Director, Product Management (Private Label)

Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country's largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong. 

Director, Product Management - 12month Contract

The Director of Product Management is responsible for meeting the financial targets of Control Brand for their respective multi-category portfolios. The director is responsible for working in partnership with the development, category, and sourcing teams to build Control Brand programs and drive the business end-to-end from strategy to tactics. In this role, the Director, Product Management is a key driver of: i) customer-centric, breakthrough product innovation; 2) building brands that are ‘worth switching supermarkets for’; and 3) incremental profitability to the enterprise. The Product Management Director will coach, mentor and develop their team and provide them direction in planning, vendor management, product innovation, category renovations, go to market strategies and packaging /marketing communication in support of overall financial objectives of the enterprise. The incumbent influences and drives alignment with internal and external stakeholders to achieve Control Brand objectives across a wide portfolio of categories in order to achieve financial objectives. Such stakeholders include but are not limited to Category, Sourcing, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing & Vendors.

Accountabilities:

• Has full ownership of all key decisions and results related to their Control Brand portfolio, has a passion for their business and a desire to develop their team to deliver and prioritize business excellence
• Ensures team of product managers’ innovation, renovation and base maintenance plans are in place to drive key financial targets, including Control Brand sales, margin and penetration
• Drives leading edge product innovation to consistently deliver incremental sales to the enterprise and year over year growth in Sales from New
• Owns and champions a 3-year brand strategy and vision, making portfolio decisions to drive category growth, enterprise objectives and resource allocation
• Key role in delivering enterprise marketing campaign strategies, including Insider Reports, Category Accelerators, No Name events, etc. via brand-building product development, marketing briefing and executional excellence
• Breaking down barriers across the product life-cycle from strategy, costs, logistics, stakeholder alignment to vendor management
• Team leadership to maintain best in class packaging design momentum, including packaging briefs, creative reviews/revisions, and executive level approvals across sixty+ items per year
• Coach, develop and mentor direct reports. This includes explicit consideration of on-the-job training needs for each colleague, arranging appropriate training, providing timely feedback and overseeing colleague development
• Builds strong collaborative relationships and leverages all key stakeholders to invest in their Control brand business for growth ahead of the market
• Building best in class Vendor partnerships, including unlocking innovation capabilities, negotiation and problem solving across product initiatives
• Attend, participate and support executive level meetings as required, including Board of Director store walks, Insider’s Report forecasting, Vendor top to tops, etc
• Other duties as assigned.

Role Requirements:

• 7-10 years' related experience (preferably in corporate food, packaged goods environment), coupled with 3+ years’ experience  leading a team
• Brand strategy and positioning
• Developing customer insights from data and analytics
• Ability to coach and mentor direct reports and team with a focus on people development
• Strong business acumen, including PnL management, core understanding of financial metrics and business drivers
• Strong understanding of the market and key competitor landscape to capitalize on opportunities
• Proven strength in adopting a customer data in decision making
• Excellent communicator and influencer up, down and across the enterprise with experience and comfort presenting to large groups
• Learning agility with a proven track record of skill-set development and continuous learning mindset
• Creative problem solver that breaks down barriers for the team
• An effective change agent who possesses the influencing skills needed to help the organization adopt new ways of thinking
• Post-secondary education
• Experienced in vendor management determining vendor capabilities to handle capacity, volume, demand, quality issues etc.

Key Measures (Performance indicators):

• Control brand sales, penetration, and margin
• Incremental profitability to the enterprise
• Brand Health
• Sales from New and associated in-year product launch targets
• Insider’s delivery and growth
• Growth in market share
• Customer acquisition  

Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.

We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.  
 
Please Note:
Candidates who are 18 years or older are required to complete a criminal background check. Details will be provided through the application process.

#EN