Dharma Life - Manager/Head - Category Management

Dharma Life is looking to recruit an exceptional individual for the position of Category Head to build and lead the organisations category team into the next phase of expansion, following exponential growth over the last five years. She/he will report to the CEO.

Dharma Life (www.dharmalife.in) is a pioneering, award-winning business that is driving sustainable economic growth in rural India, by creating jobs and building a market for world class products that improve lives and livelihoods. We are India's leading rural distribution network serving rural low income communities through an entrepreneur network that currently spans more than 2,800 villages in six states - Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

Dharma Life has improved over 2 million lives through its innovative business model which has enabled access to clean energy, drinking water and cooking solutions, balanced nutrition, health and hygiene products and consumer durables. By 2020, we aim to reach 50 million consumers through a network of 100,000 Dharma Life entrepreneurs.

Role summary:

- The Category Head will lead the category team to define the business product vision, implement strategic product and procurement plans, developing and prioritizing products and services based on Dharma Life Entrepreneur and consumer requirements, whilst maximising sales and social value.

- The Category Head will align with social causes and work closely with sales, external product/service partners & supply chain to support and guide the business towards achieving the Dharma Lifes 2020 vision.

Primary Responsibilities:

- Create, own and implement long and short term strategic product plan based on business goals, defining all aspects of category strategy and business integration

- Champion strategic sourcing to optimally source products and services to meet business requirements

- Conceptualize, create and execute category plans aligned to marketing strategy to maximize success, including consumer behaviour change program design

- Encourage, design and implement engaging product training for the wider team including business situation case studies or scenarios

- Proactively identify, screen and select world class product/service partners based on market benchmarking analysis

- Build innovative pricing models in collaboration with product partners based on current trends, forecasts, target rural market, and product social impact

- Design and execute market leading research to gain insights on product preferences, consumer attitudes and competitor behavior

- Foster senior level collaboration with supply chain, sales and marketing to identify and develop joint programs to generate incremental sales and/or profitability

- Develop management information systems and reporting aligned with business strategy to provide detailed insight and support decision making

- Own and manage overall category budget at all levels against business plan each month

- Lead and coach category & procurement team inspiring their high level engagement and motivation and realizing their potential

- Exhibit participative style leadership throughout the organization to build a cohesive and dynamic team.

Travel Requirement:

- You should be able to travel within and outside country as required in order to meet vendors, key stakeholders and other Dharma Life team members, as per business necessity

Desired Skills and Experience:

- A Post Graduate in Management/ MBA in Sales & Marketing from a premier Business School

- Minimum 10 years relevant experience, with at least two years in senior management

- FMCG/Service/rural experience preferred

- Direct experience in Category management with Multiple Products / Services

- Exposure to legal aspects of contracting, purchase agreements etc. and understanding of P&L statement

- Previous purchasing/procurement experience and an understanding of National and International Procurement Regulations

- Managed Pre-Sales directly or indirectly and exposure to managing margins desired

- Experience of working with forecasting tools and database systems

- An entrepreneurial spirit comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change and able to troubleshoot independently while continually improving

- Experienced in building diverse teams, empowering team-members, and driving toward results and accountability.

- Ability to build strong relationships, to forge and maintain alliances

- Excellent standard of written and verbal communication - Hindi and English