Category Manager at Truss Ugavi Limited

Job Description

• A market leader in fruit juices, fruit drinks, yoghurts and snacks in Nigeria is looking to recruit for the role of Category Manager.
• The primary focus is the responsibility of managing the growth and profitability of all brands in the category by leading the brand team to develop the annual brand strategy and plans, and coordinates the production, execution, tracking, and reporting of all marketing and brand campaigns at agreed periods.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for developing the brand/category roadmap and strategy, driving the growth and profitability of all brands in the category.
• Regularly monitor, review, and analyze business, research, category, and industry trend reports to understand brand and category performance across multiple metrics, consumer needs/trends, and performance of key competitive players. Leverage the insights to plan and develop short-term and long-term marketing strategies and brand plans for execution across relevant consumer connection touch points.
• Regularly proffer business solutions to Marketing Director and other internal stakeholders for implementation to address business issues, drive business growth and ensure the achievement of business targets.
• Lead the development of brand campaign briefs that effectively and clearly communicate the brand’s message, values, and personality, anchored on a Core Creative Idea that can be brought to life through impactful storytelling and communicated across multiple media platforms to win consumers’ hearts and minds.
• Manage the category DME budget and implement cost-effective strategies/solutions to drive optimum efficiency, spend, and ROI delivery on the DME budget for all line items.
• Work with the Marketing Director in developing the Innovation Pipeline for the category. Proffer suggestions and ideas for new product and packaging launches to sustain relevance of the product portfolio to consumers and ensure business continuity. Lead the brand team in the execution of all NPD deliverables to achieve timely and successful new product/packaging launches.
• Support the Integrated Marketing Communication & Creative Design (IMC & CD) team in the packaging development process for new brands/products and the re-design/adaptation process for packaging of existing brands in the category.
• Lead the brand team’s collaboration with the Sales, Production, R&D, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, etc. teams to drive the timely execution of annual business plans and other project deliverables. Serve as an escalation point and initial resolution point for issues on all brand and category projects.
• Media Planning and Execution. Lead the brand team in the development and review of the media plans for all brand campaign executions across various connection points. Validate media platform selection, deployment strategy, budget allocation, and campaign duration on all platforms for all brands in the category.
• Project Management. Ensure adherence to the project management process for all brand projects. Lead the brand team in managing the marketing agencies, vendors, and suppliers working on brand projects. Ensure that development, production, and execution of all brand briefs and brand campaigns strictly adhere to the brand’s communication development guidelines.
• Work with the brand team and other stakeholders to ensure that all required regulatory approvals for brand campaigns and NPD launches are obtained on time and in full with no risk to planned execution timelines.
• Ensure direct reports, marketing agencies, vendors and 3rd party suppliers adhere to company procedures, policies, rules, and guidelines that pertain to the Marketing function.
• Execute other projects which may be assigned by the Marketing Director or CHI Leadership Team from time to time.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science (BSc. Hons) degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) in Marketing or other or other relevant Science / Social Science course from a reputable higher institution.
• An MBA or Master’s Degree in a Business Management field is required.
• Minimum 7-8 years working experience in Brand Management roles in an FMCG company with proven success at junior level roles.
• Previous work experience in a marketing agency (creative, media, PR, digital) would be an advantage.
• Good Verbal & Written Communication.
• Strategic Thinking / Marketing Strategy Development.
• People Management.
• Managing Teams.
• Empathy.
• Problem Solving.
• Business Knowledge.
• Project Management.
• Planning & Organizing.
• Commercial Awareness.

Work Experience:

• Proven experience and a high level of expertise in Brand Management.
• Excellent understanding of all elements of the Marketing Mix, Digital Marketing, Experiential Activation, and Media planning and execution. Proven experience in applying Marketing principles and strategic/tactical brand initiatives to develop, produce, execute, monitor/track, and evaluate brand plans to achieve business volume, revenue, profit, and equity targets.
• In-depth knowledge of developing and implementing above-the-line, below-the-line, and through-the-line marketing/brand campaigns.
• Good knowledge, use, and application of marketing research tools and reports, to extract insights for brand strategy development, planning, and execution of winning brand campaign ideas.
• Very high business acumen, commercial awareness and understanding of Sales, Distribution, Trade Marketing, & Merchandizing principles. Ability to read and understand brand P&L and proffer and implement solutions to drive sustained profitability for the brands.
• High proficiency in DME budget management and ROI delivery for multiple brands and category(ies).
• Planning and Execution Excellence. Excellent Project Management skills, and experience with implementing Marketing processes and principles to deliver Marketing brand plans on time and in full.