Global Head of Brand Marketing

The Global Head of Brand Marketing is responsible for shaping the future of Kerrygold as a globally relevant, distinctive, and commercially successful brand. 

The role leads the development of Kerrygold's long-term brand strategy, ensuring the brand remains relevant to evolving consumer needs, strengthens its premium positioning, and creates sustainable value across markets. By combining deep consumer understanding, market insights, and commercial rigour, the role ensures that brand investment translates into measurable business outcomes. 

As the steward of Kerrygold's global brand equity, the role defines the brand's positioning, architecture, communications platforms, design principles, and growth priorities, while providing Business Units with the strategic frameworks and tools to win locally. 

The successful candidate will balance creativity with commercial acumen, using data, analytics, consumer insights, and market performance to guide decision-making and identify opportunities to strengthen market share, increase brand power, grow household penetration, and create long-term value for the business. 

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY: 

1. Brand Strategy  

• Lead the development and evolution of Kerrygold's long-term global brand strategy, ensuring the brand remains relevant, distinctive, and commercially successful in a changing consumer, competitive, and retail landscape. 

• Define the vision for Kerrygold, identifying growth opportunities across consumer needs, occasions, channels, and geographies. 

• Monitor cultural, consumer, category, and market trends to identify emerging opportunities and risks that may impact the future of the brand. 

• Shape the strategic direction of Kerrygold's brand architecture, ensuring clarity for consumers while supporting the brand's long-term growth ambitions. 

• Act as the steward of Kerrygold's global brand equity and long-term value creation. 

• Partner with the Global Innovation teams to ensure innovation platforms, propositions, and future growth opportunities are aligned with Kerrygold's brand strategy, positioning, architecture, and long-term vision. 

• Support the development of regional and local brand strategies, including Pilgrims Choice, ensuring appropriate alignment with Ornua's broader brand-building principles, capabilities, and best practices while recognising the unique strategic needs of each brand. 

2. Brand Performance & Commercial Value Creation 

• Champion a data-driven approach to brand management, ensuring decisions are informed by consumer insights, market dynamics, competitive intelligence, and commercial performance. 

• Establish and oversee a global brand performance framework incorporating brand health metrics, household penetration, consumer preference, pricing power, value share, and communication effectiveness. 

• Partnering with CMK, translate consumer, market, and commercial data into actionable recommendations that support business growth and resource allocation decisions. 

• Partner with Business Units to identify growth opportunities, diagnose performance challenges, and support fact-based decision making. 

• Ensure marketing investments are aligned to strategic priorities and deliver measurable business impact. 

• Use analytics and performance data to optimize globally led brand-building initiatives and improve short- and long-term return on marketing investments. 

3. Global Brand Positioning & Distinctive Assets 

• Define and evolve Kerrygold's positioning, value proposition, brand narrative, and communication frameworks to strengthen differentiation and consumer relevance. 

• Own the development and stewardship of Kerrygold's distinctive brand assets, ensuring consistency and recognition across all markets and touchpoints. 

• Ensure the brand continues to reinforce its premium positioning through compelling storytelling, visual identity, and consumer experiences. 

• Lead the development and governance of global brand standards, principles, and protocols that enable consistency while allowing appropriate market flexibility. 

4. Communications, Creative Excellence & Media 

• Lead the development of Kerrygold's global communications and experience strategy, in close partnership with the Global Head of Digital, ensuring all activity supports the brand's positioning and business objectives. 

• Guide the creation of global creative platforms, master campaigns, and core content assets that can be leveraged across markets. 

• Oversee global media strategy and governance, ensuring investment is aligned to strategic priorities and delivers maximum effectiveness. 

• Build and manage relationships with creative, media, and specialist agency partners to strengthen the quality and impact of brand work globally. 

5. Brand Design & Identity 

• Lead the development of Kerrygold's global design strategy, ensuring a consistent, distinctive, and premium expression of the brand across consumer touchpoints. 

• Oversee brand architecture implementation and visual identity systems to strengthen navigation, recognition, and consumer understanding. 

