BETTER FOR YOU CUSTOMER & CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER BENELUX JOB DETAILS | FERRERO

Job Location.
​Brussels​ Company description Ferrero is a family-owned company with a truly progressive and global outlook and iconic brands such as Nutella®, Tic Tac®, Ferrero Rocher®, Raffaello®, Kinder Bueno® and Kinder Surprise®.
As the love for our brands continues to grow, so too does our global reach.
Represented in more than 50 countries, with products sold in more than 170, the Ferrero Group is loved by generations around the world.
The secret to our global success?  dedicated employees who celebrate care and quality to craft a business, careers and brands we are proud of.
Join us, and you could be one of them.
Diversity Statement Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities.
We believe all of our people are equally talented in their own way.
In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero.
The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative and highly rewarding.
About the Role.
Are you ready to make a significant impact in the Benelux market? As a Customer & Category Development Manager Better For You, you will drive the growth of our “Better For You” category (including brands like Fulfil and Eat Natural), act as the main point of contact within Trade Marketing concerning the assigned channel / category and provide support to Sales and Marketing in the development of the Company Plan (Bottom-up).
Additionally, you will perform ad-hox analyses to share with the team, support Sales in the preparation of offers to customers and maintain track of the actual in-store implementation of the agreed activities.
You will be accountable for the development and adaptation of category strategies, the management of distributor relationships and the coordination of marketing activities for them to fit with local conditions (in terms of both clients and categories).
To do so, you will support the strategic management of Trade Marketing, aiming at maximizing sales and profit by satisfying consumer needs, and promoting a fruitful collaboration with our partners.
You will report directly to our Trade Marketing Director Benelux.
Main Responsibilities.
The customer part includes 3 main areas.
proactivity towards business performance and opportunity identification; development of continuous improvement updates; and customer management.
You will develop the Trade Marketing Plan, providing the key selling story for customer engagement in strategic areas (shelf, out of shelf, checkout, permanent placements).
You will ensure a comprehensive understanding of Ferrero’s performance across different categories / customers vs competitors, highlighting key performance drivers, risks, challenges, and opportunities.
Based on reports, you will share insights and recommendations with relevant functions.
You will help define and share business targets across all customer P&L with the sales team, ensuring proper follow-up.
You will establish a strong mindset within your team to identify business potential across categories at the customer / channel level, setting accurate KPIs.
You will identify gaps in business processes and tools, defining action plans to enhance Ferrero’s ways of working.
You will be responsible for cascading new processes to the entire commercial and marketing community, ensuring effective execution.
In customer management, you will support the sales team during contract negotiations, linking customer opportunities with negotiation strategy.
You will manage the customer offer process end-to-end, from preparing the generic selling story to following up with customers.
Daily management of promotions, including simulation, KPI follow-up, and recommendations, is also part of the role.
The impact of tailored activations will be assessed through promo analyses.
The category part covers 4 main areas.
category development, management of Point of Sales activities, market analyses, and budget monitoring.
In category development, you will create medium- and long-term local strategies in line with Ferrero Group Marketing guidelines and implement appropriate actions.
For Point of Sales activities, you will work with distributing partners to build a plan ensuring optimal exposure for Ferrero products through promotional / merchandising activities.
You will define placement guidelines for shelves, checkouts, and secondary placements, collaborating with Marketing to implement a media plan to increase brand equity and awareness.
To drive the category, you will conduct market analyses on category, competition, and consumer market data to identify opportunities and develop category plans.
You will proactively contribute to defining promotional or marketing projects for the category.
Further, you will manage the category budget, proposing the sales volume budget through a business plan.
You will be responsible for the A&P budget, improving profitability without penalizing the development of business.
Efficient communication with other departments is crucial as you will be asked to present to different stakeholders at various levels and to participate in commercial management meetings.
Who we are looking for.
To be successful in this role, you hold a Master’s degree in Sales or Marketing with minimum 7 years of experience in Sales as KAM within OOH or food services, or in Trade Marketing as Customer or Category Manager in FMCG.
Previous experience as Senior Brand Manager is a plus.
Your knowledge of FMCG dynamics & understanding of the different channels in Benelux (retail, hard discount, e-commerce and out of home channel) will be key to success.
You have excellent communication, presentation, and analytical skills, as well as strong organization and planning capabilities.
Your understanding of the local Benelux market and your innovative mindset allow you to take initiatives.
As a real team player, you have very good interpersonal skills and are comfortable interacting with internal (KAM / Customer Managers / Marketing / Forecast / Management Board) as well as external clients (distributors).
Finally, you are at ease with commercial and office software, proficient in data management (Nielsen, GfK, Power BI) and know how to monitor financial data (P&L, analytical skills from category & customer performances to financial dimension).
Previous experience with Spaceman is considered a plus.
To communicate with all internal and external stakeholders, fluency in English and at least one of the two local languages (Dutch or French) are key to facilitate your day-to-day work on the full Benelux scope.
You will be asked to work two days per week in our office in Brussels (BE) and regularly at our Dutch office in Breda (NL).
How to be successful in the role and at Ferrero.
Consumers, quality and care are at the heart of everything we do.
So, to be successful at Ferrero, you’ll need to be just as consumer and product centric as we are - dedicated to crafting brilliant results for consumers around the world.