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Salary: USD 132,000 - 165,000 / annual
Grove Collaborative, a certified B Corp and sustainability-focused consumer products company, is seeking a Lead for Owned Brands to own the end-to-end management of Grove Co., Grab Green, and 8Greens — the company's highest-margin, highest-control product lines.
This is a hands-on, individual-contributor role with broad scope and real accountability. You will own the margin math, vendor relationships, product development calendar, claims and compliance work, and quality problem resolution across three owned brands. The role touches inventory planning, marketing, creative, quality, finance, and fulfillment operations, but you execute the work yourself rather than delegating to a team.
Key responsibilities include:
**Owned Brand Product Development & Packaging:** Own the development calendar for new items, seasonal programs, line extensions, and format changes from brief through first production run. Make packaging decisions (substrate, format, die lines, master case specs, formula-to-package compatibility, cost per unit). Build and maintain specification and briefing standards so launches run consistently. Direct external design and artwork partners and manage revision cycles against launch dates.
**Contract Manufacturers & Supplier Partnerships:** Serve as primary relationship owner for contract manufacturers, co-packers (gummy, liquid, paper, personal care), and packaging/component suppliers. Negotiate cost, payment terms, MOQs, and lead times. Run RFPs and dual-source evaluations. Manage supply and quality agreements alongside Legal and Finance. Own vendor onboarding through NetSuite and Tropic.
**Product Quality & Problem Resolution:** Run root-cause investigation and resolution when products fail in the field (seal integrity, cap defects, formula-to-lining compatibility, freight damage). Coordinate with manufacturers, third-party labs, fulfillment centers, and Customer Happiness. Build evidence, size exposure, and bring clear recommendations. Define investigation processes, triage thresholds, escalation paths, and documentation standards.
**Retail & Channel Program Execution:** Deliver owned brand programs into retail and marketplace partners on their calendars (QVC TSV builds, Amazon assortment transitions, retailer-specific packaging). Coordinate inbound freight and delivery windows to ensure revenue lands in the quarter.
You will work with high independence. Your VP reviews outcomes and major trade-offs, not your day-to-day method. There is no team beneath this role and no internal quality or regulatory desk; you set priorities across four workstreams and hold your own dates. Cross-functional influence comes from having the data, seeing risk first, and communicating in writing.
Success in the first year means: (1) Within 60 days, you know the status and next date on every live project with no quiet slips; (2) Within 6 months, you have a point of view on assortment and packaging architecture with margin math, and the claims/testing calendar runs on cadence; (3) By year-end, launches hit dates and cost targets, quality issues get caught in development, vendor terms improve measurably, and your processes hold up without you in the room.
**Requirements:**
- 6+ years in CPG brand management, product development, or category management with direct ownership of a product line's cost, margin, and development calendar. Brand or buyer-side experience preferred over pure supply chain/operations.
- Direct experience managing contract manufacturers and packaging suppliers — negotiating terms, participating in plant calls, and pushing suppliers to fix problems.
- Strong commercial instincts: read COGS builds, understand margin impact of changes, distinguish between cost problems worth solving and those that aren't.
- Proven track record building processes (specification standards, launch processes, quality workflows) rather than just working inside existing ones.
- Genuine problem-solving range for technical issues you haven't encountered before (e.g., detergent eating through carton lining, marketplace rejections with no explanation).
- Comfortable as a generalist with no support underneath. You move between packaging specs, vendor negotiations, lab results, and freight bookings in one day, owning all of it.
- Excellent written communication and stakeholder management. Cross-functional partners learn about risks from you early and in writing.
**Preferred:**
- Experience in home care, personal care, supplements, or other regulated or claims-sensitive categories.
- Experience launching into retail or marketplace channels (Amazon, mass, televised retail) with their packaging and compliance requirements.
- Exposure to sustainability-driven or ingredient-standard-driven product work.
- Working knowledge of NetSuite and comfort building your own analysis rather than waiting on reports.
