OverviewThe Associate Director of North America Marketing is a strategic B2B marketing leader responsible for defining and leading the strategic growth agenda for Kemin’s Pet Food & Rendering portfolio in the region. Serving as the senior marketing leader for North America, this role is accountable for shaping portfolio strategy, innovation priorities, market development plans, and marketing communications initiatives aligned with business objectives.
The ideal candidate combines strategic vision, strong business acumen, customer-centric thinking, and the ability to translate market insights into growth opportunities.
This position is required to be onsite at our WW Headquarters in Des Moines and will report to the North America General Manager for Pet Food & Rendering.
Responsibilities
Regional Marketing Strategy & Business Leadership
- Lead the development and execution of the North America growth strategy for Kemin's Pet Food & Rendering portfolio
- Identify and evaluate new market opportunities, customer segments, strategic partnerships, and expansion pathways that support long-term business growth
- Champion an outside-in, customer-focused marketing approach by leveraging voice-of-customer insights, market intelligence, industry trends, and competitive analysis
- Translate market, customer, regulatory, and industry insights into strategic business recommendations and growth initiatives
- Influence regional business planning, revenue growth strategies, portfolio investments, and resource allocation decisions
- Partner with commercial and technical teams to accelerate growth, improve customer value creation, and strengthen competitive positioning
Innovation Strategy & Portfolio Leadership
- Lead the North America innovation portfolio strategy, ensuring alignment between customer needs, market opportunities, and business growth priorities
- Influence innovation investment decisions through market sizing, opportunity assessment, customer insights, and competitive intelligence
- Represent North America in global portfolio governance, stage-gate reviews, and innovation pipeline discussions
- Evaluate portfolio performance and recommend strategic actions including investment, expansion, repositioning, or portfolio rationalization
- Partner with Global Marketing, R&D, and Commercial teams to shape commercialization strategies and accelerate market adoption
- Ensure Product Marketing Managers develop compelling, customer-focused value propositions and business cases for innovation initiatives
- Champion commercialization excellence across the innovation lifecycle from concept through launch and adoption
Go-to-Market & Value Proposition Oversight
- Provide strategic leadership for market segmentation, targeting, positioning, value proposition development, and communications
- Drive strategic pricing, value creation, differentiation, and messaging discussions in partnership with commercial leadership
- Ensure consistency and effectiveness of customer-facing narratives across products, services, and market segments
- Oversee regional launch planning, go-to-market strategies, and activation efforts to support commercial success
- Partner with sales leadership to strengthen strategic account planning and market development initiatives
- Monitor market performance and business results, ensuring marketing investments deliver measurable impact against growth objectives
Marketing Team Leadership & Capability Building
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing regional marketing organization
- Establish clear priorities, performance expectations, and development plans aligned with business objectives
- Elevate strategic thinking, customer-centricity, and storytelling capabilities across the team
- Ensure effective prioritization across portfolios, balancing near-term business needs with long-term strategic objectives
Regional Leadership Team Engagement
- Act as a trusted, active member of the North America Leadership Team
- Provide a strong customer, market, and competitive perspective in leadership discussions and business planning processes
- Engage in healthy debate, align on decisions, and champion agreed priorities across the organization
- Bring energy, urgency, and a positive leadership presence to the team
Qualifications
- Education and Experience:
- Bachelors degree in Business, Animal Science, Nutrition, Marketing, or a related field with a minimum of 10+ years of experience in product management, marketing, or commercial leadership, strategic planning, or related business roles within pet nutrition, animal health, or B2B ingredients.
- MBA preferred
- Strong understanding of pet food ingredients and rendering industries.
- Experience leading portfolio strategy, innovation commercialization, and market development initiatives
- Strong understanding of market analysis, customer segmentation, value proposition development, and strategic planning
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and build alignment across diverse stakeholder groups
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