Assistant Brand Manager

Job Description:

Job Purpose:

A brand and portfolio co-custodian across designated markets, brands and growth initiatives in Middle East Africa.

The Assistant Brand Manager will report into and work in close partnership with the MEA Petcare Brand Manager to deliver against growth objectives by supporting the design & execution of Pet brand strategy and coordinating marketing activities to achieve specific brand objectives, including NSV, share and pet parent recruitment targets in alignment with regional targets.

The Assistant Brand Manager must have the experience and skillset to develop and shape portfolio strategy, develop innovation from inception to execution, execute communications and media, optimize activity calendar, while ensuring excellence in execution on ground.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Brand & Portfolio Management Support

• Track and analyze category and brand performance across multiple markets and translate insights into actionable recommendations to unlock growth opportunities.
• Support the MEA Pet Brand Manager in shaping the portfolio’s short and long term strategy to deliver quality growth & increased penetration, including the development of a 3-year innovation pipeline and activity calendar.
• Connect with cross-functional teams to ensure delivery of key Pet initiatives including product launches, brand launches, ongoing support of core range and overall delivery against market targets.
• Collaborate with SRM team to monitor price-point competitiveness by channel and recommendations on price/pack architecture as appropriate
• Work closely with the wider MEA and Global Pet teams to ensure our communication and innovation strategy is in line with the Global pipeline.
• Efficiently track and manage allocated marketing budget, ensuring accurate forecasting and PO management.

Innovation & Renovation Execution

• • Support the management and tracking of the Petcare 3-year innovation & renovation pipeline across assigned brands and project workstreams.
  • Coordinate the adaptation of global/regional innovation toolkits while identifying requirements for locally developed initiatives.
  • Manage the coordination and approval of packaging artwork for new product launches, renovations, and multi-country adaptations, ensuring alignment with brand design guidelines, regional regulatory standards, and production timelines.
  • Balance between Developing locally relevant innovation from local factories and launching European innovations that are relevant to the market
  • Lead post-launch performance reviews, capturing key learnings and identifying opportunities for future initiatives

Integrated Brand Communication & Content Activation

• • Adapt global creative assets to resonate with pet parents across diverse MEA cultures and regulatory environments
  • Collaborate closely with creative, media and PR agencies and internal stakeholders to shape powerful campaign ideas and breakthrough executions across touchpoints to ensure best in class ROI on media spend.

Cross-functional Project Management & Operational Excellence

• • Co-lead the cross-functional project teams alongside Activity Management to coordinate all functional inputs (Supply Chain, Regulatory, Sales, Finance) required to deliver on-time market execution.
  • Collaborate with Customer Marketing and DCom teams to develop impactful activation toolkits, point-of-sale and market activation guidelines. The Global pipeline.
  • Efficiently track and manage allocated marketing budget, ensuring accurate forecasting and PO management.

Education & Professional Qualifications

Bachelor Degree in a relevant field, Master’s is a plus

Knowledge / Experience

• 2-4 years experience in Brand Management, preferably within a Multinational Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) company.
• Hands-on experience coordinating end-to-end product launches and brand renovations, effectively balancing global toolkits with local market/supply realities.
• Proven track record in supporting full-funnel marketing campaigns across digital, media, consumer promotions, and trade/in-store touchpoints.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, adept at managing cross-functional teams and working within complex matrix organizations.
• Experience working across innovation & renovation pipelines, ideally balancing both global and local innovation streams.
• Ability to translate data and insights into actionable recommendations
• Strong financial acumen and understanding of business performance metrics
• Regional experience in wider Middle East Africa.
• Must be fluent in English (Arabic an advantage)