Dairy Marketing Director Job Description

This Dairy Marketing Director job description sets out the main duties, qualifications, skills and measures of success for the role, which is also known as Head of Marketing, Brand Director, Chief Marketing Officer or VP Marketing. Download it free as a Word or PDF template and adapt it for your own vacancy.

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Job title	Dairy Marketing Director
Also known as	Head of Marketing, Brand Director, Chief Marketing Officer, VP Marketing
Department	Dairy leadership and board
Reports to	Chief Executive Officer
Direct reports	Brand managers, and heads of consumer insight, innovation, digital and trade marketing

What does a Dairy Marketing Director do?

Leads marketing for a dairy business's brands and products, so that brand value, market share and margin grow. Uses consumer insight to drive innovation, packaging and communication across retail, digital and trade channels.

Dairy Marketing Director duties and responsibilities

Brand strategy

Set the brand portfolio strategy and the positioning of each brand
Build annual brand plans with clear goals for growth, share and margin
Protect brand reputation, trademarks and brand assets
Manage the marketing budget and measure the return on marketing spend

Consumer insight and innovation

Commission and use consumer, shopper and market research to guide decisions
Track trends in health, nutrition, plant-based alternatives and sustainability
Lead the innovation pipeline with technical and operations teams from idea to launch
Review launches once in market and withdraw products that do not perform

Packaging and product claims

Lead packaging design and renovation with technical, procurement and operations teams
Drive recyclable and lower-impact packaging in line with sustainability goals
Make sure labels, nutrition and health claims and advertising are accurate and lawful
Approve sustainability and animal welfare claims only where evidence supports them

Digital and communications

Lead digital marketing, social media, websites and e-commerce activity
Plan advertising and media campaigns across channels
Tell the story of the business's farmers, milk and standards clearly and honestly
Manage agencies and get value from creative and media budgets

Trade marketing and team leadership

Develop trade marketing, promotions and point-of-sale plans with the sales team
Support key account plans with category insight and shopper marketing
Lead, coach and develop the marketing team
Build marketing capability in insight, digital and brand management

Dairy Marketing Director qualifications and experience

Essential

Degree in marketing, business or a related field
Extensive senior marketing leadership experience in food, dairy or fast-moving consumer goods
Proven record of growing brands and launching successful new products
Strong use of consumer and shopper insight to make decisions
Experience of digital marketing and managing agencies
Experience of managing large marketing budgets

Desirable

Professional marketing qualification
Experience of dairy, chilled or fresh food categories
Experience of sustainability or provenance-led marketing
International or export brand experience

Skills and attributes

Strategic and creative thinking
Consumer insight and data analysis
Brand and portfolio management
Leadership and team development
Budget management
Clear, persuasive communication
Collaboration with sales, technical and operations teams

How success is measured

Brand sales, market share and household penetration
Brand health measures such as awareness, consideration and loyalty
Sales from new products as a share of total brand sales
Return on marketing investment
Launches delivered on time and on budget
Share of packaging that is recyclable, against target

Working conditions and safety

Office-based with regular travel to agencies, customers, sites and research sessions, and occasional international travel. Some work outside normal hours is needed around launches and campaigns.

Lead by example on health, safety, food safety and animal welfare
Uphold the code of conduct and all legal and compliance requirements
Raise concerns and report incidents promptly

Dairy Marketing Director interview questions

Use these questions to assess candidates for a Dairy Marketing Director role. Each one includes what a good answer shows.

How do you decide which brands in a portfolio to invest in and which to manage for cash?
What a good answer shows: Uses market growth, share, margin and brand health data, and makes clear, evidence-based choices.
How would you respond to growing consumer interest in plant-based alternatives to dairy?
What a good answer shows: Understands the trend, promotes dairy's strengths in taste and nutrition, and considers innovation where the business case is sound.
How do you turn consumer insight into a successful new product?
What a good answer shows: Finds real consumer needs, tests concepts early, works closely with technical teams and sets clear launch measures.
How do you measure the return on marketing spend?
What a good answer shows: Uses sales data, brand tracking, test-and-learn and modelling, and is honest about what cannot be measured.
A launch is selling well below forecast after three months. What do you do?
What a good answer shows: Examines distribution, price, awareness and repeat purchase, decides on fixes quickly and is willing to withdraw the product.
A social media post accuses your brand of poor animal welfare on supplier farms. How do you respond?
What a good answer shows: Checks the facts quickly with milk supply, responds honestly, acts on any real issue and avoids defensive messaging.
How do you make sure sustainability and health claims are accurate and lawful?
What a good answer shows: Requires evidence, involves technical and legal review, avoids vague claims and understands the risk of misleading consumers.
How do you market dairy products responsibly to families with children?
What a good answer shows: Follows advertising rules and codes, avoids misleading nutrition messages and puts consumer wellbeing ahead of short-term sales.
How do you build strong working relationships between marketing and sales?
What a good answer shows: Shares plans and goals, involves sales early, holds joint reviews and respects each team's expertise.
How would you develop a marketing team's digital and insight skills?
What a good answer shows: Assesses gaps, uses training and selective hiring, encourages experiments and shares learning across the team.

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Frequently asked questions

What does a Dairy Marketing Director do?

What qualifications does a Dairy Marketing Director need?

Employers usually look for: degree in marketing, business or a related field; extensive senior marketing leadership experience in food, dairy or fast-moving consumer goods; proven record of growing brands and launching successful new products.

Who does a Dairy Marketing Director report to?

A Dairy Marketing Director usually reports to the Chief Executive Officer. Direct reports typically include brand managers, and heads of consumer insight, innovation, digital and trade marketing.

Can I use this Dairy Marketing Director job description for my own vacancy?

Yes. Download the free Word template, add your location, contract and salary details, and adapt the duties to your site. You can then advertise the role on Dairy Jobs.