Brand Strategy Manager

Job Description

 Job Title: Brand Strategy Manager

Location: Corporate

Department: Marketing

Job Summary: The Brand Strategy Manager will help shape the future of Wawa by developing clear brand strategies and translating them into actionable plans that drive business growth and strengthen brand equity. This role will help translate short and long-term business priorities into an integrated marketing plan to elevate the brand and establish strategic frameworks that guide consistent execution across markets and customer touchpoints. The Brand Strategy Manager will partner closely with teams across Marketing, Consumer Insights, Merchandising, Product Development, Finance, Operations, and other areas of the business to connect consumer needs with commercial opportunities..

Principal Duties:

•  Manage the development, governance, and ongoing optimization of Wawa's integrated marketing calendar, aligning enterprise priorities and inputs from across the organization.

•  Translate brand and business objectives into clear strategic frameworks, annual and seasonal plans, and actionable briefs that guide cross-functional execution.

•  Serve as a strategic advisor to Marketing, Merchandising, Consumer Insights, Loyalty, Digital, Communications, People, and other teams, challenging inputs and recommending the strongest path forward.

•  Establish and lead a disciplined process for evaluating, prioritizing, sequencing, and integrating marketing initiatives based on consumer relevance, business value, operational readiness, and channel capacity.

•  Ensure campaigns, promotions, product launches, partnerships, and brand moments work together to deliver a cohesive customer experience and support Wawa's growth and brand equity goals.

•  Identify gaps, overlaps, competing messages, risks, and opportunities across the calendar, resolving conflicts and escalating decisions when needed.

•  Monitor changes in business priorities, customer behavior, culture, and performance; recommend and lead adjustments to strategy and plans.

•  Define measures of success and partner with Consumer Insights, Analytics, and Finance to evaluate performance, capture learnings, and strengthen future planning.

•  Present strategic recommendations, tradeoffs, decisions, and key learnings to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, building alignment and commitment to action.

•  Lead social, content, partnership, and activation strategies that support associate recruitment, in partnership with Advertising and People teams.

•  Manage, coach, and develop direct reports, setting clear goals, providing ongoing feedback, prioritizing workload, and building strategic and functional capabilities.

Essential Functions:

•  Lead complex, enterprise-level planning processes involving multiple teams, priorities, budgets, and timelines.

•  Make sound recommendations and decisions with incomplete or competing information, balancing brand, consumer, commercial, and operational considerations.

•  Facilitate productive cross-functional conversations, resolve differing perspectives, and drive teams toward clear decisions, owners, and next steps.

•  Communicate complex strategies and recommendations clearly and confidently to stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership.

•  Synthesize a wide range of consumer, cultural, competitive, and business inputs into focused, actionable plans.

•  Identify dependencies, risks, conflicts, and opportunities across concurrent initiatives and proactively develop solutions.

•  Lead and develop talent through clear expectations, effective delegation, timely feedback, coaching, and performance management.

Basic Qualifications:

•  Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field preferred.

•  8+ years of progressive experience in brand strategy, integrated marketing, marketing planning, or a related discipline, preferably within a consumer-facing organization.

•  Prior experience managing, coaching, or formally developing talent; direct people-management experience preferred.

•  Demonstrated experience owning integrated marketing calendars and leading strategy across campaigns, promotions, product launches, partnerships, and brand initiatives.

•  Strong understanding of brand positioning, consumer behavior, integrated marketing, and the role of paid, owned, earned, and experiential channels across the customer journey.

•  Proven ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners, navigate competing priorities, and drive decisions in a matrixed organization.

•  Strong strategic and commercial judgment, with the ability to use consumer insights, performance data, and business inputs to establish priorities and make recommendations.

•  Exceptional communication, facilitation, and presentation skills, with the ability to create clarity and momentum in ambiguous or evolving situations.

Wawa will provide reasonable accommodation to complete an application upon request, consistent with applicable law. If you require an accommodation, please contact our Associate Service Center at [email protected].

Wawa, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Wawa maintains a work environment in which Associates are treated fairly and with respect and in which discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. In accordance with federal, state and local laws, we recruit, hire, promote and evaluate all applicants and Associates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity or expression, citizenship status, disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, domestic or sexual violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Unlawful discrimination will not be a factor in any employment decision.