Smalls is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Innovation Brand Manager to lead our Innovation Pipeline and ensure Smalls stays at the forefront of the cat space through new product development and go-to-market excellence. This role will be instrumental in refining and maintaining a scalable innovation process, enabling cross-functional collaboration and alignment, and managing projects from concept to launch to performance analytics. The right candidate will blend strategic thinking with hands-on execution, thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment, and know how to bring about products that drive growth and deepen brand love.
What You'll Do
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Innovation Project Management
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Lead the development of a multi-year innovation strategy, transforming big ideas into real products that cats (and their humans) will love.
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Own project timelines and budgets, ensuring each initiative ladders up to clear objectives and brand impact.
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Collaborate across the Innovation pod, made up of leaders across Operations, Brand, Customer Support, Retail, and more.
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Facilitate regular cross-functional meetings, keeping stakeholders aligned, accountable, and on timeline.
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Build and reinforce project structure by managing all innovation documentation, tasks, progress, and deliverables in Notion.
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Write sharp, stellar, insights-driven product briefs that inspire and advance our brand story, while driving measurable results.
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Partner with Marketing to shape GTM strategies, defining product positioning, audience targeting, and launch moments that make an impact.
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Product Development Insights:
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Leverage customer insights, category trends, and market research to feed the Innovation pipeline and uncover new opportunities.
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Own post-launch reporting and analysis to evaluate product performance, transforming quantitative and qualitative feedback into learnings and recommendations.
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Balance brand storytelling with product performance, ensuring every launch strengthens our brand positioning in cat nutrition and cat health, driving both brand equity and business results.
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What We’ll Love About You
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You’re a cat parent and cat lover, with a deep understanding of the category across multiple verticals.
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You have worked 4+ years in product marketing, innovation or brand management. Huge plus if you have CPG experience.
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You’ve successfully developed, launched, and optimized new products with measurable impact on revenue and brand growth.
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You can work cross-functionally with stakeholders at all levels and communicate effectively and with ease.
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You are highly organized and your attention to detail makes you a strong project manager. Bonus points if you’re skilled at project management in Notion.
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You bring a strong point of view while remaining open to input—keeping the team grounded in process and data.
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You are relentlessly curious and passionate about building new and better products.
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You’re a strategic thinker and a tactical doer, equally comfortable leading a brainstorm or writing a detailed product spec.
What you’ll love about us:
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Mission-Driven Company: We love cats and we're here to make nine lives ten.
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People-Driven Company: We treat our people like people; we're committed to Smalls, and we work hard but also respect everyone’s lives outside of work.
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Data-Driven Culture: We love using data to guide decision-making where appropriate, but we also know when to move quickly and go with our gut.
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Competitive Salary: Make some $$$.
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Very Competitive Benefits: Fully paid Health, Vision, and Dental insurance. 4-day work week. Unlimited PTO.
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Fully Remote Office & Culture: Our team is spread across the US day to day, but we travel for department & company off-sites and retreats.
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Free Product: Free cat food every month.