Category Manager - Quick Commerce - IIM

Why This Role Exists

Quick commerce in India is projected to cross $5 billion in 2025 and is reshaping how urban families shop for everyday essentials this is a natural extension of our audience - the same millennial parent who buys us on Amazon is already ordering groceries on Blinkit and Zepto 3-4 times a week. When their child's lunchbox breaks, or they need a last-minute gift for a birthday party tomorrow, they're reaching for a 10-minute delivery app - not browsing Amazon.

Today, we is not on these platforms. We want someone who can fix that - fast - and turn quick commerce into a meaningful revenue channel within 6 months.

What You'll Do

- Build the Channel from Zero to One

- You will be the single owner of quick commerce business. This means selection , pricing, onboarding, catalogue setup, dark store activation, and getting our first orders live on Blinkit, Zepto,

- Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket Now. No one has done this before you at You're building it.

- Drive Commercial Performance

- Own the P&L for the quick commerce channel. Manage pricing strategy (balancing Q-Com margins with our D2C and Amazon pricing architecture), negotiate trade terms, and plan promotional calendars around key moments - back-to-school season, Diwali gifting, Children's Day, summer breaks.

Manage Dark Store Distribution:

- Work with platform category managers and supply chain to ensure the right SKUs are stocked in the right dark stores in the right cities. Understand city-level demand patterns. Solve for availability - because in Q-Com, out-of-stock is a death sentence.

Own Catalogue & Content Optimisation:

- Adapt product content for the Q-Com format. This isn't just copy-paste from Amazon : quick commerce product tiles need to convert in 2 seconds with a thumbnail and a title. You'll work with our brand and design team to create platform-specific assets that pop on a small screen.

Decode the Data:

- Build a reporting rhythm around daily/weekly performance : order volume, conversion rate, average order value, return rate, stock-out %, city-level performance. Use data to make fast decisions on which SKUs to push, which cities to expand, and which promotions to double down on.

Coordinate Cross-Functionally:

- Work closely with supply chain (to manage inventory allocation between D2C, Amazon, and Q-Com), brand (to ensure consistent messaging), and the founders (to shape the strategic roadmap for this channel). You'll also be the primary relationship holder with platform account managers at Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart.

Spot What's Next

- Quick commerce is evolving fast - new ad products, new merchandising slots, gifting features, category expansions. You'll stay ahead of platform changes and identify early-mover opportunities.

What You Bring:

Must-Haves:

- 2-5 years of experience in quick commerce, e-commerce, or marketplace management : ideally having managed a brand's presence on Blinkit, Zepto, or Swiggy Instamart.

- Alternatively, you've worked on the platform side (category management at one of these companies) and want to move brand-side.

- P&L ownership or strong commercial acumen. You understand margins, trade spend, platform commissions, and can build a channel P&L from scratch.

- Hands-on operator mentality. At our stage, the Category Manager is also the person uploading catalogue images at midnight before a launch. If you want a team of 5 reporting to you, this isn't the role. If you want to build something from nothing, it is.

- Strong analytical skills. Comfort with Excel/Google Sheets, platform dashboards, and the ability to pull insight from data without needing a BI team.

- Excellent relationship skills. Platform category managers are your most important partners. You know how to get mindshare from a Blinkit category head who manages 200 brands.

Good-to-Haves

- Experience in consumer products - homeware, FMCG, kids/baby, or lifestyle brands.

- Prior experience managing Amazon or Flipkart in addition to Q-Com (we value people who understand the full digital commerce stack).

- Understanding of the Indian kids/parenting market - if you've ever had the "why won't my kid eat lunch" conversation, you already get our customer.

- Exposure to supply chain or demand planning - even at a basic level.

Note : Only candidates from Tier 1 institutions, preferably top IIMs, will be considered.