Group Marketing Manager

This is not a classic brand manager or campaign marketer role.

I need a Group Marketing Manager who can build the marketing operating system for our multi-country distribution business (Congo – PNR/BZV, Benin, Togo, Mali, Angola, plus Dubai/India supply offices). The focus is on trade marketing, systems, and governance, not big ATL campaigns.

Core mandate:
Build and enforce the central marketing system – brand book, packaging standards, asset library, POSM rules, promo governance, reporting, and port execution playbooks – so ports can execute consistently and we start moving from a pure push model to a pull-enabled system.

2. Key Responsibilities (High Level)

Please anchor your search on candidates who can:

• Brand & Packaging Governance

• Create and own a Group Brand Book (visual identity, tone, usage).
• Standardize packaging rules across markets (artwork, labels, compliance, barcodes).
• Enforce consistency across 1000+ SKUs and multiple brands.

• Systems & Marketing Operations

• Build a central asset library (POSM, renders, templates, photos, catalogs).
• Design SOPs, workflows, and templates for marketing requests, approvals, and execution.
• Create the Port Execution Playbook (POSM deployment rules, visibility standards, activation guidelines, reporting formats).

• Trade Marketing & Field Execution Frameworks

• Define wholesale and GT visibility standards (entrance branding, pallet stacking, carton facing, etc.).
• Build simple reporting systems: visibility audits, POSM tracking, price-board checks, competitor presence, promo compliance.
• Work with sales/ports to implement and audit these standards (they dont need to be on the ground daily, but must know how to control from HQ).

• Promo Governance & GC Protection

• Introduce promo rules, approval flows, and calendars.
• Track promo impact and leakage (we want discipline, not random discounting).
• Work closely with Finance to protect GC% and avoid price dilution.

• Cross-Functional & Multi-Country Alignment

• Work with Sales, Supply, Finance, Category to align on SKUs, priorities, and execution.
• Manage ports and country teams remotely from India – strong influencing skills, not just title.
• Bring structure and discipline into a legacy, fragmented environment.

This is a builder role, not a maintenance role. If someones CV screams campaigns, brand love, digital, consumer promotions but light on trade, systems, and RTM – theyre wrong for this.

3. Profile Priorities

Must-have profile traits:

• 10–20 years in FMCG / consumer goods, with strong trade marketing / route-to-market / distributor management exposure.
• Has operated in emerging markets – ideally Africa / Middle East / South Asia. Direct West or Central Africa exposure is a big plus.
• Proven experience building systems (brand books, trade frameworks, SOPs, reporting) – not just running existing ones.
• Comfortable owning operations and governance, not just marketing ideas.
• Strong cross-functional collaborator – can work with sales, supply, and finance and hold their ground.
• Strong written and structured communication – can write guidelines, playbooks, and clear instructions that ports can actually follow.

Mindset:

• Builder, systems thinker
• Practical, field-oriented, low-ego
• Comfortable with messy reality and legacy teams
• Can start with scrappy and professionalize over 12–18 months