Job Title: Senior Manager – Trade Marketing
Location: Kolkata
Reporting To: Head – Trade Marketing
Company Size: ₹2000 Cr turnover
Job Purpose
The Senior Manager – Trade Marketing will be responsible for driving channel-wise trade marketing strategy, strengthening in-store execution, improving visibility, and enabling sales growth across General Trade, Modern Trade, and Alternate Channels. The role will work closely with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance to ensure effective deployment of trade initiatives aligned with business objectives.
Key Responsibilities
1. Trade Marketing Strategy & Planning
- Develop annual and quarterly trade marketing calendar aligned with brand and sales priorities
- Design channel-specific activation programs to drive distribution, visibility, and offtake
- Plan new product launch trade strategy across channels
- Define trade schemes and promotion mechanics to support sales targets
2. Channel Development & Execution
- Lead execution of trade programs across General Trade, Modern Trade & Alternate Channels
- Drive outlet level visibility standards and execution excellence
- Develop planograms and merchandising guidelines for key channels
- Ensure execution of seasonal campaigns and category drives
3. Trade Schemes & Promotions
- Design and implement trade schemes in consultation with Sales & Finance
- Track ROI of trade promotions and optimize spends
- Monitor scheme utilization and effectiveness
- Drive productivity of trade investments
4. Visibility & Merchandising
- Develop POSM strategy and deployment plan
- Drive secondary visibility initiatives and in-store branding
- Manage merchandising agencies and vendor partners
- Track visibility compliance through field inputs
5. Sales Team Enablement
- Partner with regional sales teams for execution of trade initiatives
- Develop communication toolkits for field teams
- Conduct training on trade programs and execution standards
- Support key market visits and joint working
6. New Product Launch Support
- Develop launch visibility kits and trade communication
- Ensure launch readiness across channels
- Monitor launch execution and availability
- Track initial offtake and course correction
7. Budget Management
- Manage trade marketing budget and ensure optimal allocation
- Track spends vs plan and ensure adherence
- Evaluate ROI of activations and schemes
- Work closely with finance for claims validation
8. Data & Insights
- Analyse secondary sales, offtake and outlet level insights
- Identify growth opportunities by channel/region
- Track competitor trade activities and benchmark
- Recommend corrective actions based on insights
Key Stakeholders
- Sales Team (RSMs, ASMs, KAMs)
- Brand Marketing Team
- Supply Chain & Demand Planning
- Finance Team
- External Vendors & Agencies
- Modern Trade Customers
Qualification & Experience
- MBA in Marketing / Sales preferred
- 8–12 years of FMCG experience in Trade Marketing / Sales
- Experience in Foods/Biscuits/FMCG category preferred
- Strong understanding of General Trade & Modern Trade channels
- Experience in managing trade promotions & activations
Key Competencies
- Trade marketing strategy
- Channel understanding
- Commercial acumen
- Stakeholder management
- Execution excellence
- Data-driven decision making
- Project management
- Vendor management
Ideal Candidate Profile
- Strong FMCG trade marketing experience
- Hands-on execution mindset
- Experience working with large sales teams
- Strong analytical & planning capability
- Ability to manage multiple channels simultaneously
- High ownership and result orientation
