Chief Marketing Officer – Soft Drinks Startup

JD&CO is partnering with a bold soft-drinks startup that has been making a big name for itself over the past few years. Its drinks combine health and refreshment, with a strong focus on planet and sustainability; established in the North West and backed by fresh investment, the business is looking to appoint a Chief Marketing Officer to deliver a step-change in brand marketing and unlock the next stage of growth.THE ROLEThis is about building a brand and creating marketing that cuts through, sticks, and spreads. We’re looking for best-in-class challenger work - work that’s unmistakable in market and builds memory over time. We want marketing that people actually love and discuss with friends, in a category that has produced some of the world’s most recognisable brands. And, though brand will lead, the marketing strategy must also lean hard into performance and trade activation that turns brand attention into commercial results. The successful candidate will know exactly which levers to pull, where, and when, owning the plan across retail and digital to maximise visibility, availability, and conversion. In short, this is a brand-led, performance-disciplined agenda: make the brand famous, then make the most of every impression and meter of shelf.RESPONSIBILITIESBrand & ConsumerChampion the consumer: put insight at the heart of strategy and execution.Define and evolve brand positioning and the creative platform, making healthy refreshment simple, inspiring and irresistible.Own brand consistency across all touchpoints (packaging, comms, digital, retail, NPD).Growth & CommercialTake full accountability for marketing-driven growth: awareness, penetration, revenue impact and rate of sale in partnership with commercial teams.Own the marketing budget, ensuring spend efficiency and ROI; set clear KPIs and dashboards.Digital & PerformanceDrive DTC growth; optimise paid/owned/earned with rigorous test-and-learn.Own CRM, community and loyalty; turn audience love into advocacy and repeat.Leverage data & analytics to track performance and inform decisions.Leadership & CultureBuild, mentor and inspire a high-performing in-house team (plus agency partners).Create a tight operating rhythm with Sales, Ops, Finance and Innovation—fast decisions, clear accountability.External RelationshipsLead creative, PR, digital and media partners; set the bar for craft and results.Partner with retailers and key customers on joint business planning and trade marketing.Represent marketing in board/investor updates and appropriate public forums.ABOUT YOUBrand-first comms leader. You set clear comms strategy, rally teams behind it, and deliver standout work in the real world. You can show a portfolio that proves it.Numbers & data-literate. Strong on performance levers and measurement - comfortable with dashboards, CAC/LTV, incrementality, media mix, ROI, and test-and-learn to move rate of sale week by week.Scale-up native. Strategically trained somewhere along the way, but steeped in start-up/scale-up life where strategy and execution blend. Pure big-global FMCG-only won’t be the fit.Constructive challenger. Evidence-led and pragmatic at Exec level; comfortable calling things out and improving plans in service of the consumer and brand.Player-coach. Happy switching from shaping the creative platform with agencies to hands-on delivery - answering customer emails, joining samplings, talking to shoppers.Founder’s partner, in person. You like sitting close to the action, on-site most of the weekLiving in, or willing to relocate to, the North WestFinally…This is a targeted search. Please apply only if you meet the essential criteria, we expect high interest and may not be able to respond to everyone individually.JD&CO is passionate about championing diversity and challenging unconscious bias; every application is reviewed with care.Please follow our LinkedIn page for updates.