Associate Manager, Business Unit; Condiments

Associate Manager, Business Unit (Condiments)

At Winland Foods, our success starts with people who live our values of Excellence, Quality, Integrity, Respect, and Collaboration every day. If you're looking for a role with real ownership, broad exposure to general management leadership, and the opportunity to collaborate with top retailers, we'd love to talk.

In this role, you will:

• Own the strategy and financial performance of a ~$100M sauces business.
• Drive innovation across some of North America's largest retailers.
• Lead cross-functional teams to bring new products from concept through commercialization.
• Build skills that prepare you for future Business/General Manager or Brand Manager leadership roles through broad exposure to strategy, commercialization, finance, innovation, operations, and customer engagement.

Winland Foods may not be a household name because our name isn't on the package—but our products are found at many of North America's leading retailers. As part of the Windoria Group and financially sponsored by Invest industrial, we manufacture private label and branded foods across 12 categories from 29 facilities in the U.S., Canada and Italy. By partnering with many of the world's largest retailers and food service companies, you'll influence multiple brands rather than a single consumer brand.

We believe that great food starts with great people. That's why we're proud to have a company culture that's rooted in creativity, collaboration, and respect for each other and the world around us. From our leaders on the plant floor to our R&D scientists, every member of our team is valued and respected for their unique skills, ideas, and contributions. We believe that by working together, we can create a better, more delicious, and more sustainable food future for everyone.

Success in this role requires a self-starter with growth mindset and bias for action as well as strategic thinking, financial/business acumen, analytical rigor, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to influence cross-functional teams to deliver profitable growth.

Employee Type:
Full time

Location:

IL Oak Brook

Job Type: Marketing

Schedule:

Hybrid office schedule; T-W-TH in office

Work Location:

2015 Spring Road Suite 400, Oak Brook, IL 60523

Benefits:
Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k) with match, STD/LTD/AD&D/Life, HSA, FSA, EAP, Hospital indemnity, Accident Insurance, Identity and Fraud Protection Plan, Legal, and Critical Illness.

Salary, based on experience and other qualifications: $73k - $109k annually with additional bonus potential

Reporting to the Business Unit Director, the Associate Manager will have responsibility for the ~$100M Sauces category within the Condiments Business Unit with the following key responsibilities:

Business Performance & Strategy

• Develops annual and long-range business plans that deliver profitable growth, market share gains, and innovation objectives.
• Owns the Sauces category P&L in partnership with Finance. Understands the drivers influencing the P&L to meet and exceed financial plans.
• Develops and executes objectives to achieve the strategic business plan. Identifies any gaps to plan and recommends corrective actions.
• Leads and motivates cross-functional teams to accomplish new product plans, renovation projects, and simplification efforts that support the business.
• Applies knowledge of product and competitive strengths and weaknesses, developing defensive strategies as needed.
• Collaborates with Supply Chain and Demand Planning to develop demand forecasts that optimize customer service, inventory, and profitability.

Category, Consumer & Competitive Expertise

• Provides ongoing reporting and analysis of Sauces category dynamics, including sales, velocity, distribution, pricing, and promotional performance.
• Leverages syndicated data (Circana/Nielsen), Technomic, Mintel, AI-enabled analytics tools, and market research to identify emerging trends and provide selling stories for key initiatives.
• Understands and monitors competitive landscape, including new item launches and performance.

Communication

• Serves as the daily primary contact for business guidance, decisions, communication and management for the Sauces category, acting with a sense of urgency to provide direction.
• Creates category and product presentations, leveraging category and consumer insights.
• Presents category insights, innovation strategies, and new product recommendations to retail and food service customers.

Portfolio & Innovation Management

• As part of the Stage Gate process, provides guidance on manufacturing feasibility and financial viability.
• Conducts "size of prize" analysis and cannibalization modeling.
• Partners with the Commercialization Manager to lead cross-functional execution of product launches from concept approval through first shipment and post-launch performance evaluation.
• Collaborates with Innovation and R&D to develop and execute a three-year innovation pipeline.
• Optimizes the product portfolio to maximize growth, profitability, and manufacturing…