Category Manager – Skincare Brands

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IFC Ventures is rapidly expanding its portfolio of modern skincare, haircare, and cosmetics brands across India. We are looking for a highly driven and analytical Category Manager – Skincare Brands to lead category development, portfolio expansion, pricing, channel strategies, and GTM execution across retail, modern trade, e-commerce, and D2C channels.

This role requires deep knowledge of skincare products, category trends, consumer insights, competition analytics, pricing strategy, merchandising, product development, and marketing planning within the beauty & personal care segment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Strategy & Growth

Build and execute the category strategy for skincare, face care, acne care, moisturizers, and cosmetics.

Identify category gaps, high-growth segments, pricing opportunities, and new product development ideas.

Develop annual category growth plans, revenue targets, and profitability matrices.

2. Product Portfolio & Brand Development

Lead product launches, SKU planning, lifecycle management, and portfolio optimization.

Work closely with R&D, packaging, and design teams on formulation inputs, ingredient benchmarking, and trend analysis.

Define claims, positioning, USPs, and brand messaging for new skincare products.

3. Consumer Insights & Market Research

Analyze consumer behavior, buying patterns, skin concerns, and trend shifts in the beauty & personal care market.

Conduct market studies, focus groups, competitive benchmarking, and price-value mapping.

Track emerging global skincare trends (acne care, barrier repair, serums, SPF, and active-based skincare).

4. Pricing, Margins & P&L Ownership

Define pricing, margins, retailer slabs, and profitability structures for the skincare category.

Manage category P&L, forecasting, contribution analysis, and SKU-level profitability.

Develop pricing ladders aligned with brand positioning and competition.

5. Channel Strategy (MT, GT, E-commerce, D2C)

Build customized strategies for modern trade, general trade, e-commerce, quick commerce, pharmacies, and D2C.

Evaluate channel performance, shelf share, online visibility, and pricing competitiveness.

Drive cross-channel brand consistency, portfolio activation, and category presence.

6. Merchandising, Visibility & Promotion Planning

Plan in-store merchandising, planograms, visibility assets, displays, testers, and sampling initiatives.

Collaborate with sales teams to develop trade promotions, discounts, offers, and visibility budgets.

Evaluate ROI on campaigns, visibility spending, and promotional effectiveness.

7. Data Analytics & Performance Tracking

Monitor sales performance, market share, competition movement, and category KPIs.

Develop dashboards for sell-in, sell-out, productivity, profitability, and inventory health.

Track NPD performance, rate of sale, seasonality trends, and lifecycle decisions.

8. Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with marketing, sales, SCM, finance, R&D, and creative teams.

Coordinate GTM planning, launch timelines, demand forecasting, and inventory alignment.

Support Modern Trade, E-commerce, and GT teams with category insights and product training.

Required Skills & Competencies

• 4+ years of experience in category management, brand management, product management, or marketing within FMCG / beauty / skincare / cosmetics / personal care industries.
• Strong understanding of skincare categories (moisturizers, serums, acne care, SPFs, and cleansers).
• Excellent analytical, commercial, and strategic planning skills.
• Deep experience in pricing, portfolio management, product lifecycle, and GTM execution.
• Ability to work with cross-functional teams and handle multiple brand portfolios.
• Strong communication, negotiation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficiency in Excel, analytics tools, forecasting, and data interpretation.

Preferred Experience

• Prior experience managing skincare or cosmetic brands.
• Exposure to modern trade, e-commerce marketplaces (Amazon, Nykaa), quick commerce (Blinkit, Zepto), and D2C.
• Strong knowledge of ingredients, formulations, and global beauty trends.
• Experience with P&L ownership and category profitability.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, management, or a related field.
• MBA preferred but not mandatory.

Why Join IFC Ventures?

• Fast-growing portfolio of premium skincare & beauty brands, food, and lifestyle & wellness products.
• Opportunity to build and scale new categories from scratch.
• High-growth environment with a strong entrepreneurial culture.
• Work closely with leadership on brand strategy and category expansion.