Vacature UBNL/Koninklijke Verkade NV

Role: Brand Manager Sultana Region: UB Function: Marketing Manager: Marketing Manager Sultana Location: Koninklijke Verkade NV, Zaandam

Koninklijke Verkade N.V.

Koninklijke Verkade N.V. is a subsidiary company of , an international operating food company, focusing on it’s core activity (savoury) biscuits. United Biscuits has a head quarter in the United Kingdom. Well-known brands in the Netherlands are Verkade and Sultana with a great history, enthusiastic consumers and tasteful products. Other International brands are BN, McVities, Go Ahead! and Delacre. In Zaandam some 450 employees are working on contemporary, valuable and successful brands which fit to current and future consumer needs and developments.

At Koninklijke Verkade the marketing department is headed by the local Head of Marketing, with both the Verkade and Sultana brand under his supervision. Both brand teams are led by a senior marketeer. Today, we are searching for a dedicated Brand Manager for an important role within the Sultana brand team.

Job Description:

The Brand Manager Sultana will be part of the Sultana brand team (4 FTE in total), delivering a strong contributions to achieving the marketing, revenue and profit goals set for the brand in the local market. The candidate will report to the Marketing Manager Sultana.

The Sultana brand contains a biscuit oriented product range divided over different segments in the ‘In Between Meals / Healthier’ category. The brand is sold in the Netherlands, Belgium and will be sold in France as of 2014. Brand leadership for all markets lies with the Marketing Manager for Sultana based in the Netherlands.

The market is highly competitative and under pressure over the last years. The economic crisis puts additional challenges as consumers focus on price, promo, and also tending more towards Private Label and Hard Discount.

Brand challenges: pressured market environment, though competition from PL, HD and A-brands, growing share of FruitBiscuit core, delivering New Product Development projects for future growth, brand activation and communication development.

The Sultana Brand Manager role requires a highly pro-active posture: continuous adaptation to changing internal and external circumstances is required in order to defend and improve the brand position. The Brand Manager has a direct link to several different departments on a daily basis: Sales and Trade Marketing, Research & Insights, Demand Planning, Logistics, Finance, NPD Technical, Manufacturing and Legal.

This role offers the opportunity to work on all marketing mix elements – from brand strategy and product development, to communications and brand activation – for a leading A-brand, in a highly competitive and dynamic market. With the commercial offices situated on the Zaandam factory site, the locations for this marketing role allows the Brand Manager to work in very diverse multidisciplinary teams. An unique challenge for a strong and dedicated marketeer, proven successful in contributing to brand growth.

Key activities and responsibilities:

Brand Management activities and responsibilities: . To contribute to the development and implementation of the brand strategy and brand activation plans for Sultana for the coming years, based on category and customer understanding, consumer and shopper needs and drivers, in order to drive future brand growth; . To initiate, implement and "take ownership" for projects arising from the brand plans; . To be actively involved in and to support the product innovation strategy and execution of new product development projects; . To provide direction and to implement media strategies and ambitious activation plans, incl. development of media campaigns and below the line activations; . Act as a spider in the web for various disciplines within UB on behalf of the Sultana brand; . Budget and process management of the projects within the scope of the function; . KPI’s: Brand revenue and profitability, Market share, Brand awareness, Penetration and Repeat, Pricing, NPD roll-out, Rotation on Shelf, Advertising effectiveness

Key competencies:  Performance: Ambition: o High drive for results Developing self o Ownership Meeting high standards o Resilience

 Competitiveness: Energy: o Customer and consumer focus Team work o Insight and bench marking against the best Interpersonal relationships

Background:

For this full time position, we are looking for a candidate with 3 to 5 years experience in brand management for an A-brand within the FMCG sector. The Brand Manager has to have experience in (strategic) marketing planning, NPD process and marketing communications, including making briefings for agencies (varying from advertising to market research agencies). Experience in Account Management/Sales or Trade Marketing is a pre. Qualification at university level is required, combined with a high level of self-support and stress resistance. For this position it is required that the candidate is fluent (written and spoken) in Dutch and English. The ideal candidate has strong analytical-, P&L management-, presentation-, communication- and interpersonal relationship skills at moderate level. To be successful in the role a high energy- and dedication level and a strong can do mentality is required.

Are you interested?

If you want to have any more information you can contact Mr. F. van Schie, Head of Marketing UBNL via telephone number +31 (0)75 6556 111. To apply for this job, please send your letter of application and resume to Koninklijke Verkade NV, Mrs M.M. v.d. Aar, HR Manager, Postbus 5, 1500 EA Zaandam. Or send an email to Mrs. R. Joon: [email protected]

All applications will be treated with confidentiality. Acquisition is not appreciated.