You’re here! This can only mean one thing; you want to add a bit of SPICE to your life! Have no fear, here at The Spice & Tea Exchange we are oozing with life and with spice!

Are you the best at what you do and want to love where you work? Are you a true flavor enthusiast with a zest for adventure? Want to work with a TEA-m full of sugary sweet, never salty (unless we sell it) band of characters who take their work seriously but never themselves? If this sounds like you and you too love corny puns, you may be the key ingredient we’re missing. See what we did there? Apply now, and let your culinary imagination run wild with us!

JOB TITLE: VP, PRODUCT MARKETING STRATEGY & INNOVATION

LOCATION: Remote, US

If you are a strategic visionary with a passion for product marketing, innovation, and the wonderful world of spice and tea, we invite you to apply for this exciting opportunity. With close to 100 locations across the United States, we are looking for a strategic leader who can drive product marketing initiatives, develop innovative strategies, and propel our brand to new heights of success.

Join our team and be part of our journey to revolutionize the spice and tea franchise market across the United States.

Position Purpose: The VP of Product Marketing Strategy & Innovation is an integral enablement function to the overall company’s success. In this strategic leadership role, you will be responsible for driving the development and execution of our product marketing, strategy, and innovation initiatives. You will play a crucial role in shaping our brand’s positioning, driving growth, and ensuring our products remain innovative and competitive in the market.

As a Director of PMSI, you will be a key ambassador for the company’s brand, and as such must operate with a high degree of business acumen, poise, collaboration, and people leadership proficiency.

Director of PMSI duties and responsibilities:

Lead the PMSI team in providing strategic direction, oversight, and guidance to achieve objectives.

Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of PMSI strategies and initiatives and drive continuous improvement.

Create and manage overarching marketing strategies, local brand strategy, social media strategy, as well as lead generation and outreach campaigns.

Partner with company leadership and franchise locations to drive profitable sales growth.

Design in collaboration with the leadership team a ‘Franchisee Go To Market Strategy’ which includes signage, print, loyalty programs, in-store special events, and regional/local promotions, visual merchandising strategies, national/local partnerships, etc.

Lead the ideation, development, and launch of new products across the franchise system. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including R&D, operations, and marketing, to bring innovative and market-leading products to our customers.

Develop pricing strategies and guidelines to maximize profitability while maintaining competitive positioning in the market. Analyze pricing dynamics, monitor market trends, and collaborate with finance teams to drive revenue optimization.

Develop a turnkey program to support new Franchise store openings.

Oversight of outward facing platforms to include social media, text messaging, website, etc.

Manage and mentor marketing team to include outlining professional development and identifying growth opportunities.

Maintain a pulse on the competitive landscape both franchise and product to drive product differentiation and create compelling value propositions.

Lead online and in-store retail marketing campaigns (strategy, implement, manage performance, optimize, measure) in collaboration with Finance, Product Management and Supply Chain for both new product as well as to promote/optimize sales on select products.

Responsible for managing the website content, imagery and SEO with a focus on customer conversion, education on products and franchise and brand management.

Review and update digital assets such as brand guidelines and implement new annual documentation review cadence.

Collaborate with Franchise Operations Director to understand franchise needs and build a partnership to nurture the relationship, instill confidence and deliver marketing support, when requested.

Partner with the eCommerce Team to analyze historical online sales and understand customer demographics with the intent of increasing web sales and elevating the user experience.

Define and refine the brand positioning and messaging for our spice and tea franchise system. Develop compelling marketing campaigns and materials to communicate the brand's value proposition effectively to customers and franchisees. Explore an influencer strategy.

Maintain a content calendar for PR, advertising, social media, promotions, brand messaging, etc. to align or to inform in-store brick and mortar, online or emerging sales channel strategies.

Work with Print-on-Demand partners to identify and negotiate rates and opportunities for the system for printing materials and production of nationally distributed kits.

Develop and disseminate dashboarding, KPIs, quarterly reports and reviews to direct reports and leadership team.

Prepare and manage PMSI Budget actuals against budgeted to include quarterly updates.

Manage vendor relationships- PR, advertising, and marketing agencies in collaboration with stakeholders.

Provide thought leadership and actively contribute to the development of the company’s long-term strategic plans and vision.

Expertise In:

People Management, to include hiring, coaching, mentoring, developing KPIs, holding accountability standards, motivating, and developing growth paths.

Adobe Creative Suite – intermediate

Office 365 Suite – expert

Conferencing – 8x8, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, Zoom, Skype or others.

Project Management – Teamwork, Zendesk, or like management software

Email/CRM – Dot Digital, Salesforce, or other

Social Media – Hootsuite, Rallio or like management software

Ecommerce – Magento or comparable ecommerce suite

Analytics – Google Analytics, Google Ads

Blog – WordPress, Drupal, Wix, Squarespace or comparable blog suite

Printing – experience with print-on-demand partners, vendors, and negotiations

Requirements:

BA in Business, Marketing, Visual Merchandising or equivalent.

Proven track record of at least 10 years in a senior leadership role in Product Marketing Management, Communications, Digital Marketing. Food & Beverage or Retail space is a plus.

Minimum 5 years’ experience as a People Manager with effective management style.

Experience with franchise systems and multi-unit operations is highly desirable.

Excellent communication and management skills at all levels.

Strong organizational and time-management skills.

Strong leadership, coaching, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

Proficient with MS Office.

Event planning and Public Relations experience preferred.

Must have a very active presence on LinkedIn with proven activity over time leveraging the platform for Marketing and Brand opportunities.

Physical Requirements:

Operates computer and office equipment.

Occasional overhead lifting

Occasional bending

Occasional stooping

Occasional travel by air, vehicle, or other means

Ability to handle high levels of stress and conflict at times.

Ability to lift to 25 lbs.

Tolerates strong spice aromas.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Spice & Tea Exchange® provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

The Company prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

This is a remote position.