Marketing Innovation Manager

FrieslandCampina is one of the largest dairy cooperations worldwide. Innovation plays a crucial role in the company’s purpose to nourish sustainable growth and a healthy population. The Marketing Innovation Manager will drive a new and innovative product category, to help achieve FrieslandCampina’s target of tripling net revenue from innovation.

About FrieslandCampina

FMCG and B2B player FrieslandCampina produces and sells consumer products such as dairy drinks, infant nutrition, cooking ingredients, cheese and desserts in more than a hundred countries. Every day, millions of people enjoy FrieslandCampina’s milk, cheese, butter, custard, and yoghurt, among other things. The company’s mission, Nourishing by Nature, stands for better nutrition for the world population and good prices for FrieslandCampina’s farmers, now and in the future.

FrieslandCampina is one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world, with nearly 23,000 employees and a turnover of more than 11 billion euros in 2021. The 16,000 dairy farmers who supply milk to FrieslandCampina together not only form a partnership of suppliers, but are also co-owners of the company. The organization has offices in 38 countries, but FrieslandCampina is still firmly rooted in the Netherlands. The company, with its head office in Amersfoort, has a Dutch, open culture. The diversity of the employees, the personal enthusiasm, and the joint commitment to a future for dairy make FrieslandCampina a special working environment.

The dairy industry, especially in the Netherlands, finds itself in a period of uncertainty and tension. Animal welfare, the environment, and climate are important societal themes. The market is also changing: the demand for plant-based food is growing, as is the demand for dairy as a meat substitute. This means that FrieslandCampina has an important mandate to prioritize innovation, both in terms of working methods and product range. The keywords in the strategy are sustainable growth and value creation. Innovation plays a major role throughout the entire value chain.

“For more than 150 years, our member dairy farmers have always managed to adapt to what the market demanded of them. By actively responding to the different needs, they have developed into highly innovative farmers. I have great admiration for the new generation of farmers, who continue to build a sustainable future for dairy farming with enormous dedication, passion, and determination.” – Hein Schumacher, CEO FrieslandCampina

Job description: Marketing Innovation Manager

Innovation is a crucial pillar of FrieslandCampina’s road to increased profitability and market adaptation. The high-profile, central Marketing Innovation Team works to achieve the target of building innovation-driven new business with a value of 100 million euros in 2027, while increasing product and supply chain sustainability. The team, led by the Manager of Innovation, consists of four Marketing Innovation Managers, each responsible for designing new product lines from inception to go-to-market. The new Marketing Innovation Manager will be dedicated to either the Plant-based or the Functional category.

“The Marketing Innovation Manager has a mandate directly from the MT to fill the pipeline with innovative products, and ensure the new concepts move through the development funnel. Within circa two years we expect this to lead to concrete new product lines that can be transferred to our Marketing and Brand teams for execution. This is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and make meaningful impact. ” – Maira de Vreede, Manager of Innovation

Plant-based
From soy burgers to almond milk: demand for fully plant-based protein sources continues to increase. From a consumer-centric perspective, the business case for FrieslandCampina to be active in the plant-based market is clear. If dedicated to this category, the Marketing Innovation Manager will drive FrieslandCampina’s new Plant-based product category from concept and vision to roadmap and business model creation.

In a 150-year-old dairy cooperative, the concept of plant-based products is new territory. Strong stakeholder management as well as experience with plant-based supply chain or R&D will help the Marketing Innovation Manager be successful in this role.

Functional
The Functional product category comprises products with a specific health benefit, such as protein drinks or prebiotics. If dedicated to this category, the Marketing Innovation Manager will drive FrieslandCampina’s functional product category from concept and vision to roadmap and marketing excellence, involving stakeholders from R&D, supply chain, and commercial teams in the process. The Marketing Innovation Manager has the conceptualization and ideation skills to build innovative product proposals, and is at the same time capable of concretizing and validating these proposals toward winning execution.

The candidate
This is a senior role, with expertise and quality – on both conceptualization and execution – front and center. The Marketing Innovation Manager has no direct reports but has all the freedom to drive entire product lines as the sole category expert within the organization. Of course, the ability to identify and work with all relevant stakeholders is key. The right candidate may come from a variety of backgrounds, including marketing, product innovation, strategy consulting, or category management. A clear affinity with innovation and – in the case of a primary interest in the Plant-based category – with plant-based products are key criteria.

In this role, a successful and ambitious professional will have the chance to acquire a new skill set, get to know FrieslandCampina, shape an entire product category and ultimately grow within the organization, thanks to this role’s high strategic importance and visibility.

Interested?

Friesland Campina is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Max Tasseron at max.tasseron@topofminds.com.