Senior Brand Manager, John Frieda

We are Kao, listed as one of the world’s most ethical companies for the last 20 years.

Our corporate philosophy, The Kao Way, guides us in everything we do – acting with integrity, courageously driving innovation, and treating each other with trust and respect.

The Senior Brand Manager will join the Global John Frieda Innovation & Portfolio Strategy team, helping to shape what comes next for the brand and taking ownership for making it happen. The role combines strategic and creative innovation thinking with hands-on, end-to-end project leadership. You willidentifyand develop compelling new product opportunities while owning complex innovation projects frominitialidea through development to launch.

Working in a international and cross-functional environment, you will partner closely with R&D, Kaihatsu, Packaging Development, Legal & Regulatory, Communications, Supply Chain and regional and local Commercial teams.

Own and drive complex innovation projects end-to-end. Lead New Product Development projects through the Stage Gate process, from initial opportunity through development and launch. Own timelines, deliverables and critical dependencies; anticipate risks, identify gaps and resolve issues to keep projects moving forward.

Lead the cross-functional project team. Be the central Marketing lead connecting R&D, Kaihatsu, Packaging Development, Legal & Regulatory, Supply Chain, Communications and Commercial teams. Create clarity on actions and decisions, follow through with discipline and ensure teams remain aligned against the overall objective.

Solve problems and navigate change. Innovation rarely follows a straight line. Respond quickly and constructively when formulas, claims, costs, timings,feasibilityor market requirements change, bringing the right people together and driving pragmatic solutions without losing sight of the consumer proposition.

Shape what comes next. Stay close to consumers, culture, beauty trends, emergingtechnologiesand competitive activity toidentifynew opportunities for John Frieda. Translate these into compelling innovation territories, productconceptsand recommendations.

Turn opportunities into propositions that can win. Combine consumer insight, brand strategy, technicalpossibilitiesand commercial understanding to develop distinctive product concepts and stories, including claims, naming,designand copy.

Build compelling innovation stories. Translate consumer insights, trends,technologies and product benefits into clear,distinctiveand engaging stories that bring innovation to life, createexcitementand make the proposition easy to understand and sell across markets and audiences.

Bring commercial discipline to innovation. Evaluate opportunities against consumer relevance, market potential, portfolio role, feasibility,scalability and cost. Manage Cost of Goods andidentifyand drive TCR/value-engineering opportunities while protecting the consumer experience and brand proposition.

Help shape the Innovation Masterplan. Bring a clear point of view on future growth opportunities, informed by global trends, competitive activity, consumer needs and brand and product performance. Help prioritize where the brand should – and should not – invest

Partner closely with our markets. Build strong relationships with regional and local Commercial teams, incorporating their market expertise throughout development and ensuring they have compelling propositions and tools to maximize in-market success

• Create alignment and influence decisions. Present recommendations clearly and confidently, facilitate discussion across different perspectives and constructively challenge thinking to drive strong decisions and maintain momentum

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