Senior Brand Manager, Axe Innovation

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance.

At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world.

Axe is an iconic legacy brand that plays an important role in the US Antiperspirant & Deodorant and Skin Cleansing categories. This brand has always been known for breakthrough innovation and boundary-pushing campaigns. As the Innovation lead in the US for US model, the Senior Brand Manager is responsible for developing, leading, and delivering innovation projects across Deodorants and Skin Cleansing that align to the brand’s ongoing three-year strategic roadmap.

The role reports to the Head of Axe NA and will be based in the United States, supporting across product, communications, and strategy. The US is a highly strategic cell for Unilever, making this a high-visibility role with significant scope for independent brand and team stewardship, agency and cross-functional leadership, and creativity.

A successful candidate will demonstrate passion, entrepreneurial spirit, and strong executional leadership, while helping Axe accelerate growth, deepen consumer connection, and deliver a powerful innovation agenda in the US. Given Axe’s legacy in fragrance, this candidate will require passion and expertise in the ever-evolving male fragrance category.

The Senior Brand Manager will help shape and execute the strategic vision and growth roadmap for Axe in the US. This includes developing, leading, and delivering the innovation plans for the Deodorants and Skin Cleansing categories while ensuring the roadmap ladders up to the brand’s long-term growth ambition and cultural relevance agenda.

The Senior Brand Manager will serve as a key point of contact for the cross functional team, while liaising with Global Axe counterparts to identify what the US can leverage. This role will partner with CMI, R&D, Supply Chain, Claims and Legal, Artwork Excellence, Fragrance, Finance, Packaging, and Creative Services to ensure a robust innovation funnel and deliver against innovation needs

The role will support and help drive Unmissable Brand Superiority for Axe by partnering across the system:
Technical Project Leadership to deliver superior technology, CMI to maximize consumer impact, Supply Chain to expedite capabilities and maximize efficiency, Claims and Legal to develop and support superiority claims, and Finance to build profitable business cases. This will require influencing, inspiring, and driving teams - often virtually and remotely - to ensure on-time and in-full delivery.

The Senior Brand Manager will collaborate with agency partners to craft winning design and communications, with best-in-class digital and content for launch. They will fully understand Axe’s performance, challenges, and opportunities in market to tailor the activity plan and strategy to win, while maximizing synergies and resources wherever possible. The role is also accountable for analyzing Axe’s US performance and competitor intelligence, proactively identifying issues and opportunities that drive decisions or feed into innovation planning.

In addition, this leader will partner closely with the broader brand team, contributing to an inclusive and high-performing environment.

________________________________________

• 6-8 years of relevant branding/marketing innovation experience
• Expertise in the US male fragrance category
• A creative eye for design
• Exhibit the Unilever Power Behaviors
• Care Deeply:
  Shows genuine care for consumers, customers, teams,…