Junior Brand Manager (Handy Andy)

Unilever is currently hiring for a  Junior Brand Manager (Handy Andy)

Reports to: Senior Brand Manager Handy Andy

Scope: Local

Location: La Lucia Ridge/ 61 Katherine Street  

Terms & Conditions: Full time

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

Handy Andy is South Africa’s #1 surface cleaning brand, renowned for powerful cleaning in and around the home. The brand is at a pivotal moment, needing to cement its leadership by driving innovation, restoring brand power, and reshaping its portfolio to meet evolving consumer needs and market dynamics.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

Support Brand Agenda • Assist the Senior Brand Manager in executing the Handy Andy brand strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market realities. End-to-End Marketing Execution • Deliver comprehensive marketing support across all competencies (ATL, BTL, digital, instore, influencer, PR, etc.). • Support the development and execution of activity plans, with a strong focus on digital and social media excellence Data-Driven Insights • Analyse market, category, and brand performance data to uncover root issues and opportunities across the 6Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence). • Translate insights into actionable plans to address business challenges and unlock growth. Consumer Understanding • Build deep understanding of consumer needs and how it extends to the retailer and shopper • Turn insights into compelling brand propositions and activation plans. Stakeholder Collaboration • Work closely with the global team, local manager, and broader brand community to influence and shape brand strategy. • Lead and project manage local “20” and “10” innovation and activation projects Cross-Functional Leadership • Lead cross-functional teams (Sales, R&D, Supply Chain, Finance, Agencies) to ensure successful execution of launch plans and post-launch evaluation. Sales & Operational Planning • Lead Sales & Operational Planning (S&OP) for the brand, ensuring robust demand forecasting and supply alignment. Budget Management • Manage the brand budget, ensuring spend is in line with agreements and delivers maximum ROI. Performance Tracking & Continuous Improvement • Constantly review brand and initiative performance, identifying opportunities for ongoing improvement and course correction.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

Minimum:

• Relevant Degree or equivalent

• 3+ years of relevant work experience

• Budget management

• Experience in operational execution of TTL plans

Preferred:

• Leading local mix development

• Experience in managing a Brand innovation & renovation

• Localizing and Executing Brand Plans

• Leveraging PR and/or Digital to drive brand plans

• Strong rigor and analytical skills in surfacing issues and opportunities for the

Skills

• Analytical thinking and data literacy

• Strong project management and organisational skills

• Digital marketing and social media savvy

• Ability to translate insights into action

• Collaborative, with strong stakeholder management

• Entrepreneurial mindset and bias for action

• Passion for brands, innovation, and consumer-centricity

• Resilience and adaptability in a fast-changing environment

What Success Looks Like

• Handy Andy’s brand agenda is delivered with excellence, driving growth in future formats and restoring brand power.

 • Marketing activities are executed on time, in full, and with measurable impact. • Insights lead to actionable plans that address business challenges and unlock new opportunities. • Cross-functional teams are inspired and aligned behind the brand’s vision.

• The brand budget is managed effectively, and performance is continuously improved.

Key Mindset & Behavioral Traits

 • Change Agent: Ability to embrace ambiguity and lead projects that challenge the status quo.

 • Consumer-Centric: Strong empathy for consumer needs and behaviours, translating insights into actionable plans.

• Digital-First Thinking: Given the importance of conversion and awareness, digital and social media execution skills are highly beneficial.

Leadership

• You are energized by delivering fantastic results. You are an example to others – both your results and your resilience. You are constantly on the lookout for better ways to do things, engaging and collaborating with others along the way.

• As an individual you are the one responsible for your own wellbeing and delivering high standards of work. You must also focus on the Consumer and what they need. You are humble and have your head up, looking around to interpret evidence and data smartly, spot issues and opportunities to make things better.

Critical Behaviors

• Care deeply: caring deeply about how consumers experience our brands every day, everywhere; about our people’s growth and development, and our impact on the planet. You care about your performance, to a point where it hurts when you don’t win.  Always brings their best self. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations and build empathy for others. Sets high standards for themselves. Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside of Unilever.

• Focus on what counts: we set clear and stretching goals and recognise maximum performance impact.  Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed.

• Stay three steps ahead: we think boldly and creatively to make breakthroughs in performance. We are always curious and confident – anticipating and staying ahead of consumer needs and external trends to beat the competition. Approaches delivery with an iterative and incremental, test - do - learn approach. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.

• Deliver with excellence: we deliver everything we do with excellence and pace. We take personal ownership and hold each other to account – always finding a way to do what we said we will do.  Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicates from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.