CS&P and Category Operations Associate Manager - Skin Care and H&W

Unilever; Toronto; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic Category Operations Associate Manager to enhance customer insights and drive brand strategies in the Beauty & Wellbeing sector. This role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to develop and execute effective go-to-market strategies while ensuring flawless execution of promotional activities. The ideal candidate will possess strong analytical skills, a passion for high performance, and a proven track record in sales or customer marketing. Join a forward-thinking company that values innovation and consumer-centric approaches to achieve outstanding results in a competitive marketplace.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in sales or customer marketing roles.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to use data for decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement trade strategies for the Beauty & Wellbeing Business Unit.
• Monitor performance and manage P&L for assigned brands.

Skills

Sales Strategy

Data Analysis

Customer Marketing

Trade Marketing

Interpersonal Skills

Organizational Skills

Time Management

Entrepreneurial Spirit

Education

University Degree

Tools

Excel

Job description

WL: 1C

Categories / Brands Managed: Skin Care and H&W

What is the Category Operations Team?

GM Led Excellence in Execution Teams: We have long discussed the need to have marketers focused on marketing and dedicated teams focused on best-in-class Execution. We will structure these teams under key strategic pillars.

Our Category Operations Organization under BU Lead’s leadership will be the commercial arm of the BU – responsible for all commercial levers including performance management, P&L ownership, category and brand operations and planning, shopper marketing, NRM as well as category strategy. This team will be organized by category and integrated into one performance management organization. Given the criticality of the value creation and portfolio operations teams to delivering our holistic performance agenda, this work will also reside within the Category Operations Organization in NA, and for Canada specific projects, the NA Value Creation team will work with the CatOps team. As the owners of the P&L, the Canada CatOps will be responsible for unlocking GM.

The B&W Category Operations organization is made up of dedicated teams focused on best-in-class execution across all portfolio brands in close partnership with the cross functional teams.

B&W Category Operations Lead will lead the delivery of the B&W strategy and growth agenda through the direct management of customer & category development teams, as well as category operations, and value creation.

Background & Purpose of the Job

The CS&P and Category Operations Associate Manager is the voice of the customer and the shopper in the Beauty & Wellbeing Business Unit. They are responsible for ensuring channel and customer insights are incorporated in the development of category and brand plans as well as building executions against those plans in the context of retailer strategy inclusive of instore execution elements of Instore Visibility and Integrated OMNI shopper initiatives.

Category Operations is responsible for achieving targets by working jointly with Customer Development, Demand Creation, and the Integrated Planning groups to balance and enhance customer and brand activities, strategies, and tactics in developing and executing the go-to-market strategy.

This role represents the customer in core organizational processes including Sales & Operating Plan (S&OP), Integrated Business Planning (IBP), and Net Revenue Management (NRM).

Who You Are & What You’ll Do

• Development and communication of trade strategies to the Customer Development group and closely monitoring performance versus strategy using sales reporting software and Nielsen data.
• Development and implementation of channel specific strategies to address the changing needs of the diverse shoppers across all channels in the Canadian marketplace.
• Developing price, promotion, distribution, and shelving strategies for assigned brands with a relentless focus on flawless execution.
• Working in lock step with Demand Creation in the development, implementation and communication of product launches/relaunches, special packs and large pack products to land impactful innovations in the market.
• Proactively monitoring and analyzing competitive trade activities to assess implications and recommend appropriate actions.
• P&L ownership and review from topline Net Sales Value to bottom line Profit Before Overheads. Complete ownership of trade budget, specifically brand specific customer investment and ensuring close trade spend management for the category.
• Supporting and contributing to realizing the objectives of the Customer Development agenda as a member of the team.
• Working with cross-functional teams and the remainder of the Customer Development Group to develop and execute consumer centric promotional activities by account grounded in shopper insights and the consumer needs/wants to win in the market.
• Working in partnership with the strategic forecasting team to identify risks and opportunities to volume estimates and make recommendations on opportunities to close gaps.
• Working directly with cross-functional teams to ensure a timely and accurate flow of all relevant information to the Customer Development Group.

Key Interfaces:

• Business Unit Leadership Team
• Demand Creation Team (Marketing)
• ISV & Shopper Marketing
• Key Account Managers
• CBD Finance Business Partner
• Cross Collaborator to CSP BU leads

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Must have previous experience in sales as a Business Analyst, Account Manager or in Customer Marketing, Trade Marketing or Sales Strategy.
• A minimum of 4+ years of relevant experience.
• The ideal candidate will possess a university degree.
• Strong interpersonal skills, the ability to motivate internal cross-functional teams.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Significant independent responsibility with a strong bias for action/ entrepreneurial spirit.
• Strong analytical and data-mining aptitude; ability to use data to develop and support decisions.
• Must be proficient in Excel.

Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors

• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.
• PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.
• CONSUMER LOVE: Whatever their role, always looks for better ways to serve consumers. Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
• PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
• AGILITY: Explores the world around them, continually learning and developing their skills.