Category Marketing Manager

Your career at LLBG; Fatih; On-site; TRY 300,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

La Lorraine Bakery Group NV is seeking a senior marketing professional to lead category and portfolio strategy across channels. You will shape the product mix, define pricing and profitability, and drive growth through new product development in collaboration with R&D and international marketing.

You will develop launch plans, optimize assortment, and translate strategy to field teams while managing external agencies and digital media initiatives.

Qualifications

• University degree in business, engineering or marketing.
• Fluency in English, written and spoken.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant FMCG experience in Product/Category Management.
• Ability to translate consumer insights into actionable strategies.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead category and portfolio strategy across sales channels.
• Develop category architecture and product mix for value propositions.
• Shape portfolio strategy including pricing, profitability, and growth.
• Lead New Product Development with R&D and marketing teams.
• Develop and execute launch plans and go-to-market strategies.
• Monitor assortment performance and distribution metrics.
• Translate strategy to field teams and customers with compelling trade stories.
• Manage external agencies and develop media and digital strategies.
• Collaborate with Finance on pricing and profitability.
• Strengthen consumer-centricity in marketing and commercial initiatives.

Skills

Category management

Product management

Strategic planning

Pricing strategy

Market analysis

Stakeholder management

Project management

Excel & PowerPoint

Education

University degree in Business Administration / Industrial Engineering / Marketing

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

You will lead category and portfolio strategy to drive growth, profitability, innovation, and consumer-centricity, while ensuring strong execution and alignment between local commercial teams and LLBG’s global strategy.

The function

• Define and lead the category and portfolio strategy across sales channels, by establishing a clear strategic direction that maximizes growth, profitability, and long-term competitive advantage.
• Develop the category architecture and product mix to deliver superior value propositions for consumers, shoppers, customers, and the business.
• Shape portfolio strategy by defining the strategic role of portfolio within the category, setting consumer needs, price points, channel dynamics, profitability, and growth potential.
• Lead the "New Product Development’’ agenda via LLBG "product leadership strategy" by identifying future growth opportunities based on market dynamics, consumer trends, needs, and evolving customer expectations, in close collaboration with R&D, Production, international marketing and cross-functional teams.
• Develop and execute launch plans and go-to-market strategies in line with shopper and customer-centric principles.
• Manage product pricing in close collaboration with the Finance team, considering market dynamics, consumer value perception, profitability, and competitive positioning.
• Monitor assortment performances (volume, NIS, numeric distribution) within channel and customer split regularly.
• Translate and cascade category strategies to field teams and customers, ensuring the right category mix and execution in trade crafting compelling trade selling stories.
• Ensure excellence in the management of external agencies, including digital, creative, PR, trade marketing and other strategic partners.
• Define and develop La Lorraine’s media and digital strategy and channel mix in line with brand and category objectives. Determine the optimal social media investment mix to maximize reach, coverage, and engagement; continuously monitor performance and optimize the strategy based on data and insights.
• Manage external trade marketing suppliers in order to reach excellence in execution in the market through optimum POS materials production.
• Develop category- customer specific tactics for retail and foodservice customers in line with customer segmentation and classification.
• Maximize in-store visibility of shelf, penetration, and portfolio presence through effective CRM initiatives developed in collaboration with retail partners.
• Analyze market research, consumer insights, competitive dynamics, and market share data to develop proactive and reactive category strategies in close collaboration with sales & international marketing and market insight teams.
• Act as a strategic bridge between local commercial teams and International Marketing teams, create and ensure alignment, cascade LLBG global strategies to local market.
• Strengthen customer and consumer centricity across all marketing and commercial initiatives.
• Take active role on company annual business plan preparations.

Your profile

• University degree, preferably in Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Marketing, or a related field.
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in Product, and/or Category Management, preferably within the FMCG industry.
• Strong ability to understand consumer and customer needs and translate insights into actionable strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to drive revenue growth through effective product management, portfolio optimization, and assortment planning.
• Strong passion for marketing, with a particular interest in products, brands, and consumer behavior.
• Ability to understand the big picture, identify cause-and-effect relationships, and translate strategic thinking into action.
• Proactive mindset with a strong willingness to take initiative and drive results.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver against deadlines.
• High attention to detail, accuracy, and quality standards.
• Self-motivated, results-oriented, and equipped with a strong “can-do” attitude.
• Strong ability to structure, plan, prioritize, and execute complex initiatives.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly in Excel and PowerPoint, with strong presentation development and delivery capabilities.

Our offer

• You will join an international family-owned company with a strong long-term vision, where more than 5,300 enthusiastic colleagues work together, driven by five core values.
• You can literally taste our passion every day through our fresh and innovative top-quality products.
• You will help build a better world, as sustainability is high on our agenda.
• You will get the opportunity to grow and develop in a highly dynamic environment. Our LLBG Academy supports you in becoming the best version of yourself.
• You are given the space to roll up your sleeves, take initiative, and truly make a difference.

La Lorraine Bakery Group (LLBG) is an international family-owned company headquartered in Belgium with more than 85 years of experience in the milling and bakery sector. More than 5,700 passionate employees produce and sell high-quality bakery products to consumers, retailers and foodservice professionals in over 40 countries every day. They do so with respect for people, product and planet, because at LLBG we want our company and our people to grow in a sustainable way.

"It's great to work with products that make people happy."

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