Category Manager - Hair Care & Color

Job description / Role

Under the direction of National Trade Marketing Manager, Category Manager – Hair Coloration develops and implements the overall strategy for the Hair Coloration category, channel development and research new product options in the category to drive sales and achieve business targets. Leads the field and distributor team that provides category insights and proposals by analyzing marketing and customer data and monitoring relevant market conditions.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Strategic Contribution:
• Contribute to the development of Trade Marketing strategy for Hair Coloration to contribute towards brand growth targets across channels in line with business objectives.
• Design and implement practical Sales, Business Development and Retention strategies.

Category Management
• Position the division as the key strategic growth partner on Make up across retail and O+O customers.
• Lead the Hair coloration category planning, range reviews, new product development ranging and space/range optimization along with providing recommendations on promotional guidelines and retailer specific strategies.
• Delivery of compelling Insights, analysis and research findings to retailers to drive alignment and implementation of category growth driving plans.
• Execution of brand marketing strategy into impactful retailer programs to achieve commercial/sales targets for specific category.
• Contribute to the development of category projects and manages implementation at aligned JBP stores with Store P&L Projection by Category Project.
• Develop Customer selling story along with NTMM for category & ensure category unit SKU wise planning based on market potential.
• Create plans for retailers to ensure L’Oréal is taken as preferred partner for retail segment to ensure our in-store visibility is valorized.
• Ensure best in class execution of category and launch priorities at all channels.
• Manage Trade A&P Spends to ensure best in class shopper marketing activations.

Channel Management
• Recommends and cascade Key accounts & Channel framework post agreement with all stakeholders and monitoring of implementation along with NKAM and Sales Teams.
• Responsible for ensuring excellent execution of all shopper marketing tactics in store, including POS (permanent and temporary), displays, merchandising programs, loyalty programs, coupons, sweepstakes, sponsorships and more.
• Execute O+O plans in coordination with Sales, Marketing and E-Com teams and pitch the same to customers to fully potentialize the Omni Channel Space
• Tracking and improving promotional grids to ensure flawless execution of retailer specific promotions.

Functional Policies Compliance and Guidelines:
• Track customer contracts and ensure compliance on all dimensions including % SOS, Secondary Sales and category projects.

Budget Management & Forecasting:
• Participate in category forecasting by channel with business planners and demand planning team, attend forecasting, pre-validation and Forecast validation meetings on monthly basis.
• Ensure account/channel wise profitability of category via monthly update of trade spend.
• Ensure tracking of budgets to stay within allocated trade spend each month with zero overspend.
• Ensure saving on trade spend budget Year on Year to reduce gross to net spends.
• Implement and improve processes to link all marketing activities with the activities of the commercial team via effective sales cycle planning.

Business Development:
• Identify business-specific cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
• Execute customer engagement programs, including but not limited to promotional activity, new product launches, and ensuring all ATL media planning are aligned with BTL activities.
• Develop impactful presentations for sales proposals, custom account marketing to drive incremental business.
• Channel Expansion & Excellence of their specified channel via Development of visibility & engagement tools.

Business Report(s) Development & Professional Recommendations:
• Collect and interpret custom/syndicated market research to anticipate competition, market trends and translate consumer/shopper attitudes into new business and branding direction.
• Evaluate and analyze trade results and makes recommendation to NTMM for timely modifications.
• Understand P&L implications regarding the business so that more effective plans can be built which creates a win-win for all.
• Bring field intelligence and give useful recommendations to NTMM to define brand-specific activity programs with marketing and other cross functional departments including Supply Chain & Finance.

Continuous Improvement:
• Scout for partners who can help reduce the dependency on one vendor and at the same time help improving the costs.
• Drive Simplicity in related business processes including budget management, internal controls and channel development plans for the field.

Cross Functional Teamwork:
• Act as bridge between field team and marketing and/or cross functional teams to ensure secondary sales ambitions and OTIF delivery.
• Working with marketing and sales functions on optimizing innovation launches across all retailers, recommending position on shelf, depth of distribution, promotional mechanics etc. and providing financial analysis on the category impact of potential upcoming changes (i.e. new brands, exiting brands, space changes etc.).
• Involved in the new product launch process and tracking accountability across internal stakeholders.

People Management:
• Partner with Merchandising Manager to motivate, develop and manage Field Merchandising team to ensure continuous development & training on customer selling story for each category, across all channels.
• Ensure development of expertise and know-how in the Sales Field team to cascade product & category knowledge.
• Setting individual business objectives (IBOs), ensuring its clarity and conduct periodic performance reviews, providing feedback and appraisal in order to maximize subordinates and departmental performance.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with major in Sales and / or Marketing

Minimum Experience:
• 4-6 years prior work experience Field Sales Experience, Category Management, Marketing and leading & executing Trade Marketing programs preferably in FMCG sector
• Experience of working with leading agency and outside vendors
• Knowledge of products, market trends and consumers
• Research data analysis

Behavioral Skills:
• Good negotiation skills
• Relationship Management
• Customer Centricity
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity
• Ability to think broadly in terms of Business Perspective and out-of-the box
• Good numeracy and ability to control budget
• Planning and organization skills
• Team building skills
• Critical thinking and good analytical skills
• Effective communication, presentation and interpersonal skills
• Ability to handle multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously

About the Company

For more than a century, we have devoted our energy and our competencies solely to one business: beauty. We have chosen to offer our expertise in the service of women and men worldwide, meeting the infinite diversity of their beauty desires. We are committed to fulfilling this mission ethically and responsibly.