• Ensure packaging and brand assets remain aligned with the overall brand strategy and support strong marketplace differentiation. 

• Protect and evolve Kerrygold's most valuable brand assets to ensure long-term equity growth. 

6. Global Brand Governance, Market & Cross-Functional Partnership 

• Provide Business Units with clear brand frameworks, tools, guidance, and governance to enable effective local execution. 

• Chair and lead the Kerrygold Brand Board, ensuring robust governance of major brand decisions, strategic alignment across markets, and stewardship of Kerrygold's long-term equity. Facilitate the sharing of best practices, successes, and learnings across the global marketing community. 

• Partner closely with Business Unit Marketing teams to ensure local plans leverage global brand strategies while reflecting market realities. Review and challenge significant market initiatives, campaigns, and investments to ensure alignment with global brand principles and objectives. 

• Manage the global shared fund responsibly, ensuring efficient allocation of resources to maximize impact across markets. 

• Partner closely with Legal, Regulatory, Sustainability, Corporate Communications, Consumer & Market Knowledge, Commercial, and Business Unit teams to ensure brand strategies, claims, communications, and brand experiences are credible, compliant, and aligned with Ornua's broader business priorities.  

• Ensure evolving consumer expectations around sustainability, transparency, provenance, and responsible marketing are appropriately reflected in Kerrygold's brand strategy and communication frameworks.  

• Act as the central point of alignment for cross-functional stakeholders on matters relating to Kerrygold's brand equity, reputation, positioning, and long-term development. 

Note: Business Units remain accountable for portfolio choices, commercial plans, pricing strategy, and market execution. The Global Head of Brand Marketing provides the strategic brand frameworks and direction that guide those decisions. 

7. Leadership & Capability Building 

• Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing global brand team, with 2+ direct reports, with a strong balance of strategic thinking, creativity, commercial acumen, and consumer understanding. 

• Oversee the Ornua Marketing Academy, establishing world-class brand-building capabilities across the organisation and fostering a common marketing language, standards, and ways of working. 

• Build a culture of curiosity, continuous learning, and evidence-based decision making across the marketing community. 

• Contribute as a senior member of the Global Marketing & Innovation Leadership Team, helping shape broader functional priorities, organisational capability, and future talent development  

KEY REQUIREMENTS 

• Minimum of 12 years experience in building a consumer brand globally and shaping branding fundamentals, in a Global FMCG setting.  

• Deep passion for uncovering human insights, with strong experience of partnering with CMK on segmentation, testing, and data-driven marketing. 

• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of driving brand growth through clear, data and insight-led strategies that connect with consumers and deliver commercial results. 

• Demonstrated expertise in developing and delivering integrated marketing campaigns across multiple channels. 

• Experience in leading cross-functional teams and agency partners from concept development through execution, ensuring alignment with brand and business objectives. 

• Strong leadership and excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to align and engage senior leaders and cross-market teams. 

• Adept at working in fast-paced, results-oriented environments with multiple priorities and tight deadlines. 

• Strong project management and budget oversight skills, ensuring high-quality delivery, on time and within budget. 

• Strong cultural fit – aligned to our values and committed to making Ornua a place where great people choose to be. 

Marketing Competencies Proficiency Levels :  

• Strategic Insights & Analytics - Advanced  

• Customer & Consumer Centricity – Advanced  

• Brand Strategy & Planning – Advanced    

• Creative Development – Advanced  

• Consumer Engagement & Activation – Advanced  

• Managing Marketing Agencies – Advanced  

• Brand Innovation – Proficient to Advanced  

ORNUA CORE COMPETENCIES  

• Customer Focus: Champions the voice of the consumer, balancing brand ambition with commercial goals. Identifies opportunities to deepen consumer connection and drive long-term brand growth. 

• Forward Looking: Leads teams through change, contributing to functional and business strategy with a growth mindset. 

• Curiosity: Promotes a culture of learning, experimentation, and continuous improvement. Encourages creative thinking grounded in insight and impact. 

• Working Together: Builds strong, effective teams and fosters cross-functional collaboration. 

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS using the link:  8th October, 2026