Description
At Valvoline Global Operations, we're proud to be The Original Motor Oil, but we've never rested on being first. Founded in 1866, we introduced the world's first branded motor oil, staking our claim as a pioneer in the automotive and industrial solutions industry. Today, as an affiliate of Aramco, one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemicals companies, we are driven by innovation and committed to creating sustainable solutions for a better future.
The Brand Manager for Light Duty Lubricants Strategy & Innovation (LATAM) is responsible for Valvoline Global Operations light duty portfolio in the Americas, with direct focus on the LATAM business. The role is the conduit between the regional business units and the supply chain to drive organization growth. This role will input to and drive the global and America's strategy at a regional level. The Brand Manager will utilize global processes (Innovation Master Plan creation, New Solutions Development, target margins, etc.) that have been created to build cross functional collaboration.
Key Responsibilities Include
- Product Discovery: Work in concert with the Sr. Brand Manager to utilize market, enterprise, and business unit data to build a vision of the global future for the VGO commercial and industrial product portfolio. Drive consumer research to create research plans that will identify consumer unmet needs and answer critical business questions to unlock innovation pathways. Constantly ideate against strategic business questions. Evaluate the competitive landscape and identify portfolio gaps and claims opportunities. Develop claims that drive product superiority and overall Valvoline competitive advantage.
- Product Planning: Create a long-term product portfolio vision for LATAM. Develop a 5-year innovation road map (product, package, portfolio) that is aligned to the corporate and business unit strategies. Maintain the road map based on market and business unit trends. Help prioritize product related projects for the organization. Be the center of excellence for VGO innovation.
- Product Development: Follow the New Solutions Development stage gate process for all new initiatives. Create gate documents for all products on the innovation master plan. Lead key initiatives globally to drive international harmonization of the Valvoline product portfolio. Cross-connect between all Valvoline segments to deliver single solution branding and product promises for customers & consumers. Conduct Strategic Portfolio Reviews in accordance with annual timelines to determine long term strategic fit vs. competition along with market opportunities for innovation refinement.
- Regional Partnership: Become integrated into the daily operations of the LATAM business to ensure all customer and consumer needs are understood and fed back into the above planning process. Ensure business partners in LATAM view this role as a key connected partner to help deliver results, grow Valvoline, and support local business acceleration.
What You'll Need
- Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business, or related field
- Minimum 5-7 years of experience in brand management, product marketing, product management, or commercial strategy.
- Ability to demonstrate intellectual curiosity, asking thoughtful questions and exploring emerging customer needs, market trends, technologies, and possibilities to uncover opportunities that may not yet be obvious.
- Analytical thinking to identify unmet needs, evaluate opportunities, and make informed product and innovation recommendations.
- Understands the financial drivers behind product and portfolio decisions, including target margins, pricing, business cases, investment requirements, and commercial viability.
- Manages multiple innovation initiatives across different stages of development, balancing priorities, timelines, resources, and dependencies while maintaining focus on the regional innovation roadmap.
- Demonstrates ownership and a strong bias for action, driving innovation initiatives through the New Solutions Development process and overcoming obstacles to bring new solutions to market.
- Builds strong cross-functional partnerships across the organization, regional business teams, Supply Chain, Product, Sales, Finance, and global stakeholders to move innovation initiatives from customer need through commercialization.
Benefits That Drive Themselves
- Health insurance plans (medical, dental, vision)
- Health Savings Account (with employer-based deposit and match)
- Flexible spending accounts
- Competitive 401(k) with generous employer base deposit and match
- Incentive opportunity
- Life insurance
- Short- and long-term disability insurance
- Paid vacation and holidays
- Employee Assistance Program
- Employee discounts
- PTO Buy/Sell Options
- Tuition reimbursement
- Adoption assistance