Senior Brand Manager (Grocery)

Wasabi Sushi and Bento; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job description

Founded in 2003, Wasabi's vision is to lovingly create and serve delicious Asian food for a busy nation.

Wasabi now has 40 thriving restaurants across London and major UK cities and 4 in New York. In 2019, we introduced Wasabi Home Bento, launched exclusively in Sainsbury's. Building on that success, the grocery business broadened its reach to Tesco in September 2022, followed by exciting launches in Co-op and Morrisons in 2024. Today, Wasabi proudly stands as the No. 2 chilled ready-meal brand, setting new standards for quality and innovation.

Wasabi's menu is celebrated for its unique character, exceptional freshness, and bold flavours. Our diverse range is designed to delight a wide audience, delivering both comfort and excitement with every bite.

We have an ambitious 5-year growth strategy, focusing on new restaurants, franchise partnerships, and international expansion.

As we embark on our next phase of growth and innovation, we’re thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for a Senior Brand Manager to join our Grocery Team based in Park Royal.

The Role:

An exciting role for an ambitious Senior Brand Manager with a passion for building brands. This role involves leading the development and execution of insight-led brand plans, creating and executing compelling communications, and identifying and bringing new products to market. This role is key to the delivery of our growth plans in 2025 and beyond.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Brand: Be the day-to-day brand lead, coordinating and influencing the cross-functional team and senior stakeholders to deliver the plan.
2. Brand Strategy: Support the Marketing Manager in the development of the 1-3 year brand growth strategy.
3. Brand Communication and Media Planning: Lead the execution of the in-year Grocery Consumer Marketing Calendar, working with internal and external partners to land the plan across creative, media, and PR.
4. Digital/Social: Partner with the Grocery Marketing Executive on the social strategy and calendar build for Grocery.
5. Category and Product: Support the Food Team in the development of a robust EPD and NPD pipeline based on market, category, and consumer insights.
6. Consumer: Be consumer obsessed and act as the brand guardian, leveraging consumer and market insight to inform a breakthrough winning growth plan.
7. Brand Performance: Work with the Marketing Manager to track and report on overall brand health, working with our agency partner to identify key learnings to inform future planning to ensure key KPIs are met.
8. Research: Lead all research projects as directed by the Marketing Manager.
9. ESG: Play a lead role in understanding our Wasabi Seiyaku (ESG pledge) and ensuring key commitments are considered as part of the Grocery marketing plans.

Our Requirements:

1. Relevant, proven experience in FMCG and Grocery Retail.
2. Experience in developing and delivering through-the-line brand plans which have contributed to growth.
3. Ability to create and communicate a compelling business strategy with a relentless focus on execution.
4. Highly curious with a passion for brand.
5. Ability to demonstrate genuine initiative, drive, and ownership.
6. Strong commercial awareness and financial acumen.
7. Analytical with the ability to leverage a range of data sources to identify key performance drivers and recommend action.
8. Readiness to lead change and adapt to shifting demands.

In Return We Provide:

1. A great working environment.
2. Pension scheme.
3. Target Bonus.
4. Refer A Friend Scheme.
5. Free Sushi or hot food (vegan options available).
6. 50% discount in our branches.
7. Employee Assistance Programme (a service providing health and wellbeing support).
8. Long Service Awards.
9. Wagestream - a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you access your pay as you earn it in real time and manage savings.
10. Life Assurance.
11. Cycle To Work.
12. Free on-site parking.
13. A variety of discounts (shopping, food & drink, entertainment, and health & fitness) through Perkbox.
14. The opportunity to develop your skills within a growing company.

Our people make us who we are. If you're looking for an exciting challenge and this sounds like the job for you, please apply today as we can't wait to hear from you.

COME ROLL WITH US!