STADA UK Thornton & Ross is on an exciting growth journey with more than 700 employees being fully committed to our purpose of Caring for People’s Health as a Trusted Partner. Together we are shaping the future of Thornton & Ross by living our values of Integrity, Entrepreneurship, Agility and One STADA. If you want to work in an open culture where your uniqueness is valued, join our CHC Marketing Team.
STADA UK Thornton & Ross – Marketing Manager Core OTC Brands
Reading |U.K.| Full-time | Permanent
Role Purpose
The Marketing Manager plays a critical leadership role within STADA UK’s Consumer Health organisation, with responsibility for shaping portfolio strategy, accelerating category growth, and delivering strong commercial performance across a complex brand portfolio.
This role combines strategic brand leadership with hands-on commercial execution, requiring an individual who can confidently operate across innovation, media, digital, customer strategy, and portfolio management. You will lead the development and delivery of integrated growth plans that strengthen brand equity, unlock market opportunities, and drive sustainable business results.
Working cross-functionally with Sales, Digital, Insights, Medical, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Finance teams, you will act as a key business partner across the organisation—bringing teams together around clear priorities, actionable insights, and ambitious growth objectives.
How You Will Make Impact:
1. 360 Brand management & Category leadership
- Own Category strategy, ensuring clear prioritisation and resource allocation across the portfolio.
- Lead category strategy development, identifying growth drivers, competitive dynamics, and shopper/consumer opportunities ensuring to bring a cross-functional team around the diagnostic and the growth pillars identified.
- Oversee the development and execution of annual brand plans across ATL, BTL, digital, PR, shopper, and e‑commerce.
- Ensure integration and consistent execution across portfolios, touchpoints, and channels.
- Partner with Sales to shape customer‑specific strategies and strengthen joint business planning.
2. Performance, Analytics and Commercial Leadership
- Own portfolio P&L and A&P investment strategy, ensuring optimal ROI and alignment with business priorities.
- Lead monthly business reviews, translating insights into clear strategic actions for the portfolio.
- Drive commercial optimisation across pricing, promo strategy, distribution, and channel mix.
- Strengthen performance dashboards and reporting frameworks to improve agility and decision‑making.
- Partner with Finance, Sales & Supply to support forecasting, scenario planning, and profitability management.
- Provide commercial recommendations to inform BU‑level decisions.
3. Innovation, Renovation & Pipeline Strategy
- Lead the innovation strategy across the full portfolio, ensuring alignment with consumer needs, retailer strategy, and category needs.
- Shape the medium‑term innovation roadmap in partnership with global teams.
- Oversee NPD/EPD delivery, ensuring cross‑functional alignment and launch excellence.
- Drive post‑launch evaluation and continuous optimisation of innovation performance.
- Identify lifecycle management opportunities to strengthen brand equity and accelerate growth.
4. Cross-Functional leadership and Stakeholders Management
- Act as the senior marketing representative in cross‑functional forums, influencing business decisions and resource allocation.
- Build strong relationships with global teams to influence strategy and secure support.
- Lead agency relationships across media, creative, PR, shopper and digital.
- Ensure clarity of roles, timelines, and deliverables across all portfolio initiatives.
- Represent the marketing function in customer‑facing discussions alongside Sales when required.
- Embed One STADA processes, performance culture, and marketing excellence frameworks.
5. Capability Building & Team Leadership
- Lead, coach and develop direct teams, building a high‑performance team.
- Drive capability‑building initiatives across strategy, digital, insights, and commercial acumen.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, and talent development within the marketing organisation.
- Role‑model a positive, hands‑on, entrepreneurial mindset.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for a commercially minded and strategically strong marketing leader who combines brand-building expertise with a hands-on, growth-oriented mindset.
You will bring:
- Significant experience (6+ years) within FMCG and/or Consumer Health, with a strong track record leading complex portfolios and delivering sustainable commercial growth.
- Proven strategic marketing capability, with the ability to translate consumer, shopper, and market insights into impactful category and brand strategies.
- Strong commercial acumen and P&L understanding, with experience balancing long-term brand equity with short-term business performance.
- Excellent analytical skills and confidence working with performance data, digital metrics, consumer insights, and market trends to support decision-making.
- High energy, hands‑on, positive and solution‑oriented mindset.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams and influence senior stakeholders.
- Experience managing agencies and cross‑functional teams.
- Strong partnership capabilities with Sales and Commercial teams, ideally including customer-facing strategy development and joint business planning.
- A high-energy, resilient, and solution-oriented mindset, with the agility to thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and performance-driven environment.
How We Care For You
At Thornton & Ross our purpose “Caring for people’s health as a trusted partner” motivates us every day. And what would be a better place than starting with our own employees. Which is why we give much in return:
�� Competitive salary and annual bonus scheme.
�� Salary Sacrifice Pension Scheme offering 8% employer contribution rates.
⌚ Hybrid working – we spend three days of your choice in the office, with the remaining days working at home.
�� 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays with the potential to buy up to 5 additional days.
�� Free winter flu jab.
�� Wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme and KYAN Wellbeing – offering free coaching and counselling services for you and your family.
⚡ Electric Car Scheme through Octopus Energy, plus free on-site EV charging.
�� Cycle to Work Scheme.
�� Enhanced Family Leave.
�� Plus, many more employee benefits & celebration events.
STADA Group values and promotes its diverse culture, regardless of gender, age, social or ethnic origin, disabilities, religion, ideology, or sexual orientation. We use the strength of our uniqueness to develop creative ideas, expand our experience and increase innovative strength. Our focus is on equal opportunities, respectful cooperation, and the promotion of an inclusive working environment. We are looking forward to your application and welcome applications without a pharmaceutical background.
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