Assistant Brand Manager

Himalaya Wellness Europe; Dubai; On-site; AED 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Himalaya Wellness Europe is seeking an Assistant Brand Manager for the face care category. You will work with the brand and category teams across GCC, the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan to drive topline growth and optimize marketing ROI.

The role focuses on NPD, market research, and 360 campaigns with strong cross-functional collaboration. The incumbent will support ROI-driven marketing strategies, manage launches from concept to execution, and coordinate with creative, digital, and PR

Qualifications

• Minimum 3–4 years of Brand Management experience in reputed FMCG companies.

Responsibilities

• Support the category/brand manager in planning and executing brand strategies for face care across GCC, MEA and beyond.
• Lead end-to-end NPD initiatives from consumer brief to market launch and campaign deployment.
• Oversee marketing activations, media planning and 360 communication across agencies.
• Conduct consumer research and analyze internal and external data to develop actionable insights.
• Collaborate with sales, supply chain, finance, regulatory and R&D to achieve category objectives.
• Ensure artwork development compliance and on-time delivery for products and campaigns.
• Manage external stakeholders including creative, media agencies and POSM vendors.
• Drive influencer campaigns and digital activation in large markets beyond GCC.

Skills

Data analysis

MS Excel

Brand management

New product launches

Sales channels

Brand communication

Stakeholder management

AI in marketing research

Education

Post-graduate degree in Business/Marketing

Tools

AI tools for marketing research

Job description

ROLE CONTEXT

Himalaya is a key player within the FMCG personal care segment and has a portfolio of products in Skin Care, Hair Care, Oral Care, Baby Care, operating in over 109 countries globally. Established in 1930, Himalaya promises “Happiness through Wellness” and is widely regarded as the Herbal Expert in the skincare segment. The Global Headquarter and the Global R&D office of Himalaya are both housed in Dubai, along with the METAP regional hub office. Within this region, Himalaya enjoys Market Leadership position in key categories within GCC markets, including KSA and UAE. Beyond GCC, our critical markets are South Africa, Turkey and Pakistan. We also have strong business presence in the LEVANT region and North Africa markets like Egypt and Morocco.

ROLE CONTEXT

Himalaya is a key player within the FMCG personal care segment and has a portfolio of products in Skin Care, Hair Care, Oral Care, Baby Care, operating in over 109 countries globally. Established in 1930, Himalaya promises “Happiness through Wellness” and is widely regarded as the Herbal Expert in the skincare segment. The Global Headquarter and the Global R&D office of Himalaya are both housed in Dubai, along with the METAP regional hub office. Within this region, Himalaya enjoys Market Leadership position in key categories within GCC markets, including KSA and UAE. Beyond GCC, our critical markets are South Africa, Turkey and Pakistan. We also have strong business presence in the LEVANT region and North Africa markets like Egypt and Morocco. The current position is for the role of Assistant Brand Manager for the face care category of Himalaya - the largest category for the brand, both in terms of topline and bottomline. Market scope includes GCC, rest of Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. The incumbent will be report to the Category Marketing Manager and work along with the face care Brand Manager across all brand marketing activities to deliver the topline and managing the category spends for the entire region.

ROLE PURPOSE

As an ABM for Himalaya face care category, the person will be responsible for delivering growth and share gains in the most critical category for the company. The focus will be on optimizing Marketing ROI and developing/ leveraging the NPD pipeline to deliver profitable business growth. The ABM will work closely with the face care brand team in planning and implementing all brand strategies for the category across all key markets.

Role Responsibilities

• Support the category manager in defining the strategic direction for the face care category across focus markets. Data-based decision making to drive profitable category growths
• Offtake Analysis (Nielsen, E-POS data)
• IMS Analysis
• Category P&Ls
• Be the anchor in cross-agency (creative, digital, PR) interactions for effective 360-degree communication development on assigned categories
• Work closely with the category manager on end-to-end rollout of the assigned category NPDs (Consumer Research, Product innovation brief development, Interaction with innovations team, 360 campaign and in market roll-out)
• Market Intelligence and overseeing implementation/ execution of Marketing activations in line with category and brand strategies
• Consumer Research coupled with internal & external data analysis to generate relevant hypothesis and action plans
• Regularly interact with the sales, supply chain, Finance, Regulatory, R&D to ensure delivery of category objectives for existing business and NPDs
• Ensuring artwork development, compliance and delivery for existing products/ NPDs as per regulatory norms
• Independent ownership of marketing campaign deployment in large media markets, beyond GCC - agency handling, comms development (media and in-store), Influencer campaign management

Skills/Knowledge

• Analysis & Interpretation of Data (highly desired), Excellent MS Excel skills
• Consumer Marketing and Brand Management experience, basic understanding of brand P&Ls
• Working on New Product Launches from Product Brief to Launch
• Sound understanding of sales channels (modern trade, general trade, e-commerce), sales systems and processes
• Basic understanding of trade and shopper marketing principles
• Understanding and Experience in brand communication development - from brief to creative feedback to final asset delivery
• Experience in handling external stakeholders - creative agency, media agency, POSM vendors etc
• Prior experience preferred in usage of AI tools for marketing research and/or content development

COMPETENCIES FOR THE ROLE

• Customer Focus
• Business Process/System Focus
• Planning and Execution Excellence
• Team Work and Collaboration
• Driving Innovation

KEY ATTRIBUTES

• Self-Starter. Strong Sense of Ownership
• Team Orientation. Working with multiple functions & agencies to achieve results.
• Good Interpersonal & Communication skills
• Self-Belief & confidence to challenge status quo and voice opinions

Qualification & Experience

• A post-graduation degree in Business/Marketing from a good institute
• Minimum 3-4 years of Brand Management experience in reputed FMCG companies.
• Exposure to New Product Launches, Media Planning and Market Research
• Experience in Skin Care/ personal care products preferred but not mandatory. Exposure to MENA preferred but not mandatory
• Fluent in English. Arabic is a plus.