Brand & Trade Lead

The Brand & Trade Lead plays a key role in driving the successful commercialization of our brands, marketing campaigns, and trade programs across distributors, accounts, and consumers. This position is responsible for creating impactful launch materials, supporting trade marketing initiatives, managing vendor relationships, and maintaining organized asset management systems. With a focus on seamless market execution, this role requires a blend of strong organizational and creative skills, as well as experience in project management. Ideal candidates will bring experience in marketing, design, and familiarity with the beverage or CPG industries.

In this role you'll:

• partner with the Brand Director to develop and execute materials for brand, campaign, and program launches, including visuals, packaging, web pages, sell-in presentations, and POS mockups.
• serve as the project manager for brand and campaign launches, driving timelines and ensuring on-time deployment of deliverables.
• partner with the brewing team to craft and inform the selling story and descriptions for new brands, understanding the liquid components and process.
• collaborate with the Creative Communications Lead on promotion plans and social media strategy, including content and photography
• design, produce, and coordinate the production and distribution of engaging and on-brand Point of Sale (POS) materials, giveaways, and signage to enhance trade engagement.
• collaborate on trade and channel strategy to maximize impact at the point-of-purchase in both on- and off-premise settings.
• manage inventory levels of POS materials in the wholesaler ordering portal and brewery inventory, ensuring items are up-to-date and adequately stocked.
• manage, maintain and organize the brewery's assets stored on our partner-facing graphics portal and internal Brand Google Drive folder, ensuring that all design materials and relevant files are organized effectively and are easily accessible to stakeholders.
• lead communication with sales teams to ensure effective deployment of POS, giveaways, and other marketing materials.
• stay informed on industry trends and best practices related to branding, marketing, and the beverage/CPG industries.
• ensure compliance with regulations by managing UPCs, keg caps, and label submissions for TTB approval.

The role also involves shaping and maintaining the brewery’s brand identity and guidelines, fulfilling ad hoc signage and graphic requests from the sales team, and spearheading the information-gathering process for sell sheets. Additionally, it requires supporting key marketing events or activations and maintaining strong communication across departments to ensure alignment and project success.

Proficiency in design of marketing materials, as well as basic understanding of design principles and file setup requirements for different mediums is a must. Portfolio submission with your application is a plus.

Location Requirements:

• Must be able to work in the Kedzie office 4-5 days a week, located in Chicago 
• Provide team support by attending a major event or activation approximately twice per month.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, graphic design or other related field or equivalent experience
• 2-4 years of experience in a marketing-related role (Beverage or CPG is a plus)
• Knowledge and passion for the beer, beverage or CPG industries is a plus 
• Proficiency in Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.)
• Strong communication skills, in both understanding of communication needs and experience in successfully collaborating across departments
• Detail-oriented and solution-driven, able to manage multiple projects simultaneously and ensure deliverables are high quality and meet deadlines
• Experience with tools like Google Drive and/or other asset management platforms
• Experience with trade marketing and/or distributor relations is highly valued
• Experience in concepting, design and production of trade marketing, point-of-sale, retail displays and sell-in materials is highly valued