About this role
Make your mark in a role that turns brand strategy into in-store impact!
At Real Pet Food (RPF), our purpose is simple and powerful: to provide more pets with fresher, more nutritious food—helping them live healthier, happier lives. Our iconic brands include Jimbo's, Trilogy, Nature's Goodness and Fussy Cat (plus more!)
We are excited to announce we have a newly created role of Market Activation Lead who will play a critical role in bringing this purpose to life in New Zealand by turning great brand strategy into brilliant in-store execution that drives real commercial results.
This is a high-impact role sitting at the intersection of brand, sales, and retail. You’ll localise global strategy, create winning shopper activations, and lead best-in-class execution across in-store, digital and e-commerce channels. You will be working with a local team of legends but also be part of the Global Brand Operations team based in Australia.
This role can be based either on-site at our Bombay Manufacturing site or Central Auckland.
You’ll also be a champion of our values: Work as a Pack, Make Your Mark, Lead with Passion, and Change the Game.
What You’ll Be Doing:
Strategy & Planning
Co-create a shopper-centric, data-driven activation strategy with the Global Activation team.
Translate global brand strategy into high-impact local market plans.
Align activations to local brand priorities, customer insights and category growth opportunities.
Customise activations by retailer and shopper mission.
Execution Excellence
Lead end-to-end execution of:
In-store promotions & POS
Digital & e-commerce campaigns
Trade shows & conferences
Ensure brilliant execution across every touchpoint.
Own delivery of all customer and distributor product information (GS1, SKU library, NPD assets).
Use insights and data to continuously optimise performance.
Track and report on sales uplift, market share and shopper engagement.
Commercial Leadership
Own and manage the shopper marketing budget for NZ, ensuring strong ROI.
Partner closely with Sales, Brand, Category and Global Activation teams.
Lead agency, design and supplier partners to deliver standout creative.
Own Trade & Distributor Conferences — from strategy to standout execution.
What You’ll Bring
Strong experience in shopper marketing, activation, trade marketing or commercial marketing. It is essential you have experience working with Consumer Brands in either FMCG, Pharmaceuticals or other Consumer Brand industry. Bonus points if you have food manufacturing industry experience!
Proven ability to turn strategy into flawless execution (you are proud of the campaigns you have managed and are keen to share your achievements with us)
A highly commercial mindset with experience in managing budgets, spend and ROI accountability.
Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills - this role will work closely with Sales, Global Brand Operations, Operations, Supply Chain and Procurement. You have the proven ability to be a self starter who can keep momentum going even when working with remote team members or when unexpected delays occur.
A proactive, energetic style and a love of building brands in-market.
Degree qualified desirable
Bonus points if you love pets 🐾
Why You’ll Love It Here | The REAL Experience
At RPF, we’re not just creating fresher food for pets—we’re creating a workplace where connection, courage and creativity thrive.
Work as a Pack – You’ll work with passionate, down-to-earth people who genuinely care about doing great work together.
Make Your Mark – This is a role with real ownership, real influence, and real impact on commercial results.
Lead with Passion – We back ideas, we back ambition, and we back people who want to raise the bar.
Change the Game – We’re challengers, not followers. You’ll be part of a business that loves smart thinking and bold execution.
Here, you’re not just joining a company—you’re joining a movement. It’s The REAL Experience.
NEXT STEPS:
If you're ready to unleash your potential and make a real difference in the booming pet industry, then we want to hear from you! Next steps will include:
An initial telephone interview followed by 2 face to face interviews and site visit
2 work references
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Diversity’s not a buzzword here, it’s in our DNA. Diverse perspectives shape our culture and make our work better. That’s why we’re committed to building inclusive teams that represent a variety of backgrounds and skills. If you need any reasonable adjustments, accessibility assistance or would like to note which pronouns you use at any stage of our hiring process, just contact us at accommodations: people&[email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
Please note: NO agencies will be considered during this process. We encourage you to refrain from submitting unsolicited profiles
Other facts
About Real Pet Food Company
We exist to create a world where every pet, every day eats fresher and lives better.
Our mission drives everything we do – from our nutritional philosophy and healthy delicious dog and cat recipes, to how we source real, fresh ingredients from local famers in Australia and New Zealand, to our kitchens and cooking facilities, our people and their programs, sustainability, sponsorships and more...
RPF is the pioneer in fresher pet nutrition. For 30 years we have championed a better way of caring for the health and wellbeing of our pets. Today, we have new cooking techniques that allow us to make food that is fresher, less processed, and even unprocessed and raw. And as the science emerges in fresher nutrition, it is beginning to show what we all instinctively know, a fresher diet is better for our loved dogs and cats.
It’s why we want everyone to join us on our journey to fresher nutrition.
What you'll do
- The Market Activation Lead will co-create a shopper-centric activation strategy and lead the execution of in-store promotions, digital campaigns, and trade shows. This role requires managing the shopper marketing budget and collaborating with various teams to ensure successful activations.
Ready to join Real Pet Food Company?
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