Head of Marketing Strategy & Planning- Global FMCG Business

The Client

Our client is a leading Branded & Own Label International FMCG business, operating across several On-Trend categories they have an unquestionable appetite for success. They have won numerous awards within the Retail Channel for ground breaking levels of growth and innovation; and they are the chosen authority on questions of category development within their product areas. In an exciting bid to further strengthen their hold on the market, they are now seeking to appoint a Head of MS&P to the executive commercial team.

The Role

As the Head of MS&P, you will be tasked with planning/managing a business revenue of well over £1 Billion as well being The Strategic Decision Maker of the Commercialisation of Product and Brands Plans. You will need to be comfortable working cross functionally both internally and externally; as you will drive a strong growth agenda within your business unit that will play a significant part in maximising EBIT performance the UK business as a whole.

Marketing Strategy:

• Be the voice of the trading/customer marketplace, segments and customers. 
• Act as the strategic glue that links together the Marketing (Category & Consumer) and Commercial teams thus providing a fully aligned, effective and unified Customer proposition.

Marketing Planning:

• Translate strategy into meaningful opportunity & operational execution of the plan. 
• Gain commitment and guide implementation of marketing plans to ensure delivery of expected results.
• Translate customer growth targets into specific and meaningful opportunity plans.

Be the voice of the customer:

• Develop compelling, targeted and segmented messaging that puts the customer first and is aligned to their workflow needs and differentiates the business in the market. 
• Ensure messaging is scaled throughout all internal and external marketing activities.
• Work with Commercial & Category teams to understand how the business is being perceived by customers and collaborate across the business to deliver a compelling story/perception that Customers can believe in.

Values, Beliefs & Behaviours

• Must be able to bring everyone together. This is definitely not an MS&P role in style of “Policing” people internally to fit with a pre-determined Strategy that has been devised individually by one person.
• Collaboration & Respect for others is key. The calibre of colleagues/people in the business is very high and the experience and market knowledge is vast. The person must be able to work individually with Stakeholders to fully tease out and gain an understanding of their respective views/insights of the Customer/Market. But then also be able to unify & develop these individual insights together into an over-arching strategic plan. This is what will provide the business with all-important shared Customer Purpose.
• Influence- “Sell, not Tell”. The person must have the humility and empathy to bring others with them. Gaining internal “Buy-In” for what MS&P can do for their individual Customers and the overall business. They must think Team first, We and not Me. It’s not about being Right all the time, it’s about what’s right for the Customer & the business and a whole. 
• Sleeves Rolled Up & Get Stuck In. Whilst the person will be the MS&P leader and will be devising the strategy (collaboratively), they will also be required to execute & deliver it. Things move really quickly and you can frequently feel like there is too much to do, meaning you may end up taking on responsibilities that would normally be separated into two or three other positions. 
• Engaged & Present – NO Ivory Tower- Whilst MS&P (and any strategy/planning roles) roles do involve “down-time/individual thinking time”- and this role does. It is not an Ivory Tower marketing role. The person must start with People first. Engaging, asking and actively listening to others. Forming those relationships that will be the future touch-points of a continuous flow of Customer & Market insights over the longer-term. This will allow the strategy to flexibly develop in real-time, rather than be fixed and rigid.

Candidate Requirements

Ideally candidates will have worked across any of the following at either "Head of/Director" or "Controller".

This could be either Supply or Retail Side.

• MS&P
• Category/Insights
• Shopper/Trade Investment
• Net Revenue Management
• Sales Operations

However the client is also open to high calibre candidates across the following areas

• National Accounts (if you have also gained direct Category/Marketing experience)
• International Strategic Marketing Experience

But you must have a genuine interest/passion to develop into an internal facing strategic role; and must have exceptional planning and project management experience.