Marketing Manager, Transformational Innovation

The Opportunity
Do you want to have the exciting opportunity to develop winning innovations from idea generation to commercialization, for our meat protein business? At Maple Leaf Foods, we have the unique ability to set the Canadian Innovation Agenda and play a critical role in helping the business achieve its branded growth objectives. We are looking for an ambitious marketer who is as passionate about good food as we are and who is ready to make a meaningful contribution to our innovation pipeline. The Marketing Manager, Innovation will partner with an exceptional cross-functional team, agency partners and other like-minded marketers to develop and launch consumer-focused innovations. The successful candidate will be a balance between a commercially driven business professional, a consumer-focused marketing leader and a strong project manager within a manufacturing environment (ideally food &/or beverage). This position will report to the Director, Marketing Innovation.
Snapshot Of a Day-in-the-Life

• Lead the front-end innovation approach, including governance (Monthly Innovation Steering Meetings), processes, tools, and metrics.
• Build prototypes and pilots with cross-functional teams when necessary, engaging external partners as appropriate.
• Partnering with Consumer Insights to develop and implement a reinvigorated approach to consumer research.
• Lead the annual innovation planning process ensuring innovation goals are realized and the long-term pipeline is robust.
• Identifying assumptions and conducting consumer tests to validate.
• Liaise and work collaboratively with Category and Brand Marketing teams to ensure:
• Partner with the Commercial Execution team to launch these new platforms through PDP and into market, and lead in-market performance for an introductory term (~12 weeks).
• Teach, help energize and help build fluency in the process with the Category/Brand teams and overall Marketing & Innovation organization. Serve as a champion of the Innovation culture at MLF.
• Own the creation and validation of a robust pipeline of innovation ideas designed against meaningful consumer needs. Scope includes new platforms and new product lines. You will identify consumer problems and shepherd solutions through the front-end innovation process to convert them into PDP-ready (Stage Gate) projects. Responsibilities also include:
• Partner with Finance to ensure KPI progress is tracked, and results are consolidated, for all innovation projects to help the Innovation Steering Team monitor progress and provide guidance and support.
• Alignment and effective transition of projects from Innovation team leadership to Category team leadership.
• Support development of the selling story, in close collaboration with internal sales organization to influence customer sell-in across all channels.
• A smooth transition from the Innovation process to the PDP process.
• For new platform innovation, you will also:
• Developing ‘Need to Believe’ business plans built on solving consumer problems and fulfilling demand space gaps and ensuring project feasibility.
• Innovations within brands happen within the defined brand governance.

What You’ll Bring

• Strong relationship building skills with a well-developed “people interaction” skillset who can successfully navigate and influence a complex organization.
• A strategic thinker who will roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, and who can be creative within constraints. Must embody the important MLF value of “Intense Curiosity” about food and consumers and how it relates to our Brands.
• The presence, influence, entrepreneurial spirit and change management skills needed to launch new products.
• Critical Thinking, Insights & Strategic Leadership - Big picture thinking with an ability to clearly articulate a strategic direction, justified with sound fact-based rationale through insight and analysis.
• The ability to navigate ambiguity and transform it into clarity for the organization. This includes having the ability to identify all relevant information (including data from numerous tools) to drive to meaningful insights.
• Leadership and Influence - Able to stay focused on driving key business priorities in a dynamic business environment.
• Comfort operating in a manufacturing setting preferred - Ability to understand how innovation will be produced (i.e. manufacturing process, raw materials required, costing, feasibility of plans, etc.) and drive the work forward with cross-functional teams.
• General MLF Marketing competencies:
• General Manager mindset with a bias towards delighting consumers.
• Must be a self-starter with an ownership mindset; passionate, proactive and performance driven, with a bias for action.
• Bachelor’s Degree and a track record of developing and launching successful product innovations and leading change in a CPG environment.
• Agility & Effectiveness- Skilled in mobilizing and managing teams to achieve commercial objectives.
• Commercial Acumen - Solid understanding of key drivers of marketing, brand management, and the P&L and ability to leverage them to identify and execute changes to move the business forward.
• Communication Skills - Able to effectively communicate consistently with a variety of audiences to achieve desired outcomes.
• Ability to develop and sell-in business case plans for innovation and commercialization ideas.
• Exceptional Project Management Skills- Experience managing multiple priorities and large business critical projects with timeliness and in collaboration with a strong cross-functional team (both internal and external team members)
• A true love of food, and a desire to develop successful new food solutions for unmet consumer challenges.
• Ability to partner with the Consumer Insights group to identify meaningful consumer problems and develop and validate solutions, and quickly develop “Need to Believe” business cases and get to decisions on whether to proceed or not.

