Associate Brand Manager

How you'll have an impact at Kinder's:

Reporting to the Sr. Brand Manager, the Associate Brand Manager will play a critical role in driving brand performance through business analytics, go-to-market excellence, portfolio management, and innovation planning. This role is ideal for a strategic, analytically rigorous, and execution-oriented brand builder who has a strong ownership mentality, a desire to learn, and thrives in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.

Key Responsibilities of the Role:

Business Performance & Analysis

• Provide regular consumption reporting using syndicated point-of-sale (Circana) and panel (Numerator) data

• Analyze sales, velocity, distribution, pricing, and promotional performance

• Track KPIs including sales growth, market share, household penetration, repeat rate, incrementality, and margin

• Identify performance gaps vs. goals and recommend corrective actions

• Monitor competitive landscape and emerging category trends

• Support demand forecasting and financial planning processes

Go-to-Market Execution

• Monitor distribution, shelving, pricing, and promotional performance across key accounts / channels (Grocery, Mass, Club, eCom) and identify optimizations

• Partner with Sales Strategy to develop distribution priorities and trade strategies

• Support development of sell-in materials and customer-facing presentations

• Collaborate with Customer Marketing and Studio teams to build impactful brand support plans

• Ensure cross-functional alignment to deliver initiatives on time and in full

Product & Portfolio Management

• Monitor item-level velocity and incrementality to optimize assortment

• Make recommendations on SKU prioritization, renovation, and discontinuation

• Support full product lifecycle management from concept to post-launch analysis

• Build and maintain product roadmaps aligned with strategic growth priorities

• Conduct size-of-prize analysis and cannibalization modeling

Innovation & Business Planning

• Support the creation of short and long-term growth plans, identifying opportunities to optimize category / segment goals, strategies, tactics and performance metrics

• Develop and drive cross-functional execution of close-in innovation plans (e.g., new flavors, sizes, packaging) including insights, business case, pricing, and volume forecasting

• Partner with Customer Marketing and Studio teams to develop new item launch plans that drive awareness and trial across key accounts / channels

• Conduct post-launch reviews to assess performance vs. objectives

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Lead alignment across Sales, Finance, Insights, Product Development, Operations, and Project Management

• Anticipate executional risks and proactively solve issues

• Communicate performance updates, strategies, and recommendations to senior leadership

• Operate effectively in a lean, high-growth, high-accountability environment

What You Bring to the Table

Education / Experience

• Bachelor's Degree required, MBA preferred

• 2+ years relevant work experience in business analytics, product/brand management, or innovation. Experience in consumer products is a plus

• Strong analytical & quantitative acumen. Experience with syndicated point-of-sale data (e.g., Circana) and consumer panel data (e.g., Numerator) preferred

• Proven strategic thinker with a strong sense of curiosity

• Strong organization skills with understanding of go-to-market process

• Understanding of P&L drivers including trade promotion and margin

• Track record of successful collaboration with cross-functional partners to drive work forward and ability to be agile in fast-paced, high-change environment

Personal Characteristics

• Business builder who owns and drives results

• Growth mindset with an excitement to learn

• Thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment with proven record of completing projects on time in full through excellent cross functional team management, leadership, communication and influence

• Self-starter who takes initiative and speaks their mind

• Excited to be part of a fast-moving team with the ability to be a leader and a follower

• Enjoy finding ways to say 'yes' as often as possible to deliver impactful and important priorities

Things About the Way We Work

• No two days here are the same

• We try to be good team members and good communicators, but we don't live by hierarchy and structure - everyone is a difference maker here

• We make a lot of decisions in the face of incomplete information - our team embraces ambiguity and tries to make good decisions fast rather than great decisions slow

• We believe our job is to take smart risk, not to eliminate risk

• We believe in growing our skills and becoming a better company with more managerial expertise, but we are an entrepreneurial company at heart

• We aren't trying to be average - we want to do exceptional things and we are willing to work hard to achieve them

Location & Travel

The position will be based out of our 20,000 sq. foot office in Walnut Creek, CA. We strongly believe in the power of culture and community and have a work structure with 5 days in the office on a weekly basis to encourage collaboration and personal connections that will allow us to better serve our customers and consumer and to have more fun. Fridays are flex days with employees having the opportunity to choose to be either in the office or to work from home based on what makes most sense for them.

Some travel will be required for this role on a periodic basis. Typical travel includes industry conferences and key customer visits.

The expected starting salary range for this role is $120,000 - $130,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on the location of the role. The amount a particular employee will earn within the salary range will be based on factors such as relevant education, qualifications, performance and business needs.

BENEFITS THAT BRING MORE TO THE TABLE:

We offer a range of total rewards that may include paid time off, 401k, bonus / incentive eligibility, equity grants, competitive health benefits, and other family-friendly benefits, including parental leave. Kinder's benefits vary based on eligibility and can be reviewed in more detail during the interview process.

OUR RECIPE FOR BALANCE:

We believe great culture starts with people. We're a people-first company built on connection, collaboration, and balance. Most of our work happens in the office to spark creativity and community, but we also offer flexibility so team members have the autonomy to work outside the office when needed to support their work-life balance and personal commitments.