Head - Category - FMCG & Packaging

Job Purpose:

The Head of Category is a strategic leadership role tasked with delivering the full Profit & Loss (P&L) targets for the assigned category, operating with a business unit mindset. As the overall custodian of the category's identity and positioning, this role is responsible for shaping and executing a cohesive category strategy that drives growth and consistency across multiple countries in the region.

Key Responsibilities:

- This role is responsible for defining and executing long-term category strategies that align with Pan-African business objectives. The Head of Category translates high-level business goals into actionable growth plans, developing and managing country-specific product portfolios to ensure an optimal SKU mix and performance. By continuously monitoring category and market dynamics, the role holder identifies both risks and opportunities, serving as the strategic lead to ensure alignment across all business units and functions.

- Driving innovation through deep consumer and market understanding is a core function of the role. The Head of Category will identify white space opportunities and translate insights into compelling innovation ideas, building robust business cases for CMO approval. They will lead the end-to-end New Product Development (NPD) process in close collaboration with the Creative team and other key stakeholders, ensuring timelines are met and holding accountability for Go-to-Market execution and the delivery of all approved NPD metrics. A commitment to continuous improvement is essential, using post-launch analysis to refine future innovation processes.

- The role is also responsible for ensuring all category strategies support broader business objectives and drive sustainable growth. This includes supporting the creation of integrated marketing and communication plans, monitoring campaign performance, and adjusting tactics based on data and insights. A key aspect is championing category consistency and integrity across all consumer touchpoints in different countries, leveraging agency partnerships to deliver impactful activations and product launches.

- Cross-functional collaboration and leadership are central to success in this position. The Head of Category will lead cross-functional teams-including Creative, Sales, and Operations-to ensure seamless execution of initiatives and alignment on key priorities. They will manage external partners and agencies to guarantee effective go-to-market strategies while fostering a collaborative culture and mentoring team members to build internal capability. A critical part of this leadership is the ability to influence and communicate complex strategies clearly to senior leadership, adapting their style to engage diverse audiences and translate strategic plans into actionable messages for frontline teams.

- Financially, the role holds full P&L responsibility for the category, encompassing sales, margins, and profitability targets. This involves analyzing commercial performance to recommend corrective actions, defining recommended retail pricing (RRP) and architecture by country, and collaborating with Finance and Commercial teams to manage forecasts and budgets. The Head of Category will continuously seek to identify and capitalize on revenue growth opportunities through effective portfolio and price mix management.

- Finally, the Head of Category ensures all initiatives, from product development to launches, comply with internal quality standards and external regulatory requirements. By collaborating closely with Quality Assurance and Regulatory teams, they embed quality controls across the product lifecycle and integrate quality KPIs into performance tracking. The role is proactive in identifying and mitigating risks early and, when necessary, leads root cause analysis and corrective actions to capture learnings and prevent future deviations.

Person Specification:

- The ideal candidate will hold a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, complemented by a professional marketing qualification (e.g., CIM).

- An MBA is a distinct advantage.

- They will possess 10 to 12 years of experience within the FMCG industry, preferably spanning Marketing, Innovation, and agency planning.

- A proven and excellent track record of leadership and team building is essential, demonstrating the ability to cultivate entrepreneurial, high-performance cultures.