PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER

Job Title:  Product Marketing Manager

Reports To:  Chief Marketing Officer for interim

Position Type:  Full Time 

Salary Range: Depends on geographical location

LA Range - $110,000-$135,00 & Dallas Range - $85,000-$117,000 plus a 10% annual bonus

Location: Dallas, TX or Los Angeles, CA

ROLE OVERVIEW:
The Product Marketing Manager will own the strategy, performance, and evolution of Mendocino Farms’ menu categories — serving as the strategic lead and cross-functional connector between Culinary, Sourcing, Brand, Insights, Finance, and Operations.

This role is responsible for shaping what’s on the menu today and what’s coming next. From category strategy and innovation pipelines to product briefs, pricing inputs, and performance analysis, the Product Marketing Manager ensures our menu delivers on guest needs, brand promise, and business goals.

Sitting on the Marketing team, this role blends brand thinking, data fluency, and operator mindset. It’s equal parts strategic and hands-on, ideal for someone who loves turning insights into craveable food stories that perform in the real world.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Menu Category Strategy & Ownership 

• Own end-to-end menu category management, including performance tracking, optimization, and long-term growth strategy.
• Define the role each category and item plays within the menu (core, innovation, traffic driver, margin builder).
• Identify whitespace opportunities and recommend actions based on guest insights, trends, and performance data.
• Ensure menu strategy aligns with brand positioning, guest expectations, and financial priorities.

Product Innovation & Pipeline 

• Partner closely with Culinary to help shape the innovation pipeline from early concepts through launch.
• Lead the development of clear, compelling product briefs that define, target guest & occasion, product promise & differentiation, pricing guardrails & success metrics
• Support test-and-learn initiatives, pilots, and limited-time offerings with clear hypotheses and measurement plans.
• Help balance creativity with feasibility, scalability, and operational excellence.

Business Case Development & Pricing Strategy 

• Build thoughtful, data-driven business cases for new items and menu changes, including:
  • Sales, mix, and margin assumptions
  • Food cost and operational considerations
• Partner with Finance and Insights to support pricing strategy, architecture, and elasticity analysis.
• Evaluate trade-offs across guest value, brand impact, and profitability.

Performance Analysis & Insights

• Own ongoing analysis of product performance, leveraging sales, mix, margin, and guest data.
• Partner closely with Insights to translate research, trends, and competitive learnings into actionable recommendations.
• Lead post-launch readouts and lifecycle reviews to inform optimization, iteration, or menu exits.
• Bring clarity and confidence to product decisions through strong storytelling backed by data.

Competitive & Market Intelligence

• Monitor competitive menus, innovation trends, pricing, and claims across fast casual and adjacent categories.
• Track food, flavor, wellness, and lifestyle trends relevant to our guest and brand.
• Translate external insights into implications for menu strategy and innovation priorities.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Brand Stewardship

• Serve as the connective tissue between Marketing, Culinary, Operations, Finance, Supply Chain, and Insights.
• Ensure product strategy and launches are well-represented in campaign planning and marketing calendars.
• Champion the guest experience and brand voice across all menu decisions.

Experience

• 5–8+ years of experience in product marketing, menu strategy, category management, or brand marketing.
• Experience within fast casual, QSR, food & beverage, or hospitality strongly preferred.
• Proven experience partnering closely with Culinary / R&D teams.
• Experience operating in growth-stage or evolving brands where structure is still being built.

Skills & Mindset

• Strategic thinker with strong analytical instincts and a bias toward action.
• Comfortable working with performance data, financial inputs, and pricing considerations.
• Clear, confident communicator,  especially in writing briefs and presenting recommendations.
• Highly collaborative and comfortable influencing cross-functionally.
• Operator-minded, detail-oriented, and energized by building systems that scale.
• Curious, optimistic, and excited by food, flavor, and the guest experience.

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to lift 20-30 pounds
• Sitting and standing for 6- 8 hours
• Hand use: single grasping, fine manipulation, pushing and pulling
• Work requires the following motions: bending, twisting, squatting, and reaching