Job Description

 Job Summary

The Trade Marketing Manager is responsible for overseeing the Trade Marketing and Purchasing departments to drive sales growth, optimize inventory, and support brand objectives. This role involves conducting market research and data analysis, developing category and channel strategies, executing trade campaigns through effective in-store merchandising and Point-Of-Sales Materials (POSM) visibility, and tracking performance to identify growth opportunities. In addition, this role is responsible for leading the purchasing operations, planning purchase orders with international suppliers, maintaining optimal inventory levels, ensuring cost-efficient procurement, and resolving logistics issues. This position requires strong analytical and strategic planning skills, effective supplier management capabilities, and close collaboration with Sales and Marketing to ensure trade and procurement strategies are aligned with overall business objectives.

Job Responsibility

• Develop and implement trade marketing and purchasing plans and strategies in line with the company short-term and medium-term management policies.
• Lead and manage the purchasing team in preparing monthly stock purchase plans with suppliers in Indonesia, China, Japan and Korea.
• Oversee inventory management practices, ensuring timely and efficient ordering and monitoring of inventory to ensure adequate supply and maintain optimal stock levels.
• Leverage data analytics to predict sales trends and improve accuracy of stock forecasts and purchase orders.
• Conduct market research to identify trends, gather consumer insights, and analyze competitor activities. Analyze category performance to identify distribution gaps and growth opportunities.
• Manage category planning by creating planogram proposals using Nielsen Spaceman, supported by sales and category data.
• Identify and develop new sales channels through in-depth market research and proposal development.
• Lead the development of merchandising guidelines and POSMs, ensure alignment with brand and category strategy and achieving merchandising excellence at retail touchpoints.
• Support the execution of in-store and channel-specific promotional activities, including major campaigns and focused category in-store activations, and enhance in-store merchandising and in-store visibility through the deployment of channel-specific POSMs.
• Monitor and analyze sales data and effectiveness of trade campaigns to identify areas for improvement, and provide reports and insights to management and relevant departments.
• Develop and create training materials to provide training to internal sales staff and distributor sales staff. 
• Act as a bridge between the marketing and sales departments, developing strategies to drive demand and align stocks ordering decisions with brand campaigns and trade initiatives.
• Work closely with finance, logistic, suppliers and service providers to ensure smooth operations and optimize supply chain management
• Develop, manage, and monitor trade marketing budgets and investments to ensure trade budgets are utilized effectively and aligned with campaign goals.
• Identify cost-saving opportunities in stock and label procurement and develop cost-reduction strategies aligned with business growth goals.
• Ensure cost-effective procurement by negotiating competitive pricing and maintaining timely deliveries; conduct regular supplier performance and pricing reviews.
• Lead, manage, and coach the Trade Marketing and Purchasing teams to achieve business objectives, while fostering continuous improvement and effectively managing a diverse team across multiple disciplines.

Job Requirements

 Requirement

• Bachelor's/Professional Degree preferably within the area of Business Management, Administration, or related. 
• Minimum of 5 years of Trade Marketing experience in beauty and cosmetics FMCG companies, with at least 3 years at managerial level.
• Required languages: English & Bahasa Malaysia. Knowledge of other languages is advantageous.
• Proficiency in computer skills, MS Office, Excel, etc. 
• A team player with a pleasant personality and strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to build good working relationships with internal and external parties.
• Ability to thrive in a team environment while also having the ability to work independently.
• Self-starter, highly organized, and able to prioritize multiple tasks in a challenging and fast-paced working environment.
• Creativity and commercial awareness, especially in the beauty, cosmetics, and personal care industries.

Skills