Group Head & VP of Brands

Olam International is a leading food and ingredients business, providing food for almost twenty thousand customers worldwide. The mission is to re-imagine global agriculture and food systems, and they have to grow in scale to make a global impact. The vacancy for Group Head & VP of Brands is a rare opportunity for an experienced Marketing and Branding expert to take charge of the branding and marketing of a 25-billion-dollar business, from strategy to execution.

About Olam International

Olam offers a highly diversified and broad portfolio in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, including cocoa, coffee, dairy, edible nuts, grains, palm oil, rice, rubber, specialty vegetables, spices, and sugar. Headquartered in Singapore with its PR & Digital Communications Team based in London and the Brands teams in Rotterdam, Olam is a truly global company and its value chain reaches over sixty countries. Olam owns plantations, concessions, and farms around the world, 170 manufacturing and processing facilities, distribution operations and twelve innovation centers and has a sourcing network of almost five million farmers.

Olam sees this value chain as a two-way street and strongly believes in giving back to the farmers, communities and the planet while addressing the many challenges involved in meeting the needs of a growing global population. The mission statement of Olam is ‘Re-imagining Global Agriculture and Food Systems’.

“As a leader in many of our product ranges, we remain focused on not only growing responsibly but re-imagining global agri supply chains so they work better for farmers, communities and our planet.” – Sunny Verghese, Co-Founder and Group CEO

Vacancy: Group Head & VP of Brands

These days, it’s rare to find an all-round marketing opportunity at a global player. But this is one of those rare opportunities. The Group Head & VP of Brands at Olam is responsible for the global corporate brand strategy, development and marketing communications. In order to tell the Olam story effectively across multiple markets and channels, the Group Head & VP of Brands will lead the strategic planning and direction as well as building and managing a content creation team. It’s a high-profile role with C-level exposure and close collaboration with business, country and function heads.

“The goal of the role is twofold: contributing to a consistent, strong corporate reputation and supporting rapid commercial growth.” – Briony Mathieson, Group Head of Communications

The Group Head & VP Brands will build and lead a customer-focused and results-oriented content production unit to help achieve the commercial goals of the organization. The scope of this team includes owned, earned, and paid channels. The most important owned channels are the annual report, website, social media and corporate communications (brochures, presentations, factsheets, video’s, etc.), sales collateral and materials for events. As a senior leader in the Corporate Communications team, the Group Head & VP of Brand will collaborate with colleagues who focus on PR, advocacy, digital, social and internal channels. Considering the strategic and hands-on nature of this role, it requires someone who combines high-level thinking with a sharp eye for detail.

It’s a role for a well rounded marketing professional with a strong leadership profile, hands-on mentality, the energy, and creativity to drive innovation and the analytical mindset to monitor, measure and report progress. Someone with business acumen, a deep understanding of how B2B2C companies can create brand value and the skill of translating that thinking into compelling content for customers and prospects, collaborators (such as UN bodies, research institutions, and universities) and financial communities.

Candidate profile

• Relevant degree
• At least 10 years’ marketing experience, preferably in the food sector
• Proven strategic thinking and stakeholder management
• Experience driving brand vision and consistency across a business
• Proven ability to manage, develop, and retain a high-performing team
• Creative problem-solver with a growth mindset
• Data savvy
• Fluent in English
• Willing to travel (25%)

OLAM International works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
Contact Janko Klaeijsen at janko.klaeijsen@topofminds.com for more information.