Commercial Product Manager

About AAK
Everything AAK does is about Making Better Happen.

We specialize in plant-based oils that are the value-adding ingredients in many of the products people love to consume. We make these products better tasting, healthier, and more sustainable.

At the heart of AAK's offer is Customer Co-Development, combining our desire to understand what better means for each customer, with the unique flexibility of our production assets, and deep knowledge of many products and industries, including Chocolate and confectionery, Bakery, Dairy, Plant-based Foods, Special Nutrition, Foodservice and Personal Care.

Our 4,000 employees support our close collaboration with customers through 25 regional sales offices, 15 dedicated Customer Innovation Centers, and the support of more than 20 production facilities.

Listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and with our headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, AAK has been Making Better Happen for more than 150 years.

About AAK Foodservice
Our Foodservice business is ready to serve Foodservice wholesalers and operators across our core markets in the UK and Scandinavia and into the rest of Europe. We also service leading retailers with the UK, Europe and rest of the world.

Operating across 3 dedicated Foodservice production sites in Runcorn UK, Hastings, UK and Dalby Sweden, along products from sites situated in Hull UK and Karlshamn Sweden our portfolio of customers and products is vast.

Our customers range from independent restaurants and global fast-food chains to national and regional foodservice wholesalers and multiple retailers.

With an extensive range of products covering a range of product categories; frying oils to speciality oils and butter alternatives, savoury sauces and condiments to sweet sauces, coulis and compotes, dressings and mayonnaise, hot dogs to bakery ingredients, we supply market leading brands along with private label wholesaler and retailer brands.

Making Better Happen with our Co-Development approach, AAK Foodservice works closely with our customers to meet new trends, renewing menus, optimizing categories, developing healthier options, cutting waste, saving costs, placing greater emphasis on sustainability.

About The Role
AAK are seeking to appoint a Commercial Product Manager within our Foodservice business area, reporting directly into the Global Marketing Director Foodservice.

This position plays a pivotal role in shaping and delivering key strategic and operational product management initiatives and you will be a key member in driving effective product management across the European Foodservice organization.

You will be responsible for driving the development, performance, and profitability of a commercially competitive product portfolio. This role is both commercial and analytical, requiring a strong technical understanding of the products and the industry to ensure maximum profitability.

You will take ownership of the private label product portfolio, maintaining and optimizing its positioning, segmentation, and value propositions to align with market trends and customer needs. You will also work closely with the Brand Management team to identify opportunities to optimize and improve our branded product portfolio.

This role requires strong cross-functional approach and close collaboration with key stakeholders including Sales, Brand Management, Insights, Technical Product Management (TPM), Customer Innovation (CI), Finance and Site Operations teams within Foodservice organization across UK and Sweden. Along with building networks and connections across AAK's global Commercial Excellence and Commercial Product Management teams.

Together, you will develop and execute go-to-market strategies that drive business success. Balancing commercial responsibilities with technical and commercial expertise, you will analyze market data, identify opportunities, and support strategic decision-making. You will ensure the portfolio remains competitive, profitable, and aligned with the company's growth objectives.

Given the nature of the role, occasional travel will be required.

Responsibilities
Manage, analysis and optimize the product and component portfolio across our Foodservice business area though…

• Develop and execute a comprehensive product management and portfolio strategies with roadmap aligned with company and Foodservice business area objectives.
• Identify new business opportunities through analyzing market insights and trends, portfolio mix analysis, optimization and reviewing best site for our new product activities.
• Analyze, challenge and report the commercial performance of the Foodservice Industry.
• Manage and continuously develop the product portfolio review through delivery of annual Foodservice Industry portfolio review and annual production site portfolio reviews to identify opportunities to optimize our product and component portfolios and work with regional and local teams to deliver initiatives.
• Monitor and guide product pricing and margin strategies, setting clear expectations to achieve profitability targets.
• Ownership of commercial product management responsibilities for our private label portfolio within the product management process; act as the gatekeeper for product lifecycle management overseeing new product introductions and discontinuation with site project coordinators and review product performance against targets and report on impact of launches.
• Develop, evaluate and refine value propositions for AAK Foodservice product range and work with brand management team to deliver brand propositions, ensuring a strong understanding of key differentiators and competitive positioning.
• Execute go-to-market activities for our product solutions and new product development for product offering, deliver best-in-class go-to-market tools, training content, and product collateral for use across multiple communications channels.
• Drive the Foodservice sustainability strategy with portfolio insights, initiative delivery and development of enriched product and component master data.
• Own, manage and enhance our product and component master data.
• Improve and develop better business processes (PLM introduction) and better business intelligence tools/reporting to enhance our insights and analytics into our portfolio performance, trends and opportunities including report creation, NPD analysis and complexity mapping.
• Optimize wholesaler customer/product intelligence platforms to provide insights to our account, insights and brand management teams.

About You
You should also possess the following skills and experience:

• 5 plus years' experience in product management or commercial product management department or role. With 7-10 years of experience in the food industry.
• Solid analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to analysis and translate data into actionable insights, initiates and strategies.
• Strong commercial mindset, decision-making skills and attention to detail with the ability to drive business strategy and profitability.
• Outstanding communication, stakeholder management and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with teams.
• Excellent project management skills and capable of managing multiple cross-functional projects simultaneously.
• Ability to act as an expert concerning product excellence, product management processes and ways of working.
• A passion for Making Better Happen, with a collaborative, agile, and accountable approach to driving business growth.
• Proficiency with market research tools, data analysis, and digital marketing platforms is a plus.
• Experience will be in FMCG or food and beverage production in either B2B, B2C or both is desirable.
• Educated to degree level in Business Management, Product Management, Marketing, Food Science or equivalent.