Senior Brand Manager

Description

At A&B Beverage Company, we’re proud to build, grow, and champion a diverse portfolio of leading and emerging brands across non-alcoholic beverages, wine & spirits, and snacks. As a Senior Brand Manager, you are the strategic owner of our brand portfolio— shaping the long-term brand vision, driving supplier partnerships, overseeing product innovation, and ensuring seamless integration between sales, operations, and marketing to deliver measurable business results.

As a senior leader within the Marketing and Business Development team, this individual will mentor Brand Managers, influence executive-level decision making, and serve as the internal and external face of our supplier portfolio. The ideal candidate is a strategic, commercially minded brand builder with deep beverage-alcohol and CPG experience, a strong analytical mindset, and a proven record of turning category insight into profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

Brand Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

• Develop and execute long-term brand vision and annual brand plans across non-alcoholic beverages, wine & spirits, and snacks, including positioning, pricing, portfolio architecture, and channel strategy.
• Serve as the internal category expert across all three segments—synthesizing consumer insights, Nielsen/IRI data, and competitive intelligence into actionable growth strategies.
• Define, track, and report brand KPIs, ROI, depletion trends, and market share performance to senior leadership on a monthly and quarterly basis.
• Lead the annual planning process in partnership with Finance, Sales, and Operations, including volume forecasts, budget allocation, and resource prioritization across brands.
• Identify and evaluate new supplier and portfolio opportunities, developing business cases to support expansion and innovation decisions.

Supplier & Partnership Management

• Act as the primary strategic liaison with supplier partners across all three segments, building trust-based relationships at senior leadership levels.
• Negotiate and manage annual business plans, marketing co-op investments, incentive programs, and performance commitments with supplier partners.
• Lead supplier business reviews, market visits, and joint planning sessions to align on priorities, execution standards, and mutual growth targets.
• Evaluate new supplier opportunities and partnerships, building business cases and financial models to support portfolio expansion decisions.

Product & Innovation Management

• Direct the full product lifecycle from concept through launch and post-launch optimization—including new item onboarding, line extensions, limited-time offerings, and portfolio pruning.
• Lead cross-functional teams spanning supply chain, finance, sales, operations, compliance, and retail to ensure flawless execution of new brand introductions.
• Own brand forecasting and demand planning in partnership with supply chain and finance, ensuring the inventory health across the wine, spirits, non-alcoholic, and snack portfolios. 
• Oversee the full lifecycle of point-of-sale materials, brand assets, sample programs, and supplier blitz activations—ensuring consistent execution in the field and measurable ROI.

Marketing & Communications

• Lead the development and execution of integrated marketing campaigns, including digital activations, social media, influencer partnerships, experiential marketing, and in-store programs across all three segments.
• Ensure brand identity, messaging, and creative standards are consistent and elevated across all consumer and trade touchpoints.
• Oversee the planning and execution of trade shows, supplier events, sampling programs, and sponsorships that drive brand visibility, trial, and trade engagement.
• Partner with supplier marketing teams to align national brand strategies with local market execution, maximizing the impact of shared marketing investment.

Sales & Trade Support

• Partner with the Sales leadership team to develop trade marketing programs, promotional calendars, and channel-specific strategies across on-premise, off-premise, independent, and chain accounts.
• Equip the sales organization with compelling brand education, selling tools, and category stories that drive distribution, shelf presence, and velocity.
• Evaluate trade spend effectiveness, promotional ROI, and pricing architecture—making data-driven recommendations to optimize investment and profitability.
• Conduct regular market work to maintain visibility into retailer execution, competitive activity, and on-the-ground brand performance.

Cross-Functional & People Leadership

• Mentor, develop, and directly manage a team of brand managers, associate brand managers, and marketing coordinators, setting clear performance goals and career development plans.
• Serve as the central liaison between Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance, and Executive Leadership on strategic brand matters.
• Manage multi-million-dollar marketing and trade budgets, ensuring disciplined spend tracking, accountability, and delivery of initiatives on time and on budget.
• Represent A&B Beverage Company externally at industry events, supplier summits, trade associations, and customer meetings.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field required.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in brand management, marketing, or commercial roles within beverage-alcohol, non-alcoholic beverage, CPG, or snack industries.
• Demonstrated experience managing brands across multiple categories—ideally including exposure to both alcoholic (wine/spirits) and non-alcoholic segments.
• Proven track record of successful product launches, brand growth initiatives, and P&L or budget management.
• Strong understanding of the three-tier distribution system, state-by-state regulatory considerations, and on/off-premise retail dynamics.
• Experience directly managing and developing people; a coaching mindset and a passion for building high-performing teams.
• Exceptional project management, communication, presentation, and analytical skills—comfortable presenting to executive audiences and supplier principals.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and data/analytics platforms such as Nielsen, IRI, VIP/Karma, Encompass, Power BI, or Tableau.
• Ability to travel up to 30% for market visits, supplier meetings, trade shows and industry events.

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Distributor, supplier or three-tier experience.
• Deep relationships with supplier partners and retail channel decision-makers across beverage-alcohol, non-alcoholic, and/or snack categories.
• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and financial acumen—fluent in margin structures, trade investment, and ROI modeling.
• Creative, entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for innovation, emerging brands, and “outside-of-the-box” product opportunities.
• Ability to balance long-term strategic vision with hands-on, in-market execution.
• Executive presence and the ability to influence and align stakeholders at all levels—internally, with supplier partners, and with key customers.

Physical Requirements: This role requires regular standing, walking and reaching. Must be able to regularly lift and move products up to 150 pounds, as well as climb, reach, and perform other physical movements necessary to carry out the essential duties of the position. Position requires wearing steel-toed footwear. Ability to work in varying environments, including refrigerated areas and outdoor conditions. 

Benefits  

• 401(k) matching – A&B Distributors will contribute 100% of the first 5% after one year of service  
• Accident Insurance  
• Critical Illness Insurance  
• Dental Insurance  
• Disability Insurance  
• Employee Assistance Program  
• Health Insurance PPO  
• Life Insurance  
• Paid Holidays – 9 per year  
• Paid Parental Leave  
• Sick – One week of sick each year  
• Vacation – Two Weeks starting  
• Vision Insurance  

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER A&B Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.