Vice President Marketing

Vice President, Marketing Summary

Title: Vice President, Marketing

ID: 201321

Department: Marketing

Location: Kansas City, MO (RSC Corporate Headquarters)

Classification: Regular

Status: Full-Time

Description
At Russell Stover Chocolates, not only do we love eating chocolate, but we love our jobs making others happy with our delicious chocolate products! Every day we go to work exhibiting our values of excellence, innovation, entrepreneurship, responsibility, and collaboration. Working at Russell Stover you’ll be an important part of the leading manufacturer of seasonal and sugar-free chocolates. For over 100 years, Russell Stover Chocolates, Whitman’s, and Pangburn’s have been crafted with the finest ingredients to bring happiness to generations. Join our team and let’s continue making chocolate lovers happy!

A day in the life…

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, Russell Stover Chocolates is looking for a Vice President to lead the Marketing function to drive top-of-mind awareness, trial and repeat across all channels. In this role, you will be responsible for defining and executing brand equity and product innovation activities in a highly dynamic, and exciting Category.

As part of the senior leadership team, you will develop a robust pipeline of growth initiatives – ranging from new products to commercial positioning, messaging, and go-to-market plans that drive demand. You will engage with leadership at the highest levels of the Lindt & Sprungli company and will collaborate closely with various stakeholders like Sales, R&D, Operations, Finance, Legal, Procurement, Retail and Agencies. You will also be directly responsible for an organization of over 20 people that work within the Marketing, Design, Insights, and Product Lifecycle functions.

What you will be doing…

Influence the company’s vision and lead activities to enable the organization to deliver it
Keep informed of consumer and competitive trends to capitalize on market opportunities
Establish objectives, goals, strategies and actions to achieve profitable sales and share growth
Develop Innovation Master Plan and lead new products from design through delivery
Lead marketing strategies based on consumer insight and in depth understanding of market dynamics
Define, lead and execute equity building activities for total brand & sublines
Create and execute effective and efficient marketing plans that fuel the growth of key franchises
Acquire, develop, and motivate talent within Marketing, Design, Insights, and Product Lifecycle teams
Develop and manage the marketing operating budget
Lead collaboration with marketing and promotional agencies
Partner with Sales in S&OP process, identifying risks and opportunities to delivering financial commitment

While visiting our manufacturing plants, you will be required to:

Ensure adherence to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines during plant visits to support product quality and uphold food safety standards.
Complete and follow FSQA training and programs to comply with regulatory requirements, ensure consumer safety, and support the company’s food safety and quality objectives.
Promptly report any observed or suspected issues that may impact food safety, quality, or compliance to the designated plant personnel, to support timely corrective actions and maintain compliance.
Actively contributes to the continuous improvement of the company’s Food Safety Culture through engagement and actions aligned with your role.
This job posting is not all inclusive and other duties may be assigned.

Do you have what it takes?
(Basic Qualifications)

You will be an exceptional leader, strategic thinker and successful brand builder. You will be a seasoned marketing executive with a strong brand-building pedigree, and a track record of success driving profitable growth, ideally in both large and small companies. It is critical that you have demonstrated success leading efforts to develop innovative solutions to challenges, from product innovation to marketing communications. You will be able to connect with chocolate consumers’ passion for the category and the Brand to drive trial and loyalty, so ideally will have experience working for an emotional and/or food & beverage brand. To be successful, you will have relevant Wholesale and eCommerce Channel experience within the US Market.

You must be a strong leader, strategic, passionate, creative, results oriented, and an excellent communicator. You will be someone colleagues will intuitively follow and want to partner.

Bachelors degree required, MBA strongly preferred
Minimum 15 years marketing experience, preferably in fast-moving consumer packaged goods company
Minimum 5 years of experience leading a Marketing Team
Director or higher level role experience
Experience developing brand equity and activating it across all consumer and shopper touchpoints
Experience working with Creative and Media Agency partners
Experience developing product innovation from Concept thru Commercialization in Stage Gate Process
Experience across Channels within the US Wholesale market
Strong knowledge of Consumption (e.g., Circana), Research methodologies, P&L’s, and financial planning

Do you stand above the rest?
(Preferred Qualifications)

Experience in Food and/or Beverage company
Experience with both Everyday and Seasonal portfolio of products
Vice President level experience

At Russell Stover Chocolates, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community. Russell Stover Chocolates is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace.

We provide equal employment opportunities to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition, genetic information, military service, veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.

Employment by Russell Stover Chocolates is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, education verification, and satisfactory reference and background checks.

Make Happy. Work Happy.