Job Description

Salary up to: Competitive
About the role:



Nando's is on a journey to Create Lasting Happiness, making a difference to the lives of our People, our Customers and the Communities we work in. The Brand team play a pivotal role in creating meaningful customer products, experiences and communications that drive demand and deliver commercial growth and brand love.



The Senior Food Brand Manager role is responsible for helping to shape and deliver the customer-led growth plans for our world-famous PERi-PERi, keeping us in the top spot as the number one restaurant on the high street whilst building our brand.


Responsible for key menu categories across all channels (Eat In, Delivery, Click & Collect), developing a customer-led NPD pipeline, in partnership with our Category, Food, Ops team, as well as compelling launch plans.


You will also lead and influence other high-impact projects that help to protect and build the brand, as well as drive sales volume.


Key responsibilities & expectations:

Menu

Insights

&

Proposition

Development

Partner with the Insights team to ensure our food propositions deliver on the needs and behaviours of our customers and ensure recommendations are on brand. Provide inputs to help shape and execute our annual Menu Strategy & Pipeline, by developing customer-led food propositions that deliver brand buzz, love and commercial growth profitably. Keep a close eye on the evolving hospitality landscape (casual dining and QSR) to build expertise in the field and actively use the insights to help inform your work and recommendations to grow competitive business advantage.

Product Development

Be the voice of the Customer and the Food Brand champion across the stage gate NPD process / key projects / meetings to ensure all decisions are customer-centric and protect & grow the brand. Lead Gate 0 'The Brief' stage of the gate process working in partnership with the Food & Buying teams, ensuring all NPD briefs are insight-led, and have customer needs, clear strategic objectives & success metrics front and centre. Work with category team and cross-functional teams to deliver EPD projects to improve the quality of our core menu items and deliver a consistently brilliant experience for customers across the UK&I. Lead on behalf of Food Brand, shaping menu recommendations for the including Trial Reviews (Stage Gate 3) and Post Launch Review (Stage Gate 4) working with the cross-functional teams (Food, Buying, Ops and Food Tech), ensuring decisions are customer-centric, commercially, and operationally viable.

Communications

Work with Brand Comms Team to develop an effective food comms strategy for food categories, with engaging food proposition handover sessions that detail the product positioning, key attributes, when and where they show up to customers, maintaining a drumbeat of exciting food comms throughout the year. Help customers make great food choices at Nando's through best-in-class multichannel menus and in restaurant POS; ensuring all touchpoints promote our food and categories brilliantly and maximise sales opportunities. Ensuring a customer-led approach for new product names in line with brand & product TOV and our food & product propositions, so products are positioned and represented accurately with support from Food Brand Exec.

Volume driving /

B

rand-building

initiatives

Be the Food Brand lead on other food-led initiatives that drive volume growth & brand love, such as Timed Menus; manage the development, execution and post launch review of the propositions working in partnership with Food, Buying, Finance, Ops, Tech and wider Customer team.

Food Policy

Partner with our Food Subject matter expert and head of safety and quality team on all food policies and legal requirements (e.g. HFSS) both current and emerging products to ensure we are compliant on all customer-facing communications, including how we represent our products to customers across all touchpoints.

Team & Culture Building

Positively contribute to creating a brilliant team environment and culture, both within in the Food Brand team and other teams and functions, building strong relationships and an open and honest culture where everyone can be their best.

The candidate should possess / be:

7+ years in a brand / innovation / product strategy role, with experience working with cross functional teams leading innovation projects from brief to launch. Previous food/ FMCG/ retail hospitality experience is a must. Excited about the opportunity to help grow a meaningful and high-profile brand in a fast-growth business Strategic, customer and commercially minded, with an understanding and experience in building EPD/ NPD, with a strong innovation business case A natural relationship builder, able to confidently and calmly influence product / menu decisions to get the best outcome for the business. Creative flair, brings fresh thinking and sound judgement to help solve business problems in compelling ways Curious about customers, competitors, trends and culture, and actively brings insights into the team to keep them at the forefront of what is happening in the market Highly organised, able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously and calm under pressure Previous line management experience, with a good understanding of how to bring the best out in others and support them to be happy and high performing at work. A desire to work in a people first culture, and a passion for actively contributing towards making it a great place to work for everyone. An environment which is relaxed and informal, whilst highly driven and ambitious A driven self-starter who can operate without close supervision A culture with strong purpose & values, intent on contributing to / driving positive cultural and societal change

Key stakeholders:

Brand Director + Marketing Leadership Team Head of Food Brand / Senior Food Brand Manager / Food Brand Executive Head of Food / Food Innovation Lead/ Manager Head of Food Buying/ Buying Leads / Managers Head of Food Operations Head of Food Technical / Technical Managers Head of Brand Comms / Content & Campaigns Managers Brand Lead / CX team

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