Sr. Innovation Brand Manager

Smalls is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Innovation Brand Manager to lead our Innovation Pipeline and ensure Smalls stays at the forefront of the cat space through new product development and go-to-market excellence. This role will be instrumental in refining and maintaining a scalable innovation process, enabling cross-functional collaboration and alignment, and managing projects from concept to launch to performance analytics. The right candidate will blend strategic thinking with hands-on execution, thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment, and know how to bring about products that drive growth and deepen brand love.

What You'll Do

• Innovation Project Management

  • Lead the development of a multi-year innovation strategy, transforming big ideas into real products that cats (and their humans) will love.

  • Own project timelines and budgets, ensuring each initiative ladders up to clear objectives and brand impact.

  • Collaborate across the Innovation pod, made up of leaders across Operations, Brand, Customer Support, Retail, and more.

  • Facilitate regular cross-functional meetings, keeping stakeholders aligned, accountable, and on timeline.

  • Build and reinforce project structure by managing all innovation documentation, tasks, progress, and deliverables in Notion.

  • Write sharp, stellar, insights-driven product briefs that inspire and advance our brand story, while driving measurable results.

  • Partner with Marketing to shape GTM strategies, defining product positioning, audience targeting, and launch moments that make an impact.

• Product Development Insights:

  • Leverage customer insights, category trends, and market research to feed the Innovation pipeline and uncover new opportunities.

  • Own post-launch reporting and analysis to evaluate product performance, transforming quantitative and qualitative feedback into learnings and recommendations.

  • Balance brand storytelling with product performance, ensuring every launch strengthens our brand positioning in cat nutrition and cat health, driving both brand equity and business results.

What We’ll Love About You

• You’re a cat parent and cat lover, with a deep understanding of the category across multiple verticals.

• You have worked 4+ years in product marketing, innovation or brand management. Huge plus if you have CPG experience.

• You’ve successfully developed, launched, and optimized new products with measurable impact on revenue and brand growth.

• You can work cross-functionally with stakeholders at all levels and communicate effectively and with ease.

• You are highly organized and your attention to detail makes you a strong project manager. Bonus points if you’re skilled at project management in Notion.

• You bring a strong point of view while remaining open to input—keeping the team grounded in process and data.

• You are relentlessly curious and passionate about building new and better products.

• You’re a strategic thinker and a tactical doer, equally comfortable leading a brainstorm or writing a detailed product spec.

What you’ll love about us:

• Mission-Driven Company: We love cats and we're here to make nine lives ten.

• People-Driven Company: We treat our people like people; we're committed to Smalls, and we work hard but also respect everyone’s lives outside of work.

• Data-Driven Culture: We love using data to guide decision-making where appropriate, but we also know when to move quickly and go with our gut.

• Competitive Salary: Make some $$$.

• Very Competitive Benefits: Fully paid Health, Vision, and Dental insurance. 4-day work week. Unlimited PTO.

• Fully Remote Office & Culture: Our team is spread across the US day to day, but we travel for department & company off-sites and retreats.

• Free Product: Free cat food every month.