HCL - Category Manager

LOCATION: Noida, Chennai

WORK EXPERIENCE: min 2 years, max 4 years of experience post MBA from Tier 1 B-School (prefer major in Strategy)

MBA from Tier 1 B School is necessary

The Category Management (CM) role at HCL is a crucial role handled by experts in the field of strategic marketing. Unlike conventional marketers, at HCL the CMs are the driving force of the strategic business units (SBU) handling marketing for higher customer share of mind, business strategy for higher share of revenue and thought leadership for higher sales productivity. Each SBU that has revenues of $ 500 mn or more has a category manager.

As a category manager, you would be responsible for:

- Proposition Development: you will be responsible for developing breakthrough differentiated propositions that would scale across multiple SBUs. In order to develop such purple cow propositions, you should have the ability to understand your customers’ needs, competitive landscape and HCL’s capabilities well.

- Market & Funnel conversion: using your propositions, you will work with the SBUs & the Business Marketing organization to create, convert and win deals in accounts that are classified as key accounts for the company.

- Visibility: you will be responsible for creating market standing for your propositions. This will be done by ensuring key influencers like industry analysts and sourcing advisories are not just aware of your propositions but also endorse them. You will also work with the PR team for media visibility

In order to succeed in this role, you will need to have an entrepreneur’s bent of mind. You will have to think of how to create a product, differentiate it from others and sell it many times over to generate business. People who have been successful in this role have gone on to lead new service lines, become brand managers and even client partners of key accounts.

Who should be interested ? :

Highly competent strategic marketers who have made a mark in B2B marketing and desire more meaning in their jobs. “Meaning” consists of 3 facets :

1. Uniqueness : The ability to pioneer strategic marketing competency in IT services – an industry as yet not led by strategic marketing; but rapidly heading in that direction due to service commoditisation.

2. Global Impact out of India : The role involves leadership at the global level .

3. Stimulation and enjoyment of the job : The knowledge industry – the ability to access high quality information rapidly and apply it, while high growth and the immediate visibility of strategic impact – creates an atmosphere of intellectual stimulus in perpetuity.