Category Manager - FMCG - IIM/ISB/MDI/FMS

India Category Manager

Purpose of Role :

This position is a lead role within the brand team, tasked with -

- Driving Client India's strategic play and marketing agenda in a pre-defined whisky segments, including portfolio development as part of a global priority brand projects

- Inspiring favorable actions of the reporting team, extended internal cross functions, trade and larger external stakeholder set; and

- Lead liaison with global teams, including playbook developments and rollouts

- Entrepreneurial in nature, this role owns delivery of all brand and business metrics for the chosen segment, and is expected to represent consumer voice in leadership decision making.

Key Responsibilities :

- Develop strategic category vision, must win battle roadmap, own brand equity development and category goals delivery

- Lead building of Annual Brand Strategy and Integrated Annual Brand/ Growth plans with Head of Marketing, India Business Leadership and Regional Marketing Leadership

- Disruption through ideas across Brand Communication, Brand Building, Activation and Experiences, New Product Development - rooted in consumer insights and latest trends. Work with creative, digital & experiential agencies to create relevant content for building engagement/communication platform and for innovative brand solutions

- Take to market, and drive execution excellence of Marketing Plans to deliver committed objectives. Ensure effective implementation of Media Plans, Retail Plans, Consumer Promotion / Activation Plans

- Ensure delivery of Market Share, drive Sales Volume and Profitability targets

- Represent the consumer voice in all business, commercial decisions

- External Scans. Regularly monitor market & competitive landscape to evaluate existing & upcoming opportunities/ challenges

- Undertake regular progress reviews with key stakeholders on plans and KPIs

- Managing marketing spends with measurable ROI

- Drive marketing process for the brand in tune with the Global process

- Ensure effective partnership with external agencies and partners

- Team management, of a small team based out of Headquarters

Qualification & Experience :

- Professionally qualified: MBA Marketing from a premier institute

- 15+ years of experience in Brand Marketing. Preferably some part in alcobev, with exposure to experiential marketing

- Subject matter expertise in brand and digital marketing

- Demonstrate ability to understand consumer / customer insight and attribute to business decision making

- Strong analytical / creative skills to navigate through complex data and insights to make well-reasoned conclusions, and translate into sound strategic direction

- Team player and cross functional collaborator, with strong network inter and intra organization

- Strong ownership of brand and business KPI

- Impressive verbal and written communicator to wide breadth of audiences including senior management

- Passion for winning in the marketplace

Other requirements :

- Ability to travel regularly for market work, gemba insights

- Bias for action, pragmatic problem solving and result orientation

- Passionate team player, brand builder and category affinity

- Strong integrity, compliance orientation