Knorr Innovation End-to-End Associate Brand Manager

Title of role: Knorr Innovation End-to-End Associate Brand Manager

Position WL 1C

Background & Purpose of the Job
Founded in 1838, Knorr is Unilever’s second-largest brand globally and one of the most beloved names in food. In the U.S., Knorr is driven by a bold purpose: making delicious, nutritious food accessible to all while inspiring home cooks with the flavors and confidence to create meaningful meals every day.
The U.S. represents one of Knorr’s most exciting growth frontiers. The brand is not only expanding rapidly but actively shaping the future of its categories by unlocking new occasions, modernizing the portfolio, and bringing culinary inspiration into more homes. As we work toward our ambitious goal of reaching $1 billion in U.S. sales by 2027, Knorr is undergoing a powerful transformation—elevating innovation, premiumizing key platforms, and redefining how the brand connects with today’s consumer.
A central part of this journey is the creation of next-generation innovation platforms, including the upcoming launch of core and premium protein cups and expansion into new categories such as bone broth. These initiatives represent Knorr’s commitment to blending culinary expertise, consumer insight, and breakthrough thinking to deliver products that are both purposeful and exciting.
The Associate Brand Manager, reporting into the Senior Innovation Brand Manager, will play a critical role in shaping this future, helping craft the long-term innovation funnel across Meal Makers, Bouillon and Cups, bringing bold ideas to life, and contributing to a transformation that will redefine how Knorr shows up in the hearts, minds, and kitchens of consumers.

What You’ll Do
Your every day job will involve plenty of strategic thinking and crafting. We started a journey towards a new and more premium Future-Core that will revolutionize the brand and category. Now it’s time to explore the future of these platform in 2026 and beyond.
• Lead and support the development of breakthrough innovation platforms for the U.S. Scratch Cooking portfolio, partnering with local and global teams to co-create Knorr’s big bet initiatives across Meal Makers and Mini Meals for 2026–2027 and beyond.
• Translate deep consumer understanding into compelling innovation concepts by identifying unmet needs, defining jobs-to-be-done, and crafting differentiated product ideas that deliver superior functional and emotional benefits.
• Own end-to-end delivery of assigned innovation projects across multiple stage-gate milestones, including strategy and concept development, business case creation, pricing and P&L modeling, demand forecasting, and go-to-market planning.
• Partner cross-functionally with R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, CMI, and regional teams to bring innovations from concept through commercialization, ensuring feasibility, profitability, and speed to market.
• Collaborate with external partners including research agencies, design and creative agencies, and flavor experts to elevate product development, packaging, and brand storytelling.
• Lead creative development for innovation campaigns, shaping positioning, messaging, and asset creation in partnership with agency and media teams to drive awareness, trial, and early adoption.
• Work closely with Sales and Customer teams to develop compelling retailer selling stories rooted in category growth strategy and shopper insight.
• Continuously identify emerging food, technology, and consumer trends, bringing best-in-class inspiration and competitive benchmarking to strengthen innovation quality and differentiation.
• Manage innovation budgets and allocated resources, ensuring disciplined investment decisions and strong return on investment.


Who You Are:
We are looking for an excellent product innovator passionate about food. You will live and breathe food innovation. Not only are you passionate about making delicious, nutritious products, you are curious and interested in upskilling on industry news, competitive products, and new technologies.
• Consumer-first marketer: You champion the consumer, shopper, and customer in everything you do, grounding decisions in insight and real needs.
• Strategic connector: You naturally connect insights, ideas, and data to guide decision-making and help shape a portfolio that drives both consumer relevance and business growth.
• Curious food innovator: You have a genuine passion for food and innovation, bringing inspiration from trends, technology, and competitive benchmarking to elevate ideas and solutions.
• Accountable owner: You hold yourself to high standards, take responsibility for outcomes, and drive projects forward with strong attention to detail and follow-through.
• Bias for action: You are a proactive doer who pushes ideas forward, navigates ambiguity, and maintains momentum while keeping the end goal in sight.
• Collaborative relationship builder: You build strong, trusting partnerships across cross-functional teams and external partners, influencing without authority to deliver results.
• Commercially minded thinker: You are comfortable working with business cases, forecasting, and performance metrics, balancing creativity with disciplined decision-making.
• Strong storyteller and communicator: You can bring ideas to life clearly and persuasively, helping teams align around a shared vision and driving excitement behind innovation.

What you Need to Succeed:
• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred with 3+ years of experience in Brand or CPG marketing.
• A creative mindset, excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Has a real passion for innovation, crafting mixes that truly excite consumers
• Excellent oral/written and presentation skills; ability to tailor your communication style across a multitude of disciplines leadership levels.
• Experience leading or working with large teams, with the ability to build rapport and influence cross-functional and global partners.
• Strong track record of successful product launches
• Foodie/Nutrition literacy coupled with an eye for aesthetic, design, and attention for details.
• Comfortable with using data throughout aspects of the role, turning consumer and social insights into strategic thinking, and building viable financial models.

What We Can Offer You
Culture for Growth | Top Notch Employee Health & Well Being Benefits | Every Voice Matters | Global Reach | Life at Unilever | Careers with Purpose | World Class Career Development Programs | Check Out Our Space | Focus On Sustainability

------------------------------------

At Unilever, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and are committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive/succeed. All applicants will receive fair and respectful consideration, and we actively support the growth and development of every employee.

Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities.

For more information on your federal rights, please seeKnow Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses. The Protected Veterans or Individuals with Disabilities AAP narratives are available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment Monday through Friday during normal business hours at establishment.