Portfolio Director, Stevia and Monkfruit

Core Role Title: Portfolio Director, Stevia and Monkfruit

Job Family Group: Innovation & R&D  

Job Family: Product/Process R&D

Grade : 7

About this role:

As the global stevia and monkfruit product line champion, this role will act as the centre of product knowledge, defining the product line and asset strategy to deliver sustainable growth. This role is the key linkage role between Product Line within the platform to regions and S&I, ensuring alignment between Product Line / Product strategies and their ability to support growth within our Categories. This role will manage the portfolio of products in his/her remit (stevia and monkfruit, potentially other natural sweeteners), continue to evolve our competitive value proposition, pricing strategy and work closely with the Operating Units for effective customer execution.

A role that brings together asset with the external environment, the Global Portfolio Director will lead strategic planning / capacity planning and work closely with Supply Chain teams with oversight of contracting to maximise volume, pricing and cost improvement. This role is also responsible for competitive intelligence for the product area (proposing any necessary actions in response to competitive actions), and utilizing consumer insights and relevant category trends in partnership with platform marketing.

Actively engages with strategic global and regional customers to provide product insight/outlook and drive the commercial product framework for regional execution.

The stevia and monkfruit portfolio director is responsible for accelerating the growth of acquired business (SGF), organic NPD launched through the innovation pipeline, and new or existing partnerships (Monkfruit Corp) with assets and capacity (Manus), and any others developed in the natural sweetener space. This role will leverage the whole network through the cross functional team, continue to refresh the stevia and monkfruit strategy, and drive stevia and monkfruit growth with the regions, ensuring the focus and knowledge development that the category teams need to drive stevia and monkfruit sales ahead of the market.

The goals and expectations for the future of stevia and monkfruit for sugar reduction are high, this role will equip and support the regional category teams to deliver on the growth plan, with two direct reports based in NOAM and APAC for the purposes of enabling topline growth.

Accountabilities:

Strategic Planning

• Lead the development of the product strategy, value proposition (with platform marketing) and evolve and execute on the strategy to promote/sell to drive growth.  Also work to set the medium/long-term strategic roadmap for the products, identifying growth opportunities ensuring alignment to Product Line strategy

• Provide prioritisation recommendations based on Product Line strategy, customer demand and capacity

• Define pricing strategy, provide guidance on pricing target and floor, and closely monitor price/margin through FY

• Build market and competitive intelligence to inform our capacity and pricing, provide market knowledge to OU sales directors and global accounts

Product / portfolio management

• Continuously define product portfolio maximization recommendations through key product specific projects (existing product development) as well as tail management 

• Manage sample approvals

• Partner with PIL on product specific customer solution projects (e.g. NPD, line extension, M&A etc.)

• Work closely with global scientific and regulatory affairs to maximize or expand regulatory approvals around the world, update and leverage our value propositions actively with regions

Product Strategy and Asset/Capacity/Sourcing Connectivity

• Forecast and define capacity requirements with Global Operations and largest accounts globally to ensure end to end alignment and commitment

• Commercial leadership for any cost improvement or asset expansion projects, in close partnership with GO and finance.

• Work with Global Operations to analyse ongoing supply and demand requirements (aligned to forecast) to ensure feasible product allocation

• Assess evaluate and implement product changes with cross-region implications 

Commercialisation

• Identify New commercial opportunities, reflecting market appetite and customer demand/trends

• Manage any asset changes dependent on format, demand, finishing capabilities, responding to customer needs

• Leads a team of 2 direct reports to implement operational integration of partner portfolio, customer transition, alignment of forecasting and planning between T&L and partner systems

• Drive the customer engagement for the expanded portfolio and value propositions

• Build partnerships with largest stevia and monkfruit customers and potential customers globally (eg flavor houses, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Danone)

Experience:

• Strong technical, commercial or product management background is a requirement 

• A commercial mindset, having previously been at a senior leadership role and involved in innovation and positioning, identifying and capitalising on industry trends and commercial opportunities, with a proven ability to make choices and prioritise projects in relation to the business opportunity they represent. Must be able to engage at all levels with global customers

• Previous leadership experience, able to influence through others, lead a cross functional team

• Excellent networking and influencing skills with the ability to develop relationships with a wide range of business partners across all parts and levels of the business

• Ownership, personal drive and resilience, ability to see the bigger picture and put strategy into action, hold others accountable

• Some travel globally, to largest global customers as needed and to manufacturing and partner sites

Tate & Lyle is an equal opportunity employer, committed to the strength of an inclusive workforce.