What We Offer At Maple Leaf Foods

• Competitive Health and Wellness benefits that offer flexibility to meet your individual or family needs, including programs focused on improving mental health and wellbeing. These benefits start on your first day of employment.
• Supporting our deep commitment to community impact, we offer up to two paid days annually to volunteer at a cause of your choice.
• Being part of a high-performance, people-focused company that has an inspiring and unique vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, and a deep commitment to sustainable protein across North America.
• Defined Contribution Pension Plan with company matching that starts on your first day of employment.
• An inclusive company culture and a work environment that keeps our people safe, rewards excellence, and empowers everyone to learn and contribute their best.
• A hybrid work model that embraces remote work for eligible roles, helping team members achieve work-life balance—combining the best of both spending time working remotely, benefitting from focus time, and purposeful collaboration in the office setting.
• Comprehensive tuition reimbursement program that supports continuous learning and development of our team members through investment in eligible degrees, diplomas, professional certification, or trades programs.
• Learning and development opportunities, including workshops, ‘speaker series’ events, and resources that allow you to develop your skills and progress your career.

About Us
We’re a carbon neutral food company on a purposeful journey to Raise the Good in Food through better nutrition, safer food and workplaces, more humane animal care, and environmental sustainability efforts that protect our planet. We care about our communities and commit to reducing food insecurity in Canada. Join us on the journey. Let’s build a better future, together.
We’re passionate about food. For more than 100 years, we’ve made delicious, healthy protein that Canadians love under iconic national and regional brands, like Maple Leaf®, Schneiders®, and Greenfield Natural Meat Co.® We’re on a journey to become the most sustainable protein company – not just in Canada – but on earth.

• We are one of the only food companies in Canada to set science-based targets.
• We aim to reduce our environmental footprint by 50% by 2025.
• We are carbon neutral.

We’re a global food company with more than 13,500 team members. We operate sites in 20+ locations across Canada. We also have locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and do business in Asia.
A diverse and inclusive work environment
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision and living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values. We believe in building, investing in, recognizing, and rewarding remarkable people who value an inclusive workplace, embrace all forms of diversity, and commit to including every voice in our collaborative environment. We’re so much stronger when we know we’re accepted and valued for who we are and what we each bring to the workplace.
We embrace a strong, values-based culture
Our eight Leadership Values are our north star. They guide the decisions we make for all our stakeholders: our consumers, our customers, our people, our communities, our shareholders, and the environment.

• Shared Value
• High Performance
• Diverse and Inclusive Teams
• Disciplined Decision Making
• Intense Curiosity
• Doing What’s Right
• Transparency and Humility
• Our Accountability

Maple Leaf Foods is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all our employees. As part of this commitment, we have adopted a number of COVID-19 safety measures, including a requirement for all employees to be fully vaccinated by March 31, 2022 and to show proof of vaccination. In keeping with this policy, successful candidates will need to provide proof of vaccination by March 31, 2022 (or prior to their first day of work if the start date is after March 31, 2022). We will of course consider accommodations for anyone unable to be vaccinated following human rights and other applicable laws
We thank all applicants for their interest in exploring employment opportunities with Maple Leaf Foods; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Applicants may be subject to a background check and must meet the security criteria designated for the position.
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision, living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values, and delivering winning results. Accommodation is available upon request for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment and assessment process and when hired; please contact our Talent Attraction Team at [email protected].