partners to support alignment and capability building

• Guide the development and ongoing evolution of performance dashboards and reporting tools to support decision-making
• Synthesize consumer, category, and competitive insights to identify opportunities, risks, and key performance drivers
• Lead insight-driven analyses and retrospectives to inform strategic planning, optimization, and prioritization
• Recommend actions to take based on data and insights

• Support P&L management by tracking marketing spend, consolidating budget inputs, monitoring variances, and flagging risks or optimization opportunities
• Partner with Finance to understand forecasts, investment trade-offs, and financial implications of brand decisions
• Contribute insight-based input into annual planning and budgeting processes
• Support innovation plans with BD/ Global teams building from knowledge of consumer, brand and market

• Implement a learning mindset for themselves to stay current on trends, resource allocation & industry capabilities to close existing gaps & develop relevant capabilities in the future.
• Foster a positive, fact based, growth-minded, and collaborative team environment within team, department, and cross-functionally. Champion professional development and individual growth while driving performance, alignment, and engagement across the Kao organization.

• Bachelor's degree required in Business Administration or a related field, MBA preferred
• 5+ years of relevant CPG or marketing related experience; knowledge of and experience with beauty brands and /or categories preferred
• Experience with Data Analytics tools such as Circana, You Scan, Scintilla, Numerator, & Retailer POS
• Creative and proven ability to collaborate, while also working independent as appropriate.

A friendly and flexible work environment with great compensation packages, benefits package, ongoing development and the opportunity to enhance your skills and deliver tangible results. At Kao your voice will be heard. Your opinion really counts. We believe that change comes from taking opportunities into your own hands, so we value and reward thinking and new ideas.

Kao USA is an equal opportunity employer, including disability/vets.