Brand Manager

Job Description

Job Description

ABOUT EASTLAND FOOD

Eastland Food Corporation is the #1 Asian grocery distributor on the East Coast and is rapidly expanding across the US. With over 45 years of industry leadership, four regional distribution centers, direct sourcing offices in Bangkok & Tokyo, and a robust catalog of 1,100+ SKUs, we bridge top Asian manufacturers with North America’s largest grocery channels. Our portfolio features many iconic Asian brands, including Asian Best, Indomie, Kopiko, BoBo, Maesri, TableMark and Cha Tra Mue. Powered by surging demand for authentic international flavors, Eastland Food provides an established foundation for high-autonomy brand owners to launch innovations, build strategic vendor partnerships, and own full-cycle portfolio strategy.

ROLE SUMMARY

We are seeking a tactically experienced Brand Marketer to drive growth across our key vendor brands. This role is perfect for proven high-autonomy executors looking to break into strategic portfolio ownership.

Reporting directly to the Marketing Director, this role serves as an Individual Contributor (IC) with total day-to-day ownership of Above-the-Line (ATL) marketing execution, omnichannel media budgets, sales enablement toolkits, and vendor partnership management. This position requires a high degree of operational autonomy - you will work closely with Internal Design, Sales, New Product Development (NPD), and e-Commerce teams to drive brand awareness, consumer conversion and sales velocity.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Brand Strategy & In-House Campaign Execution

• Budget Ownership: Allocate and manage Above-the-Line (ATL) and omnichannel marketing budgets for assigned brands, with focus on optimizing investments.
• Consumer Campaign Management: Design, execute and review in-house ATL campaigns across social media (YouTube, Instagram), organic/paid influencer partnerships, SEO, corporate announcements, point-of-purchase (POP) display programs, in-store demo, digital coupons and weekly circulars.
• Annual Strategic Planning: Partner with the broader marketing team during annual planning cycles to define overarching portfolio strategy and tactical execution. Pitch incremental campaigns to leadership as opportunities emerge across categories, customers and consumers.

1. Retail & Point-of-Sale Insights

• Retail Performance Analytics: Analyze Point-of-Sale (POS) data across assigned brands and key accounts to evaluate cyclic velocity, sales trends, and regional performance.
• Supply Chain & Inventory Alignment: Monitor Inventory Turns, Retail Turns, and retail velocity metrics; proactively inform Purchasing and Logistics of category slowdowns, demand surges, or inventory risks.
• Channel Investment Guidance: Use POS analytics to lead strategic omnichannel investments across key customer accounts.

1. Commercial Partnership

• Sales Enablement: Lead the messaging, narrative, and material creation for commercial toolkits, trade presentations, and sell sheets used by Sales teams for buyer line reviews and ad hoc purchasing decisions. Partner closely with Design on creative workstreams such as sales education, brand display and annual catalog.
• Broker Collaboration: Partner with external food brokers and sales leadership to refine customer-facing materials for mainstream channels.

1. Vendor Relationship Management

• Primary Vendor Liaison: Act as primary partner for assigned brands, reviewing retail performance, warehouse inventory and managing risk & opportunity profiles.
• Financial Processing: Manage vendor account reconciliation, securing initial Purchase Order (PO) approvals and promotional cooperative reimbursements.

1. Cross-Functional Alignment & Product Positioning

• Creative Briefing & Execution: Partner with internal Graphic Design team to translate brand concepts into visual assets for marketing and sales.
• New Product Development (NPD): Lead strategic positioning and brand narrative workshops for new SKUs under your portfolio. Gather direct feedback from sales representatives post-launch to refine initial strategic positioning and ensure product-market fit.
• Portfolio Health Reviews: Participate in recurring cross-functional SKU reviews with Purchasing and Finance. Align on discontinuation decisions as brand owner.
• Trade Promotion Alignment: Partner with Trade Manager to coordinate trade promotion, sample cases, launch promotion, sales incentives and promotion credits within the context of the broader portfolio trade budget.

DAY IN THE LIFE – 12 MONTH MILESTONES

• Lead master strategy sessions with leadership to set annual KPIs and allocate ATL portfolio budgets.
• Conduct quarterly vendor reviews, mid-year sales/marketing alignments, half-year SKU deep dives, and digital footprint/SEO audits.

• Analyze retail POS performance of brands and key channels (Mainstream Grocery, Mass, Club and Asian Specialty) to inform upstream teams of category trends
• Track month-end budget spend against total marketing allocations, requesting incremental funding when high-ROI opportunities arise.
• Align with the Trade Promotion Manager on Below-the-Line (BTL) tactics (introductory promos, rep incentives) while balancing overall portfolio budget.

• Lead ad-hoc New Product Development positioning workshops, build buyer-facing pitch decks, and gather salesperson feedback post-launch.
• Build and refine buyer sales materials in partnership with mainstream sales team and dedicated food brokers. Analyze data to generate best-fit sales narratives.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILL REQUIREMENTS

• Experience: 3 – 6 years of progressive brand marketing experience in CPG, Food & Beverage, or wholesale distribution.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, Economics, or a related field.
• Analytical Capability: Demonstrated ability to analyze datasets to extract actionable commercial insights and recommendations.
• Campaign Execution: Proven track record of leading & owning social media accounts, influencer collaborations, SEO, Point-of-Purchase and in-store demo programs.
• Sales Enablement Mastery: Experience with sales storytelling; skilled at creating compelling sales materials for sales reps, food brokers, or vendor reviews.
• Cross-Functional Skills: Highly collaborative with experience working alongside internal creative design teams, sales teams, operations and external food brokers.
• Strategic Curiosity: A strong desire to break into total cycle brand management. While you may not be a POS, P&L or warehouse expert yet, you have strong numerical aptitude and are eager to be coached on how commercial strategy, retail analytics, and inbound/outbound relationships ladder up to brand decisions.
• Preferred Industry & Language Skills:
  • Familiarity with specialty Asian food culture and cuisine.
  • Bilingual proficiency in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, or Thai.

BENEFITS & WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• Competitive salary and performance incentives
• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k) plan with company matching
• Paid Time Off (PTO) – 15 days per year, plus company holidays
• Flexible working hours with hybrid/remote flexibility
• Professional development and wellness programs