Reporting Relationship
Reports directly to the VP of Marketing & Communications. Directly manages the Content Manager, Brand & Communications Manager, and In-Store Activations Specialist.
Responsibilities
- Partner with the VP to develop and execute marketing strategy, serving as a trusted second-in-command in planning, prioritization, and decision-making.
- Lead brand positioning, campaign strategy, and go-to-market for launches and evergreen programs — including how our products are positioned against natural, organic, and conventional beef.
- Manage the co-op's analytics agency partner — Nielsen, SPINS, and retailer-reported data — translate its work into category insights, product innovation opportunities, account targeting and prioritization, and size-of-prize analyses, and communicate those insights clearly to sales, leadership, and the team.
- Build the selling tools, category and business reviews, and account recommendations that the sales team presents and executes with customers.
- Create category management recommendations — assortment, shopper insights, merchandising, and the pricing and promotion framework — and build the account-level plans that Sales executes at the trade.
- Own the marketing budget and its forecast, and build the business cases and simple financial models behind marketing and product decisions.
- Contribute to multi-year (3–5 year) brand and portfolio strategy, anchored to the co-op's five-year plan.
- Provide leadership, guidance, and development to the Content Manager, Brand & Communications Manager, and In-Store Activations Specialist.
- Establish marketing measurement — KPIs and dashboards that connect marketing activity to distribution, product velocity, and margin.
- Collaborate closely with Sales, Supply, and Membership to align marketing with carcass utilization, branded growth, and our rancher-members' interests.
- Manage external partners and agencies as needed.
First Year Success
- Support an on-time, on-brand rollout of our FY27 plans.
- Deliver turnkey selling tools to the sales team ahead of key selling windows.
- Develop a content and social strategy – priority audiences, messaging and channel priorities – and lead the Content Manager’s execution against it.
- Establish a marketing measurement framework and a regular reporting cadence for leadership.
- Build relationships with key customers and their marketing teams.
- Earn the trust of the marketing team and put a development plan in place for each direct report.
Location and Travel
Fully remote, open to candidates across the U.S., with preference for West and Midwest regions. Periodic overnight travel (approximately 20-25%) for company and leadership meetings, membership events, customer and retail visits, etc.
Experience
- Experience in fresh meat or perishables is essential — you understand a short-shelf-life, carcass-driven, distribution-limited category.
- 5-8 years of progressive marketing experience, including team leadership and brand or campaign strategy.
- Strong command of syndicated data (Nielsen/IRI, SPINS) and category management — able to direct an analytics agency, interpret its work, and translate it into clear action for sales and leadership.
- Financial acumen — comfortable owning a budget, building business cases, and translating marketing into margin and ROI.
- Strong project-management and process-building skills; able to create structure and cadence in a low-process organization.
- Strong consumer insight, brand judgment, and creative problem-solving.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including with executives and boards.
- Comfort building where little exists; a self-starter who thrives with ownership.
- Bachelor's degree preferred. Retail or natural-channel and premium/values-based brand experience a plus.
Competencies
- Builder – Brings structure, process, and measurement to a growing function without slowing it down.
- Translator – Turns complex consumer and retail data into clear direction others can act on.
- Leader – Develops people and earns trust; leads by example on a remote team.
- Owner – Manages complexity and competing priorities, and holds self and team to commitments.
- Steward – Operates with integrity and in the long-term interest of our ranchers, animals, and land.
