Job Description

Background of the Company

Lindt & Sprxc3xbcngli (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd (Lindt SA) started operations in May 2011 and forms part of the Lindt & Sprxc3xbcngli group of companies. With more than 150 employees, Lindt SA is based in Cape Town with strong regional presence in Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth and a network of 15 Lindt retail stores.

As global leader in the premium chocolate sector, Lindt & Sprxc3xbcngli looks back on a long-standing tradition of almost 175 years which takes its origins in Zurich, Switzerland. Today, quality chocolate products by Lindt & Sprxc3xbcngli are made at 12 owned production sites in Europe and the USA. The products are distributed by 28 subsidiary companies and branch offices, in around 500 Lindt shops and cafxc3xa9s, and also via a comprehensive network of more than 100 independent distributors around the globe.

Position Purpose

The vision for the Category & Shopper Marketing Team is to be a trusted team of Shopper & Category experts in confectionery that is central to providing strategic and short-term solutions to deliver Category growth, internally and externally. The Category team is living a category growth mindset, to grow faster and more sustainably than the category through superior understanding and fulfilment of consumer and shopper needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead shopper insight and category insights, leading key initiatives from project development, management to completion

• Leadership for Category Vision and Drivers that enables Lindt customer teams to persuade key retail partners of the Lindt category strategy
• Create and deliver short and long term shopper insight initiatives, as prioritized by the Lindt SA management team, to support MPD planning & specific segment challenges to turn shoppers into buyers of our brands
• Leadership of brand / account workshops to enable the Marketing, Shopper Marketing & Sales teams to develop and sell the annual seasonal plans to our key retail partners
• Lead the key cross functional Shopper Marketing projects that continue to step change Lindt influence with our retail partners
• Coordination of both qualitative and quantitative consumer & shopper marketing research to lead new insights into the development of the category & Lindt
• Lead ongoing development of Lindt Category Vision, Drivers & Tactics, to engage our retail partners on the growth opportunities for the confectionery category
• Through insight, lead and support customer marketing with new activation initiatives for Lindt brands to increase their visibility in store

• Lead for Shopper Marketing contribution to the annual brand planning process
• Support marketing team with shopper marketing insight/strategies that support new brand initiatives for existing and new products
• Ensure that the identified shopper strategies play a core role in the company, category and brand long term plans
• Support customer marketing team with category insight to lead new activation in store, both on and off the fixture.
• Develop strong agency partnerships with both new and existing agencies to utilise their strengths to support Lindt Shopper Marketing.

• Planning and Review:

• Provide support to the internal Brand and Key Account teams by conducting regular business analyses (with the focus on key strategic drivers and opportunities), presentations and merchandising solutions
• Proactive management of team priorities
• Build and develop internal reporting databases and templates
• Manage cross-functional targets
• Identify key trade opportunities including maximizing in-trade opportunities (ranging, distribution, merchandising and visibility)
• Oversee development of Category Selling stories
• Delivering commentaries and sales analysis for monthly business review reports, pro-actively identifying business opportunities and issues

• Merchandising Input

• Manage planograms & merchandising guidelines to support category shelving initiatives including the training thereof internally and externally
• Responsible for updating space management product / image library & IRi data characteristics

• Team Leadership

• Training members of the cross functional team on data systems (Retailer POS, IRi)
• Build effective working relationships and processes with the Sales and Marketing teams with the aim of driving incremental category and brand growth
• Lead cross functional ways of working ultimately ensuring alignment to and focus on business objectives

• Proven Category Management Expertise
• Advanced MS Excel, IRi Temple & Space Planning Skills
• Understanding shopper/consumer/market insights and how these drive category growth in retailers
• Understanding of competitor and market dynamics
• Excellent numeracy, analytical and data interpretation skills
• Understanding brand and key account strategies and interpreting these into customized category plans
• Implementing and evaluating category plans in-store
• Excellent interpersonal skills, able to build relationships and influence at all levels - internal and external
• Confident, assertive self-starter with a drive for results and highly motivated
• High level of initiative, able to drive projects independently
• Structured with organizational skills
• Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines

• BComm Degree or suitable tertiary qualification
• Previous experience in a customer-facing Category Management role, FMCG environment (minimum 5 years)
• Prerequisites include advanced skills & working knowledge of external market data software and space planning software
• Knowledge of and advanced skills in Microsoft Office (specifically Excel and PowerPoint)

Lindt and Sprungli (South Africa)