Innovation Lead - Marketing

About the organization:

RSPL Group is more than 6,000 Cr+ diversified conglomerate, which is committed to value for money propositions & credited with several innovations over last 3 decades. The sagacity to weave its business around consumer needs has conferred RSPL Group with a distinct value and identity. Efficient capital structure, cutting edge technology, operational discipline and a widespread distribution network, have together attributed to enhance RSPL Group and enabled the organization to deliver value to consumers. It is a diversified group having product category in FMCG, Dairy Products, Hygiene Care, Foot wear, Real Estate, Renewable Energy.

Segment 1 - S&D vertical: Ghari detergent and cake, Machine wash, Venus soap and Glori.

Segment 2 - Namaste India Foods Pvt. Ltd- Full-fledged dairy products range: milk, ghee, curd, ice cream, butter, masala Chach, dairy whitener etc. Leayan Global Pvt. Ltd.- Leather shoes & apparels (Red Chief) and Sport shoes & apparels (Furo)

Segment 3 - Hygiene Care vertical: Proease Sanitary Napkin, Xpert Utensil cleaning range (Bar/Scrubber/Liquid/sponges), Uniwash detergent powder (Mid premium detergent), Lovingle Baby diaper.

About Hygiene Care Division (Approx. 1350 cr):

HCD is into Hygiene, Utensil and Laundry care division. It has five manufacturing units in India and two in Bangladesh & One in Ethiopia. Product segments of RSPL ltd. for international markets are taken care by HCD division.

This job role is for RSPL HCD Division (Hygiene Care).

Innovation Lead - Marketing

The incumbent would be reporting to CMO - Craft.

This is a Team Handling Role.

What the role owns (aka Roles & Responsibilities):

• Leads development of ideas into concepts capable of generating broad appeal and establishing the brand with consumers in the earliest stages of its development.

• Executes those ideas into a full range of products for the brand's initial stages, with the help of brand team and cross-functional teams, especially R&D and Supply Chain.

• Leads the pipeline and delivery for a set of projects running in parallel at different stages, on the brands he or she owns, with the help of a team of Brand and Assistant Brand Managers.

• Decides what enters the funnel, what gets prioritized and what gets stopped early, and builds the business case behind each one, including volume, pricing, investment and risk.

• Works with R&D through formulation, performance testing and stability, and signs off packaging and artwork as first-time-right with Legal, Regulatory and Quality.

• Doesn't govern the stage-gate process itself, but brings projects into it and makes the case, so needs to be persuasive with senior stakeholders and able to hold their ground under challenge from Finance, R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing Deploy and Sales.

• May also run pilots and market tests themselves before recommending a national scale-up, and is expected to train and mentor the Brand Managers and Assistant Brand Managers working with them.

What we're looking for:

• Has experience of taking new products from idea to shelf more than once, and can talk candidly about not just the successes but also of the ones that failed.

• Loves to know consumers first-hand rather than through reports: someone who is regularly in homes and in the market, and expects the same of their team.

• Has led communication development from brief through to work in market, and can tell good work apart from work that merely tests well.

• Has the judgement to decide which ideas deserve investment, and the confidence to kill things early.

• Can build and defend a full business case (volume, pricing, investment, risk), not just pitch a concept.

• Has taken a product through formulation, stability and performance testing with R&D personally, not just briefed it and waited.

• Has run a market pilot and used it to decide how, or whether to scale nationally.

• Has led marketers before, and can develop and mentor a bench of BMs and ABMs.

• Can lead and influence cross-functional leaders across Consumer Insights (CI), R&D, Supply Chain and Finance credibly, without needing someone to translate.

• Can work seamlessly with Marketing Deploy teams and Sales teams.

Preferred Candidate:

• Shall have at least 3 - 5 years of which is in NPD, innovation or product development, with hands-on involvement in formulation, packaging, consumer testing and stage-gate management.

• Personal care, beauty or FMCG experience is strongly preferred, along with experience working with vendors, labs and multi-functional teams.

• An MBA in marketing is the desired qualification, provided it comes with real product development exposure; a bachelor's in pharmacy, cosmetic science or another science, coupled with product development experience could be an added advantage.

What the Role Offers:

Be a part of the 0 to 1 journey of developing a few new brands and shape what they become over the next few years. Own the innovation pipeline and communications for the brand!

Role: Brand Management

Industry Type: FMCG

Department: Marketing & Communication

Employment Type: Full Time, Permanent

Role Category: Marketing

Education: PG: MBA/PGDM in Marketing