Associate Manager, RTD Innovation

Title: Associate Manager, US RTD Innovation

Suntory Global Spirits inspires human connections, memorable stories and family legacies by Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Suntory Global Spirits has evolved into the world's third largest premium spirits company... where each employee is treated like family and trusted to be custodians of our world-class portfolio of brands steeped in legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Position Location: New York or Chicago

What makes this a great opportunity?

• The Alcoholic Beverage industry is an exciting, dynamic, and fast-paced business.  Suntory Global Spirits is a top player in the spirits business and focused on becoming a top player within the Ready to Drink category, capturing new consumers and occasions not currently being serviced by our full bottle strength spirit brands in our key markets
• This individual will serve as an integral part of the North America’s RTD team to drive growth in an exciting category will have the opportunity to shape Suntory Global Spirits’ long-term ambitions in the Ready to Drink Space in the US
• Opportunity to work on an exciting, priority category – to set and implement brand strategies in conjunction with cross-functionals (R&D, Finance, Consumer Insights, etc.), and to partner with sales / commercial teams to ensure execution of strategies and tactics
• Serve as a brand steward in developing plans to extend Suntory Global Spirits’ presence in the Ready to Drink space in the US 

• Role Responsibilities
• RTD Innovation: Help drive the innovation agenda for the RTD brand such as On The Rocks and -196, from ideation to commercialization. Collaborate with brand marketing, insights, R&D, supply chain and commercial stakeholders to bring new products to market
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Work with cross functional teams to deliver projects efficiently and effectively, from initial ideation, through concept development, liquid and packaging design, to commercialization in market
• Excellent Products: Direct and influence the R&D product and packaging teams to develop excellence in taste delivery and pack presentation
• Insights: Monitor consumer trends in needs, occasions, flavors and drink experiences, and recommend activities and projects to maintain our position of leadership within the spirits industry
• Project Management: Support the overseeing of the end-to-end management of innovation projects, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with Market Development and Commercialization Team to ensure our sales teams are set up for success for new innovation launches
• Innovation Strategy Support: Support the innovation strategy for the RTD business through leadership of On the Rocks innovation recommendation, ensuring alignment Suntory RTD Company ambition

Qualifications & Experience

• +3 years Consumer Marketing or Brand innovation experience or a similar amount of solid experience in a related field
  Up to 20% travel.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with ability to communicate effectively in a multicultural, cross functional organization and a strong ability to develop and foster internal and external partnerships
• Self-starter, flexible and comfortable working in unstructured environment, and able to manage multiple priorities effortlessly
• Passionate and determined, committed to delivering projects on-time and above expectations
• Demonstrated experience in working across and up, within the organization, gaining credibility amongst peers, managers and other commercial leadership
• Resourceful, with a problem-solving attitude and willingness to think creatively to reach resolutions
• Collaborative and able to build bridges across cross-functional teams and geographies; more specifically strong communicator, active listening skills, ability to listen for feedback and validate and address concerns; and excellent influencing and presentation skills
• Leverage syndicated data sources such as Nielsen or IRI to understand own, competitor, and category performance.
• Highly organized and detailed oriented with ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously. 

Salary Range - The salary range for this role, based in New York is $100,000 to $110,000 along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate with the candidate’s location, experience, and skillset.