Description:
The Category Manager is responsible for driving the growth and development of the assigned Segment/Sub-Segment in Pakistan. They will ensure delivery of the sales goal and innovation targets for the Segment, in collaboration with the Sales and Business Development team. They will identify new opportunities, develop the business plans and lead projects through a structured and effective process. They will launch new products and track their progress, as well as develop sales and go-to-market tools and attend customer visits to help drive business development activities. They will lead the strategy development and implementation for the Segment.
Core Responsibilities
- Segment Growth – Drive the growth and development of food segment and ensure delivery of sales goals and new business generation of Food segment, in collaboration with business development & sales team
- Product Portfolio – Expand the product portfolio and product positioning in line with market and consumer needs. Develop packaging material in collaboration with sales, technical, legal, and corporate teams.
- Projects Delivery – Identify new opportunities, develop project pipeline, and lead projects through an effective and structured process. Liaison with R & T and application team for development of new products and solutions. Liaison with corporate and/or regional technical and marketing teams for new projects application and technical assistance.
- Market Analysis – Gather, analyze, and interpret the market data to develop and maintain segment strategy. Interact with external stakeholders including customers, industry specialists, trade associations to understand the market dynamics.
- Market Insight – Interact with customers and visit markets for market insight, customer need analysis and new solution validation. Identify trends, macro insights and future scenarios that could impact long-term and short-term Segment growth
- Competition Analysis – Monitor competition and keep a vigilant eye on competitors’ activities while identifying current and future sources of competitive advantage.
- GTM Plan – Develop GTM plan for new projects and Lead to launch the new products while preparing the necessary documents, costing & product specification, and scorecard approval of the product. Work towards marketing plans, design, implementation, and product launches.
- Pricing Strategy – Actively participate in product short-term and long-term pricing strategy and monitoring competitors’ pricing strategy.
- Strategic Planning & Forecasting – Strategic planning and forecasting of products in food segment and work towards achieve short term and long-term goals for the segment.
- Innovation Promise – Deliver the Innovation Promise targets for the Segment and prepare the pipeline for future years.
- Regional Collaboration – Collaborate with regional teams and develop networking at regional as well as at corporate level, for learning and sharing information to facilitate the projects.
- Marketing Tools – Use a range of concepts, models, and tools to marketing new products. Prepare the demonstrations related to the segment activities for regional and Pakistan team.
Mandatory Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in food science & technology
- Good track record of successful product development / launches and customer engagements
- Experience of beverage, savory or snacks industries
Desirable Requirements
- MBA
- Proven expertise in Marketing plans design and implementation and product launches
- Strong communication & presentation skills
- Strong data analysis and research & development skills
- Communicate effectively with and influence senior stakeholders both internally and externally
- Model customer centricity inspires innovation and overcomes obstacles to pioneer a new business model within a large global organization
Required Behaviors And Skills
- Ability to lead with speed and agility to quickly address changing market conditions
- Interest in keeping up to date with the latest developments
- Market knowledge