Category & Retail Activation Manager

GENERAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Category & Retail Activation Manager drives commercial growth primarily for the Dermo Cosmetic portfolio (-80% of scope) while supporting established commercial programs for the Pharma portfolio (-20%). This role translates brand strategy into customer-centric category plans and in-store activation programs, owning the full cycle from category diagnosis to shelf execution and performance measurement.
Reporting to the Commercial Excellence Manager, this position acts as a bridge between Marketing strategy and Sales execution, ensuring category development, retail activation, and trade investment are coherent, channel-relevant, and ROI-driven across pharmacy, H&B, and eCommerce channels.
A. Category Development & Customer Planning (40%)
Category Diagnosis & Growth Planning:
• Conduct category diagnosis by channel and key customer: performance trends, shopper behavior, competitive dynamics, and white space opportunities.
• Translate insights into category growth plans with clearly defined roles per brand/segment and channel (pharmacy, H&B, eCommerce where applicable).
• Define assortment architecture and distribution priorities; build data-driven rationale for listing, delist, and range extension decisions.
• Develop annual trade investment plans and commercial calendar - covering product launches, seasonal campaigns, and key business priorities - aligned with category strategy and business objectives.
• Contribute to annual business planning and forecasting cycles.
Planogram & Merchandising Standards:
• Develop planogram principles and local merchandising standards for key channels, tailored to cluster and power customer needs.
• Ensure shelf execution reflects category strategy: visibility, adjacency, and brand blocking principles.
Customer Collaboration & JBP Support:
• Develop customer trade stories and support Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with KAMs - integrating category insights, activation plans.
• Partner with KAMs and key pharmacy chains / H&B retailers to improve category performance through data-driven recommendations.
• Track category KPIs: distribution coverage, shelf quality, OOS signals, and promotional compliance (with BI support).
B. Retail Activation & In-Store Execution Excellence (35%)
Activation Strategy & Annual Planning:
• Translate brand plans into retail-relevant programs: visibility campaigns, product launches, seasonal activations, and in-store storytelling.
• Lead annual commercial calendar planning including product launches, seasonal campaigns, platform events, and key business priorities.
Perfect Store / RISE & In-Store Execution:
• Lead deployment and tracking of Perfect Store / RISE standards
• Partner with Sales field teams to ensure coaching, deployment, and execution routines are embedded across channels.
• Monitor in-store execution and visibility compliance across pharmacy and H&B channels.
POSM & Visibility Program Management:
• Define POSM strategy, production briefs, and quality standards; manage agencies and suppliers on lead times and cost efficiency.
• Ensure coherent KV/claims execution in-store, consistent with brand strategy and regulatory/compliance requirements.
• Optimize visibility investment based on channel impact and execution feasibility.
Activation Performance & ROI:
• Define activation KPIs: distribution uplift, visibility scores, promotional quality, and sales uplift indicators.
• Measure activation ROI in collaboration with BI and recommend continuous improvement actions.
• Monitor campaign performance and propose optimization based on business results.
C. Commercial Performance & NRM Operational Support (25%)
Trade Investment Tracking:
• Track trade investment deployment by channel and customer; flag under/over-spending vs. plan in coordination with Finance and BI.
• Support trade investment ROI reporting and recommend reallocation toward highest-impact levers.
• Provide KAMs with data-backed negotiation inputs: guardrails, ROI scenarios, and value trade-offs.
Pricing & Promotional Compliance:
• Monitor pricing compliance and channel pricing consistency; identify risks of price erosion or unauthorized discounting.
• Track promotional program compliance and report on promo quality metrics (uplift, margin impact, cannibalization signals).
• Flag commercial risks and propose corrective actions in regular R&O reviews.