Manager - Customer Strategy & Planning

Reports to: Head of Customer Strategy & Planning

Scope: Local Markets

Location: Head Office

Terms & Conditions: Full time

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

Unilever is the place where you can bring your purpose to life with the work that you do – creating a better business and a better world.  If you are passionate about designing and executing strategies to win in the marketplace with our most loved brands then this role is just for you!

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• Serves as liaison between field sales/retail customers and brand teams to facilitate the field execution of category initiatives across channels.
• Determine and understand  category, shopper trends through sales diagnostics and indeapth analysis of category and brand issues /opportunities and review trade category growth plans.
• Carry out regular field visits and spend time with channel managers understanding trade issues and opportunities, activity effectiveness, competitor threats and use these insights/ feedback in developing activities and micro marketing to optimise sell-out / gain market share
• Rigorously review and track activity effectiveness and improve promo effectivenes, Be fully responsible for the usage and management of TTS and Trade Adevertising and promotional budget  ensuring optimium ROI.
• Creates and delivers actionable Trade selling stories deriving at a tiple win for customer /catgory and shopper driving competitive category value growth.
• Consults closely with brand team to secure alignment around retail environment realities prior to innovation launches and lead end to end trade deployment of innovations.
• Effectively designs and integrates category management strategy into the business planning process and Rigorously driving S&OP for the respective categories by collaborating with cross functional teams.
• Provide guidance, leadership and category expertise to field managers

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

• Candidate must have bachelor’s degree, Masters will be an added advantage
• Candidate must have 5-8 years of experience in the FMCG industry, with specific experience in Category Management
• Candidate must have strong problem-solving skills by using analytical and data interpraation capability, solution-based selling by creating compelling sales stories & strategies which can impact the bottom line.
• Candidate must be able to strategically influence key stakeholders and business leaders and have desire to work in a fast-paced environment by fostering cross-functional support and learning.
• Candidate must be familiar to use syndicated data sources, i.e. Retail Panel, Household Panel.
• Candaite must be adept at analyzing and utilizing Consumer/Shopper Insights in Category Management sales stories and Category Management strategies  
• Candaite must have strong Market orientation – an outward focus toward the customer/consumer to maximize business results  
• Candidate must possess objective analytical power – makes accurate/objective assessments of problems  
• Candidate must have entrepreneurial approach to the business, taking ownership and leadership of business opportunities  

Skills

• Category Growth Management
• Commercial Acumen
• Evidence Based Decision Making
• Competitive Category Strategy
• Design for Channel
• Brand Activity Planning

Leadership

• You are energized by delivering fantastic results. You are an example to others – both your results and your resilience. You are constantly on the lookout for better ways to do things, engaging and collaborating with others along the way.
• As an individual you are the one responsible for your own wellbeing and delivering high standards of work. You must also focus on the Consumer and what they need. You are humble and have your head up, looking around to interpret evidence and data smartly, spot issues and opportunities to make things better.

• Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors
  • PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.
  • PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.
  • CONSUMER LOVE: Whatever their role, always looks for better ways to serve consumers. Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
  • PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
  • AGILITY: Explores the world around them, continually learning and developing their skills.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.