Job Description

What is this role about: The Head of Retail Channel Management will be responsible for driving strategic direction, execution excellence, and revenue growth through India's retail channel. This leader will oversee a team of Account Managers and own the transition from a traditional supply-led approach to a modern, demand-led model across retail accounts. The role requires deep retail expertise, strong commercial acumen, and a proven ability to lead high-performing teams in a dynamic environment. Success will be measured through sales growth, improved product sell-through, stronger retail relationships, and execution of key retail activation programs and schemes. Attributes: Customer-Centric & Commercially Driven You have a strong understanding of your retail partners, their challenges, their opportunities, and what drives their business. You create demand-led strategies that generate value for both the customer and the company, ensuring genuine products are always visible and available at the point of sale. Strategic Leadership & Vision You think long-term while acting decisively in the short term. You translate market intelligence and sales data into clear strategies that scale across geographies. Youre a champion of innovation and continuous improvement in retail execution. Data-Led Execution & Performance Management You rely on data to guide your decisions. Sell-through trends, field insights, and performance metrics help you drive results and adjust plans as needed. You set clear KPIs and hold yourself and your team accountable for delivering strong outcomes. Agility in a Dynamic Retail Landscape You’re adaptable and proactive in a constantly evolving market. Whether it’s responding to changes in consumer behavior, navigating competitive pressure, or leading transformation, you stay ahead of the curve and guide your team through change with confidence. Ownership & Execution Excellence You take full ownership of your deliverables and outcomes. You move with urgency, prioritize what matters most, and execute with precision. You lead by example and instill a culture of accountability, focus, and high performance within your team. What you will be doing: 1. Retail Channel Strategy & Leadership Define and execute the Pan India retail channel strategy aligned with business goals and category priorities. Lead and mentor a team of Account Managers across regions, ensuring high engagement, performance, and development. Strengthen the company’s position at retail by ensuring consistent availability, visibility, and preference for genuine products. Collaborate with marketing, editorial, and distribution teams to align retail efforts with new releases and promotional campaigns. Track and report sell-in and sell-through performance; proactively identify gaps and take corrective actions. 2. Sales Growth & Performance Management Own national sales targets (volume & value) across all retail channels and key accounts. Develop scalable, data-driven account strategies to drive sell-in and sell-through. Oversee regional execution of promotions, loyalty initiatives, and partner activations to maximize ROI. Analyze sell-through data and market trends to drive inventory planning and product placement. 3. Demand-Led Sales Transformation Champion the shift from supply-push to demand-led retail engagement using market data and sell-through analytics. Institutionalize retail planning processes that integrate customer insights, inventory trends, and real-time POS data. Work closely with key teams to improve product selection, display and in-store signage to maximize product visibility and promotions in retail stores. Oversee national rollout and optimization of the retailer activation and incentive programs to ensure these programs drive loyalty, performance, and ROI and creates retail demand for McGraw Hill products. Organize and execute in-store events, author visits, and book launches to elevate brand experience and drive foot traffic. Ensure training, compliance, and communication to frontline staff and partners on program mechanics and benefits. 4. Cross-Functional & Partner Collaboration Align closely with Supply Chain, Customer Service, Demand Generation, Product, and finance teams to ensure smooth execution across touchpoints. Serve as the voice of retail partners to internal teams to shape future offerings, product planning, and go-to-market strategies. Establish feedback loops to capture market insights, competition moves, and channel risks such as counterfeit threats. What you need to be considered: At least 10–12 years of meaningful experience in building and managing retail channels and driving retail sales, with at least 3-5 years’ experience in a sales leadership role at national/ regional/ zonal level managing a team of account managers. Proven track record in channel management and/or trade marketing with history of successfully creating demand at retail and driving demand-led growth, preferably in FMCG, consumer goods, or publishing sectors. Demonstrated success in leading sales transformation initiatives and improving sell-through. Strong commercial acumen, with an understanding of channel behavior, sales metrics, retail promotion and merchandising strategies. Solid understanding of retail channel dynamics and experience with loyalty/incentive schemes. Good analytical and problem-solving skills. Good team-handling, stakeholder management and communication skills. The ideal person for this role is a graduate in any discipline from a reputed academic institution in India/ globally. An MBA or other relevant higher qualifications will be added advantage.