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Brand Manager

About Us:

Our Client is an exciting start-up backed by a leading global private equity firm. Our Client acquires brands and creates new opportunities for growth and expanded relevance through a transformational brand licensing business model. Our client is focused on building a portfolio unmatched in the industry. 

Position Overview:

Our client is seeking a newly created Brand Manager to serve as brand champion to build and protect acquired brands. For the first two Brands, this individual will be responsible for managing including: a network of brand licensees as well as their brand strategies, marketing plans, and product innovations to drive product growth. This role requires an adaptable individual who is comfortable working cross-functionally to execute these strategies and ensure brand consistency. 

Responsibilities:

• Help select and engage licensees from among offers received. 

• Oversee licensees' product & design, marketing, consumer care, quality and sustainability. 

• Manage licensee partners to create synergies among them. 

• Track licensees' results. 

• Support licensees' sales efforts. 

• Work with brand licensing agency and outside marketing resources. 

• Report to management and the Board as required. 

• Coordinate cross-functionally to ensure consistency in brand-related decisions. 

• Analyze and report on brand performance to determine ROI. 

• Monitor market and consumer trends. 

• Develop pricing and distribution strategies. 

Qualifications:

• Proven track record of building strong brands. 

• Experience in brand licensing a plus 

• Must be flexible and adaptable 

• Knowledge of FMCG brand development, with food/beverage being a plus 

• Experience in new product launch in marketing and distribution

• Ability to work independently 

• Undergraduate Degree required. MBA or equivalent is preferred with 3-5 years of progressive and successful experience in managing and leading brands. 

Work Location: Westport, CT

• Work Remotely: Temporarily due to COVID-19. 

• Must be able to commute to Westport, CT when needed. 

Contact:

Nannette Willner – nanw@stephenbradford.com

Jim Conley – jconley@bertdavis.com

Chief Program Officer – Nonprofit

National nonprofit focused on children and communities located in the DC area is seeking a Chief Program Officer to oversee its Partnership Development, Programs, and Communication & Marketing teams. Looking for a hands-on strategic leader who will build a cohesive and accountable team that will own the build-out of the investment pipeline needed to deliver national programs. This leader will drive the strategic vision, administration, and culture of organizational programming, and direct the development and implementation of programs and services.

Candidates MUST be based in the Washington, DC metro region and be able to be on-site the majority of the time.

Responsibilities:

• Live and demonstrate through action the organization’s commitment to equity.

• Build a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and performance-oriented culture, ensuring that team members feel accountable and thrive, and that organizational outcomes are met.

• Help build on the strategies, initiatives, and programs to allow the organization to scale over the next several years.

• Strengthen capacity and operations across teams to ensure they function as one cohesive unit.

• Align marketing communications strategy to programming and development goals, focusing on strong impact-based storytelling.

• Build a best-in-class development team to ensure availability of the investment funds needed to meet annual and long-term fundraising and mission goals.

• Collaborate with executive leadership and Board in setting and driving the company’s long- and short-term strategic direction.

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key partners, stakeholders, vendors, and donors.

• Responsible for department budgets and staffing.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree.

• At least 15 years of people leadership with operational success.

• Nonprofit executive leadership success.

• Outstanding organizational skills, including attention to detail.

• Excellent people management skills; experience building and managing high-performing teams.

• Relentless commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Collaborative, supportive leadership style.

• Strong business acumen.

• Superb written and oral communication skills.

• Strong understanding of nonprofit business functions such as fund development, program management, marketing, business development, etc.

• Ability to collect, analyze, and derive actionable insights from data.

• The ability and willingness to build relationships across differences and discuss issues of structural and institutional racism.

Contact:

Kristi Johnston – kjohnston@bertdavis.com

Janine Subel – jsubel@bertdavis.com

Strategic Initiatives Project Director

Growth-oriented education technology company is looking for a Strategic Initiatives Project Director to lead strategic projects that deliver high impact and business value for the organization. The position will oversee cross-functional teams in managing a variety of business-critical projects that include pre- and post-M&A activities and integrations, strategic partnerships and implementations, grant applications, and large, enterprise-wide initiatives. Ideal candidates will have high business acumen, act as an owner, and have great people skills to lead and influence across the organization and partners.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and monitor high-stakes, cross-functional projects with matrixed teams, with a key focus on leading integration activities related to M&A, due diligence, business development, large grant requests, and strategic partnerships.

• Develop and maintain integrated project plans, resource plans, risk and issue management plans, and other related project management artifacts, measuring project progress against key milestones.

• Solve problems and identify and track risks, actions, issues, decisions, dependencies, and synergies to ensure successful project completion.

• Effectively communicate with internal and external stakeholders via live meetings, written communications, presentations, and productivity tools to achieve alignment and on-time results.

• Provide guidance, mentoring, training, and support to other team members surrounding specific project needs as well as working as an enterprise leader across the organization.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree.

• 10+ years of project management experience.

• 3+ years of professional experience in an analytical (e.g., corporate development, management consulting) or business/corporate development role.

• Ability and energy to work under pressure and enjoy uncertainty.

• Facilitation and communication skills to engage internal and external cross-functional teams.

• Excellent presentation skills.

• Savvy in data analysis and problem solving.

• Strong business acumen and structured thinking.

• Strong attention to detail with excellent prioritization skills.

• Expert knowledge of Project Management software (e.g., Asana, Jira, Trello, etc.) and day-to-day business software such as Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Google Suite products (Sheets, Docs, Slides, etc.).

• PMP, Six-Sigma, Agile Marketing, or Agile certification are a plus.

Contact:

Kristi Johnston – kjohnston@bertdavis.com

Janine Subel – jsubel@bertdavis.com

Local Language Acquisition Editor

New York or DC Area

Leading digital media company is seeking a Local Language Acquisition Editor to work with editorial teams, publishers, agents, and authors to add additional language rights to targeted titles in its catalog. This person MUST speak either French or German.

Responsibilities:

• Acquire 200+ high-demand Spanish, German, and French language titles per year on favorable terms and within budget; emphasis will be on titles originating in the English language that are later translated into Spanish, German, and French languages by local publishers.

• Research independently and use available data to determine the focus of additional rights expansion, including identifying in-country trends by genre, emerging authors, and audiobook trends by country.

• Assist in managing relationships with publishers, select literary agencies, and successful self-published authors.

• Work with internal contract admin teams and in-house counsel to generate and track contract amendments that grant additional language rights.

• Negotiate, within budget, the rights to local language translations of titles that originated in English.

• Support and educate internal marketing teams and assist in the development of title presentations for newly acquired local language content for key resellers.

• Think strategically and identify opportunities for growth in both publishing and category sales.

Qualifications:

• Fluency in either German or French is required.

• Minimum Bachelor's degree or equivalent education.

• 5-10 years' publishing or digital media experience in progressively more responsible positions, preferably with some experience in non-English language content.

• Must be self-directed, with the ability to work remotely.

• Strong negotiation, leadership, and organizational skills required.

• Excellent communication - written and verbal - and public speaking skills required.

• Experience and understanding of traditional publishing business models and new technology business models.

• Travel: 4-6 days per month.

Contact:

Kristi Johnston – kjohnston@bertdavis.com

Janine Subel – jsubel@bertdavis.com