Category Strategy Manager (FMCG)

Location: BGC Taguig

Work Setup: Full Onsite

Schedule: Monday to Friday, Dayshift

Role Overview

The Category Development Manager is responsible for driving the growth, profitability, and competitiveness of assigned product categories through strategic category leadership, portfolio management, and innovation initiatives. The role requires end-to-end ownership of category and product initiatives—from strategy development and planning to execution, performance monitoring, and optimization—while ensuring strong commercial execution across traditional and modern trade channels. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Management, or a related field; MBA or equivalent is an advantage.
• Minimum of 5–8 years of progressive experience within the FMCG industry, with strong exposure to category management, product management, trade marketing, commercial strategy, or portfolio management.
• Proven experience leading end-to-end category or product ownership, including strategy development, planning, implementation, performance monitoring, and results evaluation for nationwide scope of implementation.
• Strong background in portfolio strategy, category growth planning, innovation management, and new product development.
• Demonstrated success in developing and executing category strategies across both traditional and modern trade environments.
• Hands-on experience in Trade Marketing, including ATL (Above-the-Line) and BTL (Below-the-Line) initiatives, activation programs, and commercial execution.
• Solid understanding of shopper behavior, consumer insights, market trends, competitive dynamics, and route-to-market strategies.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams including Marketing, Sales, Trade Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and R&D.
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, project management, and stakeholder management capabilities.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of category and portfolio strategies to deliver sustainable growth, market share expansion, and profitability.
• Own assigned product categories end-to-end, ensuring successful execution of initiatives from planning and strategy formulation through implementation, monitoring, and performance assessment.
• Drive innovation pipelines, including new product development, product renovation, packaging enhancements, and portfolio optimization initiatives.
• Identify category growth opportunities, market white spaces, emerging consumer needs, and opportunities across price tiers, pack formats, and usage occasions.
• Translate consumer, shopper, customer, and market insights into actionable category plans, innovation opportunities, and commercial strategies.
• Partner closely with Marketing and R&D teams to develop product concepts, value propositions, positioning, and launch plans.
• Lead go-to-market planning and ensure alignment between category priorities, trade strategies, and commercial objectives.
• Collaborate with Trade Marketing and Sales teams to deliver strong in-market execution across both ATL and BTL initiatives, including activations, promotions, merchandising programs, and customer engagement activities.
• Monitor category performance, market trends, competitive activities, and business results to continuously refine strategies and optimize investments.
• Develop category frameworks, playbooks, and best practices that drive consistent execution and category leadership across markets.
• Champion cross-functional initiatives that strengthen category competitiveness, commercial effectiveness, and long-term business growth.