- Department: Marketing
- Reports to: Chief Marketing Officer
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Position Summary:Bonduelle Americas is seeking a Category Director, Shelf Stable to build a new, ground-up product portfolio that extends the Bonduelle brand beyond its traditional fresh, limited-code-life business. Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, this role operates like the general manager of a new business line - identifying, developing, and commercializing shelf-stable products with a code life of one year or greater, and opening the sales channels those products make possible. The Category Director will lead one direct report, a Senior Brand Marketing Manager, will draw on both the Groupe's global innovation pipeline and net-new, U.S.-developed concepts, and will rely primarily on co-manufacturing partners to bring products to market. This is a critical growth engine for Bonduelle Americas, carrying significant latitude - and accountability - for building it from the ground up.
Key Responsibilities:Business & Portfolio Strategy• Define and own the strategy for a new shelf-stable portfolio, targeting a minimum one-year code life, acting as general manager for the category's business plan and performance.
• Identify and prioritize the sales channels and customers this portfolio unlocks that aren't accessible to Bonduelle's fresh business today (e.g., club, mass, national distribution).
• Build the multi-year roadmap and annual business plan, including volume, revenue, and margin targets, recognizing this is a new business build rather than an established category.
• Monitor category, competitive, and consumer trends in shelf-stable and adjacent center-store categories to identify white space.
Innovation & Product Development
• Tap the Groupe's global innovation pipeline to identify products, formats, and concepts with a path to the U.S. shelf-stable market, adapting them for American consumers and retail channels.
• Develop net-new, U.S.-originated concepts where the global pipeline doesn't fill a gap, partnering with Product Development on formulation and concept work.
• Build the business case for each opportunity, balancing speed-to-market against long-term brand and margin objectives.
Co-Manufacturing & Commercialization
• Identify, evaluate, and manage co-manufacturing partners capable of producing shelf-stable products to Bonduelle's quality and food safety standards.
• Own commercial terms and relationship management with co-manufacturers, in partnership with Supply Chain and Procurement, to ensure reliable, cost-effective production.
• Coordinate packaging, artwork, formulation, and regulatory/label requirements to keep new-product timelines on track.
Retail & Commercial Activation
• Work closely with Brand Management, Digital Activation & eCommerce, and Public Relations to build activation plans appropriate to each new channel this portfolio enters.
• Ensure brand positioning, packaging, and content translate effectively into the new channels this portfolio opens.
Sales & Commercial Partnership
• Partner with Sales leaders, the Customer Sales Planning team, and Shopper Marketing to build account-level plans and secure distribution in new and existing channels.
• Support key customer and business review meetings, providing category expertise to strengthen new retail partnerships.
Team Leadership
• Manage, coach, and develop the Senior Brand Marketing Manager, building a team capability appropriate to a fast-growing new business line.
• Direct the Senior Brand Marketing Manager on day-to-day brand execution for the Shelf Stable portfolio.
• Represent the Shelf Stable growth agenda in cross-functional and leadership planning forums, including business reviews with the CMO and CEO.
Minimum Qualifications:• 8-12+ years of CPG experience with progressive responsibility across brand management, category leadership, or general management, ideally including P&L ownership.• Demonstrated experience building a new product portfolio or business line from the ground up, not just managing an established category.
• Direct experience sourcing, vetting, and managing co-manufacturing or contract manufacturing partners.
• Experience working with or adapting products from a global or international innovation pipeline a strong plus.
• Strong commercial acumen, with experience partnering directly with Sales, Customer Sales Planning, and Shopper Marketing.
• Track record opening new sales channels (club, mass, national distribution, export, or similar) for a branded portfolio.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort with ambiguity, given this is a newly created role and business line.
• Shelf-stable, center-store, or broader packaged food category experience strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA a plus.
What Success Looks LikeWithin the first year, this role will have stood up a clear shelf-stable portfolio strategy and roadmap, commercialized an initial slate of products through qualified co-manufacturing partners, opened at least one new sales channel for Bonduelle, and driven initial revenue to [$X]M - establishing the foundation for a growth engine that extends the brand well beyond its traditional fresh business.
