Category & NPD Specialist – Staples

Country Delight; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 800,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Country Delight is looking for a Category & NPD Specialist in Gurugram, Haryana with 3–10 years of experience in the staples category. The role encompasses category management, new product development, and sourcing strategy focusing on maintaining zero-adulteration quality standards. Candidates should have hands-on experience with edible oils, pulses, and grains, along with strong analytical skills and vendor management capability. Join us to help build India's most trusted grocery portfolio.

Qualifications

• 3–10 years of experience in staples category — retail, D2C, commodity trading, or food manufacturing.
• Hands-on experience with edible oils, pulses, grains, or dry fruits.
• Strong analytical and planning skills; ability to work with data.

Responsibilities

• Own category management across staples including assortment, pricing, and merchandising.
• Drive new product development and manage end-to-end launches.
• Build and manage sourcing strategy including vendor development and quality benchmarking.

Skills

Experience in staples category

Analytical skills

Vendor management

Category management

Education

Background in agriculture, food science, or business

Job description

Country Delight started with milk. We are now building India's most trusted zero-adulteration grocery portfolio — pulses, edible oils, flours, cereals, dry fruits, spices, sugar & salt — delivered direct to the consumer's door. Our staples business is being built from the groundup, with a commitment to transparent sourcing, zero adulteration, and real category depth.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Category & NPD Specialist who knows staples from the ground up — literally. This role sits at the intersection of commodity intelligence, category management, and new product development. You will be expected to understand how commodity markets behave, how sourcing decisions affect margin and quality, and how to build a category P&L that works at scale — while also developing new products that meet the Country Delight promise of zero adulteration and natural taste.

Key Responsibilities

• Own category management across staples — pulses, edible oils, flours, cereals, dry fruits — including assortment, pricing, and merchandising
• Drive new product development within staples: identifying opportunities, evaluating feasibility from sourcing to shelf, and managing end-to-end launches
• Build and manage sourcing strategy — direct procurement, vendor development, quality benchmarking, and supplier negotiations
• Manage category P&L; with focus on topline, margin, inventory turn, and waste reduction
• Maintain zero-adulteration quality standards across the portfolio — define what goes in the product, and what does not
• Track commodity markets, seasonal cycles, and price volatility to build proactive procurement and pricing plans
• Lead cross-functional coordination with sourcing, supply chain, quality, and operations teams
• Develop and implement category management processes, assortment reviews, and performance dashboards

Who We Are Looking For

• 3–10 years of experience in staples category — retail, D2C, commodity trading, or food manufacturing
• Hands-on experience with edible oils, pulses, grains, or dry fruits — from procurement, quality, or category side
• Deep understanding of commodity behaviour — seasonality, procurement cycles, price volatility, and how to plan around them
• Experience managing category P&L; understands that margin is about assortment, turn, and waste — not just buying price
• Comfortable with supplier negotiations, direct sourcing, and vendor management
• Background in agriculture, food science, or business — category expertise matters more than the specific degree
• Strong analytical and planning skills; ability to work with data and make structured decisions