Senior Brand Manager, John Frieda

We are Kao, listed as one of the world’s most ethical companies for the last 20 years. Our EMEA brand portfolio spans across three sectors;
Consumer Care (John Frieda, Guhl, Bondi Sands, Bioré, Jergens, Curél), Professional Hair (Goldwell, Oribe, KMS Hair, Kerasilk), and Molton Brown. 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 will identify and develop compelling new product opportunities while owning complex innovation projects from initial idea through development to launch.

Working in an 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, feasibility or 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, emerging technologies and competitive activity to identify new opportunities for John Frieda. Translate these into compelling innovation territories, product concepts and recommendations.
• Turn opportunities into propositions that can win. Combine consumer insight, brand strategy, technical possibilities and commercial understanding to develop distinctive product concepts and stories, including claims, naming, design and copy.
• Build compelling innovation stories. Translate consumer insights, trends, technologies and product benefits into clear, distinctive and engaging stories that bring innovation to life, create excitement and 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 and identify and 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…