About the role
Lantmännen is a fast-growing international bakery group delivering high-quality bakery solutions to foodservice operators, retail chains, and in-store bakeries across multiple markets. The organization combines industrial excellence with entrepreneurship and is growing in an environment where customers continuously expect innovation, premium quality, and category leadership.
To support the next growth phase, Lantmännen is looking for a Marketing & Innovation Director who will play a key role in further strengthening the portfolio and commercial impact. You will lead the end-to-end innovation agenda, build a data-driven marketing organization, and develop category and portfolio strategies that drive profitable growth across markets and channels.
Your impact
In this role, you will make a difference by:
* building a world-class innovation capability (from renovation to breakthrough platforms)
* transforming the organization into a (more) data-driven marketing leader
* accelerating category growth and portfolio profitability
* making innovation and marketing operational and scalable, in close collaboration with Sales, R&D, and Operations
Your responsibilities
Product innovation: strategy and execution (end-to-end)
* define and execute the innovation vision, roadmap, and pipeline
* translate customer and consumer insights into winning concepts
* set up structured ideation programs (including innovation methodologies and AI-enabled insight generation)
* lead innovation across multiple horizons: renovation/cost-value, incremental and breakthrough
* own concept-to-launch end-to-end, including post-launch reviews and learning loops
* Stage-Gate governance: ownership of the process, portfolio prioritization, and pipeline management
* lead cross-functional innovation teams (Marketing, R&D, Operations, Sales)
Digital & data-driven marketing + customer engagement
* develop a modern digital marketing and CRM strategy
* map customer journeys (lead generation to loyalty/cross-sell)
* leverage marketing automation, personalization, and analytics to increase performance
* strengthen segmentation, customer data activation, and the CRM ecosystem
* ensure strong alignment with commercial objectives and sales enablement
Category & portfolio management
* develop category strategies by segment and channel
* manage portfolio architecture, lifecycle management, and complexity reduction
* identify margin expansion / mix improvement opportunities
* conduct category profitability analyses and customer-centric assortment optimization
* align the innovation pipeline with category growth drivers
Marketing excellence & transformation
* implement best-practice processes, tools, and governance
* reinforce cross-functional collaboration (Sales, R&D, Operations)
* embed performance management and capability building
* foster a culture of growth, innovation, and continuous learning
* act as a change leader in the professionalization of Marketing & Innovation
Your profile
* 15+ years of experience in marketing and innovation leadership roles
* strong track record in FMCG/food (bakery or fresh food is a plus)
* proven experience with successful innovation launches (concept-to-market)
* experience in B2B environments: foodservice, QSR, retail bakery, private label
* strong expertise in: Stage-Gate innovation, consumer/customer insights, digital marketing & CRM, category management, and portfolio profitability
* plus: experience with AI-enabled insights, advanced analytics, and/or marketing automation
Leadership competencies
* entrepreneurial and opportunity-driven, with strong commercial acumen
* inspiring people leader; able to coach, empower, and develop teams
* customer- and consumer-centric; able to translate insights into action and impact
* strategically strong, yet equally execution-focused and disciplined
* strong cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management skills
* resilient and pragmatic; able to make change stick
Interested?
Apply in confidence via Fabienne Vanwynsberghe (Essensys) or email your CV/LinkedIn profile and a short motivation. References will only be requested at a later stage and with your consent.