Product Life Cycle Manager - Premium Cakes/Pastries/Bakery

Description: Please find below the JD for the role of the Product Life Cycle Manager in a leading brand which is into premium cakes, pastries & other bakery products in Mumbai

Company Profile: A leading brand in premium cakes, pastries & other bakery products

Position: Product Cycle Manager

Location: Govandi (E) in Mumbai

Education: Any graduate

Experience: Minimum 7 years

Profile Overview:

The Product Life Cycle Manager owns end-to-end management of company products, all our delectable food and beverages from concept and development to launch, scale, optimization, and phase-out. The role ensures strong alignment between consumer demand, brand strategy, commercial goals, and operational readiness, working closely with NPD, Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Operations, Quality, and IT teams

Key Responsibilities:

1. Product Strategy & Portfolio Planning

- Own the overall product and menu growth strategy, covering core range, line extensions, seasonal and festive portfolios

- Build category and menu roadmaps aligned to brand priorities, consumer trends, and channel needs

- Identify opportunities for new launches, reformulations, rationalization, and discontinuation while keeping view of market benchmarks in terms of quality, price and length/breadth of the category

2. New Product Development (NPD)

- Lead products from ideation to launch

- Partner with R&D and culinary teams on NPD calendars, shelf life, cost targets, etc

- Drive structured trials, pilot runs, and readiness sign-offs across functions

3. Cross-Functional Launch Planning & Commercialization

- Own end-to-end launch planning across all channels, ensuring seamless coordination between Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Operations, Quality, and Technology

- Lead seasonal and festive launches, aligning timelines, pricing, volumes, and capacity with business priorities

- Own menu management and lifecycle changes, including coordination with IT for SKU creation, menu builds, pricing updates, and platform readiness

- Partner with Sales to enable channel-level and account-specific requirements, including exclusive SKUs.

- Finalizing and aligning pricing in alignment with commercial objectives.

- Coordinate with sales and supply chain to estimate demand forecasting for new launches, promotions, and seasonal spikes. Align with Supply Chain and procurement on capacity, raw materials, and risk mitigation

- Ensure launch readiness through structured checklists, reviews, and go-live governance, followed by smooth handover to execution teams

- Briefing and aligning the training, operations and Central Kitchen teams on launches and discontinuations.

4. Lifecycle Performance & Optimization

- Plan and execute product optimizations and product phase-outs with in coordination with CKs, Supply Chain and IT

5. Cross-Functional Leadership & Governance

- Act as the single-point owner for product lifecycle decisions, aligning stakeholders across functions

- Run structured forums for portfolio reviews, launch performance, and menu decisions

- Ensure clarity on ownership, timelines, documentation, and decision-making