Director, Coffee Innovation, TH, International

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About Restaurant Brands InternationalRestaurant Brands International Inc. is one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies with more than $35 billion in annual system-wide sales and over 28,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. RBI owns four of the world’s most prominent and iconic quick service restaurant brands – TIM HORTONS®, BURGER KING®, POPEYES® and FIREHOUSE SUBS®. These independently operated brands have been serving their respective guests, franchisees and communities for decades. Through its Restaurant Brands for Good framework, RBI is improving sustainable outcomes related to its food, the planet, and people and communities.Job DescriptionIn the role of Director, Coffee Innovation, TH, International you will be part of the International marketing team. In this role, your primary accountability is to lead the development of new products and product-related marketing opportunities within the Coffee category. You will develop strategic assessments for products, and manage the product business against operating plans and budgets to achieve Tim Hortons financial and business objectives.As the product manager leading coffee and beverage innovation, you will be a valued member of a highly productive, engaging and supportive team. You will develop and support strategies and execute against them to achieve financial and business objectives for the business, specifically focused on Coffee and non coffee based beverages, that contribute towards building extraordinary brands, to deliver the company’s annual operating plan.This is an exciting opportunity for a Coffee expert to join our International marketing team. To focus on delivering customer preference through improving our core coffee portfolio. Ensuring delivering competitively customer preferred coffee optimisation, renovations and innovations. You will be responsible for driving excellence in Core Coffee initiatives across the organization. Ensuring that potential for coffee and beverage innovation to deliver growth and drive customer preference is maximized.This position reports to the Senior Marketing Director, TH International and works closely with other members of the marketing team as well as other internal stakeholders in key functions such as Design, Guest Insights, Operations, Supply Chain & Quality Insurance.ResponsibilitiesThe Responsibilities :

• Product development understanding within a coffee shop environment – from concept to execution
• Technical coffee knowledge – beans, roasting, brewing, delivery systems (equipment)
• Deep understanding of what makes quality coffee
• Ability to train others on what makes great coffee, details of coffee sourcing, and how to do basic barista skills.
• Connected with international coffee / beverage trends and industry best practice
• Proven experience of delivering coffee solutions against a brief, overcoming technical challenges
• Ability to work with 3rd parties (roasters, equipment manufacturer)
• Coffee industry networks and contacts
• Professional Coffee & Sensory qualifications
• Ability to describe and train others on sensory and professional coffee knowledge and skills.
• Strong communication and influencing skills – ability to influence senior teams and bring coffee to life in an accessible and compelling way
• Resilient and flexible – can work well across all levels of the organisation
• Develop coffee product optimisation – evolve existing products through reformulation, format development, delivery systems
• Support true ‘new to world’ innovation – develop competitively advantaged product solutions using R&D know how
• Test and define how to scale product solutions
• Championing Coffee Excellence throughout the organisation – actively searching out opportunities for continuous improvement
• Share learnings and expertise across international teams and functions
• Manage and successfully deliver projects within scope
• Participate in the development of the annual innovation plan through rigorous analysis of market performance and the development of key insights and recommendations for the business.
• Assist in the building of project business cases to help validate long term viability of initiatives.
• Support the delivery of key innovation initiatives through the Tim Hortons process.
• This includes participating in the development and stewardship of gate documents, calendar prioritization, volume impact and ongoing collaboration through the process between channel marketing, supply chain, finance and sales to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of innovation initiatives.
• Play an integral role in the development of new product launch marketing and communication plans.
• Responsible for conducting post mortems on innovation projects to assess their impact on the brand and the business and bringing forward recommendations on optimizing future product launches.
• Monitor new product introductions from competitors locally and in other markets to contribute to the ideation of innovation opportunities and maintain a solid new product pipeline.
• Anticipate market trends, economic conditions and adoption criteria that are ideal for product introductions.
• Work closely with the team in stewardship of concept and creative development, project management and budget management.
• Responsible for the overall management of innovation project budgets including working collaboratively with finance and other functions to effectively manage and report on spend against targets and to proactively identify risks and opportunity areas within the budget.

Business Management

• With strong financial acumen, tracks, analyzes and communicates product and program performance.
• Analyzes key issues relating to products (including cost, pricing, quality or consumer acceptance) and makes recommendations.
• Performs financial and marketing analysis; assesses brand products and competitor performance.
• Builds strong relationships with cross functional teams to ensure needs are addressed and information sharing is timely.
• Assist with in store training of team members
• Assists with capacity, sourcing, and cost reduction opportunities with Supply Chain.

Product Innovation

• Leads the development of new products and product-related marketing opportunities, from concept to commercialization.
• Applies consumer insights and understanding of marketplace dynamics to develop compelling brand and category direction & positioning.
• Manages project teams and timelines to deliver products and programs. Strong leadership of cross-functional partners required.
• Evaluates and makes recommendations for category strategy reflecting competitive and consumer trends and market needs.
• Supports creation of the innovation roadmap that delivers against objectives and strategies.
• Strategic assessment of platforms within competitive context.

Leadership

• Leads cross-functional and project teams to deliver strategic recommendations and new products and platforms.
• Builds strong relationships within a matrix structure to ensure achievement of business objectives as well as marketing messaging consistent with brand guardrails.
• Leads coffee training for international
• Evaluates information and identifies issues that require within-category-team resolution or escalation.
• Promotes a successful attitude, confidence in leadership and teamwork to achieve business results. May serve as proxy for manager in key meetings.

Qualifications

• You have a University degree- preferably with marketing focus
• You have a minimum 2-3 years brand marketing experience
• 6 or more year(s) of experience in a role supporting the development of new or existing products or strategies from conception to implementation.
• Excellent public speaking skills
• Ability to make great presentations that are concise and easy to follow
• Ability to synthesize complex topics into easy to follow stories
• Additional agency and/or sales experience considered would be considered an asset
• You are experienced in coffee, beverage or consumer packaged goods
• Your entrepreneurial mindset, energetic leadership and strong influencing skills are unsurpassed
• You are driven to make informed decisions and strong problem-solving skills
• You have strong business fundamentals and communication skills
• Your track record of delivering business results and ability to manage project details while motivating a team is supreme
• Must be wiling to travel
• Experience leading cross functional teams through new product development projects an asset.
• As part of the recruitment process, the candidates will be required to provide consent to complete a criminal background check.
• Must be able to work in a matrix environment, able to collaborate cross functionally, and be a strong team player.
• Strong analytical and technical skills.
• Ability to work across a global landscape with varying hours and travel to global markets
• Ability to analyze business trends and financial metrics, including sales, return on investments, and profit and loss.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong leadership and project management skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities.
• Functions effectively with ambiguity.

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