Category Lead - FMCG

Key Responsibilities:

Consumer & Market Understanding:

- Lead consumer research to understand behavior, consumption patterns, and buying triggers.

- Build personas and insights frameworks for decision-making.

- Map the FMCG competitive landscape and identify whitespace opportunities across formats, occasions, and price points.

Category & Product Development:

- Define category vision across assortment, pricing, packaging, and product architecture.

- Build SKU-level strategy aligned with consumer demand and business goals.

- Partner with product and sourcing teams to develop new SKUs, pack architecture, and innovation roadmaps.

Commercial Strategy & Margin Ownership:

- Own the category P&L with a focus on sustainable margin growth.

- Negotiate TOTs and trade terms with vendors, brands, and distributors.

- Optimize cost structures, sourcing, and promotional levers to enhance profitability.

Space, Inventory & Supply Planning:

- Define & optimize shelf layouts (offline & digital) to maximize revenue per SKU.

- Collaborate with supply planning for forecasting, ensuring freshness and availability.

- Build efficient replenishment and inventory processes to reduce wastage.

Insight & Data-Led Decision Making:

- Use data, analytics, and consumer insights to inform category decisions.

- Create business cases, category decks, and performance reviews.

- Present proposals and insights to senior leadership with clarity and impact.

Go-to-Market Execution:

- Work with Marketing, Design, Product, and Supply Chain to ensure launch readiness.

- Contribute to packaging cues, messaging, claims, and GTM storytelling.

- Track post-launch performance and iterate using KPIs and consumer feedback.

What You Bring:

- 4+ years in FMCG category management, merchandising, or brand/category ownership.

- Strong experience launching or scaling FMCG categories or product lines.

- Deep understanding of GT, MT, D2C, pricing strategy, and consumer research.

- Experience negotiating TOTs and driving category-level profitability.

- Strong analytical mindset and commercial acumen.

- Excellent communication, storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

- A builder's mindset - entrepreneurial, hands-on, and comfortable with ambiguity.