Title (External) Brand Manager - Shots (12 month Maternity Cover) in London

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

The UK & Ireland Shots Team is hiring a Brand Manager on a 12-month fixed-term maternity-cover contract to help drive the continued growth of our Shots portfolio. This role will lead a selection of brands within the company's Shots portfolio across the UK and Ireland.

The Brand Manager - Shots is responsible for developing and executing impactful brand-building plans for assigned brands across the UK and Ireland, aligned with global strategy and designed to meet or exceed annual targets. The role collaborates closely with Marketing, Sales, Shopper Marketing, agencies and trade partners to deliver key objectives. As a 12-month maternity-cover appointment, the successful candidate will be expected to provide strong continuity, establish priorities quickly and maintain momentum across the portfolio.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own a prioritized KPI plan with clear development goals, actions and ongoing documentation of progress.
• Where applicable, provide constructive feedback and development support to direct reports and team members, ensuring clear objectives and accountability.
• Contribute to the 3-5 year strategic plans for assigned brands and identify the initiatives required to achieve volume targets and annual commitments in the UK and Ireland.
• Assess the relevance of global targeting, positioning and brand platforms for local consumers, partnering with Global Brand teams to refine plans where needed.
• Lead monthly SOP reporting, alignment meetings and KPI monitoring, clearly identifying risks, opportunities and corrective actions.
• Lead the localisation and enhancement of paid, owned and earned communication toolkits, including creative, media, public relations, social and experiential assets.
• Establish, promote and protect brand assets across campaigns and activations.
• Define the Campaign Management System (CMS) for key programmes, align BTL plans with Sales and Shopper Marketing, and equip commercial teams with the tools required to execute volume driving initiatives.
• Support the closure of gaps identified by using consumer, shopper, category and customer insight.
• Commission or conduct research and competitive audits to identify brand frictions and optimise the path to purchase across the UK and Ireland.
• Establish clear pre- and post-evaluation measures to assess the effectiveness and return of each initiative and its associated spend.
• Develop integrated annual Brand Plans for assigned brands in partnership with Global Marketing, UK & Ireland Sales and Shopper Marketing teams.
• Translate strategy into clear channel, customer and activation priorities.
• Own the annual marketing budget for assigned brands, including forecasting, purchase orders, accruals, invoice processing and ongoing spend tracking.
• Support the New Business/Product Development process and ensure brand activity complies with relevant UK & Ireland regulations and company standards.
• Collaborate with Global Brand teams on local strategy, allocations and brand-building platforms, and work closely with R&D, Supply Chain and commercial stakeholders to meet launch deadlines and requirements.
• Partner with Sales and Shopper Marketing to prioritise programming across key accounts, channels and markets.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, translating brand strategy into commercially effective plans that can be executed brilliantly in the on-trade, off-trade and wholesale environments.
• Establish clear and organised priorities for yourself and the wider cross-functional team.
• Identify the people critical to success, define roles and responsibilities, set realistic timelines and monitor progress consistently.
• Escalate issues early and maintain momentum across multiple concurrent projects.
• Oversee agency creative output for assigned brands and New Business/Product Development projects, including packaging, campaign assets, marketing collateral, point-of-sale materials and sales tools.
• Ensure all work is strategically on brief, commercially effective, compliant and delivered on time and within budget.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Proven experience in brand marketing or commercial marketing, with a strong understanding of brand building, activation and performance delivery.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities at one time, applying disciplined and ruthless prioritisation.
• A self-starter who takes ownership, acts with pace and drives for results.
• Experience developing and executing annual brand plans, campaigns or customer programmes.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Willingness to travel regularly across the UK and Ireland, with occasional European travel where required.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively at all levels.
• Strong project and time-management skills, with the ability to deliver through cross-functional teams and agencies.
• Budgeting, planning and financial analysis experience, including management of marketing investment.
• Strong computer skills and confidence using technology, data and business systems.
• Creative and commercially minded, with the confidence to challenge the status quo.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the alcoholic beverage industry, wider CPG/FMCG sector or a similarly fast-paced consumer business.
• Experience working across UK & Ireland customers, channels or consumer markets.
• Experience in NBD/NPD, regulatory compliance, people management or complex project implementation.