Senior Brand Manager

Lead the Growth Strategy for One of the UK’s Most Recognised Seafood Brands

The Role

Our new Senior Brand Manager will play a leading role in shaping the future growth strategy of the Young’s brand, helping drive category growth, consumer engagement and commercial performance across one of the UK’s most recognised and trusted food brands. This is a high‑impact role within a fast‑paced FMCG environment, responsible for leading strategic brand planning, innovation pipelines and integrated marketing activity across a broad product portfolio. Working closely with commercial, category, innovation and agency partners, you’ll help identify new growth opportunities, strengthen brand positioning and ensure the Young’s brand continues to evolve with changing consumer and shopper needs. The role offers significant visibility across the business and the opportunity to influence both short and long‑term strategic direction, while mentoring and supporting wider marketing capability within the team. Based at our new Leeds Office, this role is ideal for an experienced Senior Brand Manager or established Brand Manager ready to step into a broader strategic leadership position within a large‑scale food business.

Your Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of annual and long‑term brand strategies aligned to commercial and category growth objectives
• Identify consumer, shopper and market opportunities to strengthen brand positioning and drive sustainable growth
• Own and lead branded NPD and EPD pipelines in partnership with Innovation and Category teams
• Deliver insight‑led innovation strategies, including business cases, forecasting and post‑launch evaluation
• Lead integrated marketing campaigns across digital, social, PR, shopper and trade channels
• Manage agency partnerships to deliver high‑quality creative, media and research output
• Lead packaging development and brand identity evolution across the portfolio
• Support commercial teams with retailer presentations, category reviews and joint business planning activity
• Analyse brand, category and retailer performance to shape strategic decision‑making and investment priorities
• Manage marketing budgets and optimise return on marketing investment
• Ensure all activity complies with UK regulatory and brand governance requirements
• Support and influence wider cross‑functional teams, building strong collaborative relationships across the business

The Ideal Candidate

• Experience in a Senior Brand Manager or Brand Manager role within FMCG, ideally food
• Strong understanding of the UK grocery retail landscape, shopper behaviour and category dynamics
• Proven experience developing and delivering successful brand and innovation strategies
• Strong commercial acumen with confidence interpreting market, retailer and consumer performance data
• Experience managing external creative, media or insight agencies
• Strong leadership and influencing skills across cross‑functional teams and senior stakeholders
• Excellent strategic thinking capability with the ability to translate insight into actionable growth plans
• Creative and innovative mindset with experience leading impactful campaigns and brand initiatives
• Strong project management and prioritisation skills within fast‑paced environments
• Confident communicator with strong presentation and stakeholder engagement skills
• Curious, proactive and solutions‑focused approach with strong attention to detail
• Degree qualified in Marketing, Business or a related discipline, or equivalent experience
• CIM qualification beneficial but not essential

Equal Opportunities

Sofina Foods is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences – regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Location

Leeds, West Yorkshire

Hours of Work

Full‑time

Company

Sofina Foods