Senior Manager - Vendor Management - FMCG - IIM/FMS/MDI/XLRI

About the Role :

As a Senior Manager, Vendor Management, you will focus on launching a new program for one of our categories.

- You will lead a team that will focus on delivering exceptional sales and margin growth for the sub-categories that you are responsible for as we rapidly expand and grow our selection, keeping the customers always at the center of all decisions you take.

- Responsibilities also include signing the right mix of vendors, smart pricing, driving margin improvements and operating within strict goals around inventory turns and OTB management.

Responsibilities :

This person will have responsibility for :

Building selection and terms negotiation :

- Will be responsible for determining customer market needs,growing selection across sub-categories, brands and use cases, managing vendor partners, optimizing vendor terms and getting support for marketing campaigns.

Drive efficiency :

Inventory turns / OTB Management :

- Will be responsible for operating on industry benchmark inventory turns for the category and generating a positive/self-sustaining business by efficient OTB management.

Pricing :

- Responsible for pricing strategy for the category so that we can offer to the customers the best value, value being a combination of price and any convenience.

- Candidate will also be responsible for using pricing as a lever to ensure efficient cash flow management against the profitability goal.

Business planning and communication to senior management :

- Develop a short-term and long-term plan for growth and report to Senior Management on a regular basis on the state of key topline and bottom-line metrics and risk factors.

Joint Planning with Marketplace team :

- Work closely with the marketplace team to ensure sufficient visibility to our products and jointly participate in the marketing events conducted on the platform.

Innovation :

- Invent and drive continuous process improvement and automation across our systems to allow us to scale a fast growing business.

Team Management :

- Manage a team of 2-3 Managers (direct reports) and significant cross functional leadership to build/drive the category.

Basic qualifications :

- MBA from Top Business Schools is essential.

- 10+ years of relevant experience in leading FMCG companies (Sales/Key Account Management/Marketing) and Retail.

- Demonstrated ability to take ownership and drive results.

- Strong business judgement with a track record of successful negotiations and overall relationship management.

- Ability to think strategically and tactically, with excellent attention to detail.

- Tenacity to develop ideas independently and thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment.

- Proven analytical thinking, project management skills, attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills are essential.

- Retail ideally across Sales and/or Key Account Management & Marketing.

- Candidate must be fluent in English.

Preferred qualifications :

- Work experience across FMCG and/or Retail in building a new segment, channel or category from bottom up

- Proven ability to work in ambiguous situations.