Blue Label Distribution Available Job Opportunity – Apply Now!

At Blue Label Distribution, our brand philosophy is that we can create and distribute anything that is able to be digitised. Our Blu-approved brand is the face of our service offering and is underpinned by a world-class technology platform for both online and offline commerce. With a point of sale network of approximately 150 000 devices, we provide a distribution footprint across all income groups. 85% of our income comes from merchants in the informal sector.

 

 

 

 

 

Job Title: Product Category Executive
Location: Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa
Reference #: B168
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: Market Related

Job Summary:
Leads the product management contribution to the Blue Label SA Distribution strategy development, the translation of set strategies into product or service definitions, the coordination of product development, and the evaluation of the product and services portfolio. Incumbent is responsible for the profitability and growth of each product within the category thereby facilitating revenue generation. Collaborates with Leadership to determine pricing, distribution and overall promotion of a product category to maximize consumer appeal and increase revenue for merchants through our products and services. Collaborates with BluNova, Business Intelligence and external providers to provide the business with product, channel, merchant and consumer insights.
Requirements:
RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategic Category Management:
Provides strategic advice and collaborates on category strategies, approaches and requirements.
Influences the strategic vision and direction of new product development to enable profitable and new categories which will meet merchant and consumer needs.
Interfaces with cross-functional parties at all levels of the organization, including
Technology, Sales & Distribution, Operations and Finance, as well as relevant technical and execution resources.
Leads the commercialization of the products.
Collaborates with Marketing and Commercialization team to ensure effective execution and product availability.
Assesses implementation of the commercialization plan across all areas of the business.
Incorporates business insights and objectives into the development of the category management strategies.
Provide updates on category activity and performance .
Establish KPIs and reporting processes and frameworks to capture and report the benefits of the functional area.
Develops, leads and execute category plans, strategies and frameworks, including market approaches, procurement analysis, supplier development,
contract management, performance reporting and evaluation, to optimise value for money outcomes and meet stakeholder needs and expectations.
Lead efforts to develop and harmonise category management processes/ standards across all user groups to gain buy-in and organisational commitment.
Research and seek opportunities for improvement in category management and effectively promote and manage changes.
Analyze data and share insights with the business.
Devise long-term development strategies for product categories.
Develop exit strategies for unsuccessful products.

Stakeholder Management:
Collaborate with Technology to provide expert advice to key stakeholders on all aspects of product procurement and development recommending a build or buy strategic choice.
Work with outsources service delivery organisations to develop products against agreed spec (MVP’s) and commercialization plan.
Foster trust relationships with vendors to achieve better pricing and quality of services.
Challenge and motivate providers to optimise service outcomes.
Lead negotiations on high impact, complex supply arrangements and manage contracts to deliver optimal category outcomes.
Consult throughout the organisation to support the development of strategic and high-risk contracts and supplier relationships.
Identify sources of value through the supplier relationship.
Take action to realize identified opportunities.
Lead supplier development activities for key suppliers and market segments to meet the needs of the organisation.
Develop frameworks to identify and track benefits through supplier relationships.
Establish mechanisms to ensure supplier relationships are effectively governed both within and outside of the category management function.
Establish performance standards and evaluation processes to assess and report on category activity in terms of progress, results, customer satisfaction, value and cost.
Maintain in depth knowledge of category market and vendor trends and dynamics to develop strategies to maximize the organisation’s influence in the market to deliver organisational and government objectives.

Growth and Profitable Categories Delivered:
Create ambitious and wide-ranging and profitable category strategies based on
future trends, disruptive technology, customer and consumer needs together with an in-depth knowledge of organisational demand, needs and requirements.
Effectively evaluate, shape, influence and develop the categories to deliver long term shareholder value
Demonstrate expertise in analysing category and product performance and provide expert advise to sales teams on how to improve profitability.
Develop strategies and supply markets to effectively deal with limited sources of supply.
Set the overall strategy and framework for how different ‘go-to-market’ techniques are to be established and used throughout the organisation.
Lead the interpretation of product availability on merchant profitability and collaborating to develop product value propositions to enable sales selling stories.

Product Commercialization:
Leads commercialization effort for all product innovation programs.
Collaborates across the business to develop feasibility assessments and business case rationale to support commercialization plans and revenue generation.
Ensure effective project management, cost projections and revenue delivery.
Make forecasts for product availability and ensure the availability of inventory in support of our market penetration strategy.
Facilitate creation of mitigation/contingency plans and manage communication for any disruptions in the game plan or revenue targets.
Work closely with business areas to identify and manage commercial, contractual, operational, financial, reputational, ethical and supply chain risks emanating from category activity and supply base arrangements.
Act as an SME on ways to manage risk for high value complex projects and relationships, and take calculated risks to achieve objectives.
Manage compliance and eliminate non-compliant practices in category management.

Leadership:
Provide leadership, direction and effective management of the category management team and cross functional working groups to achieve a high-level of performance, integration and consistency.
Through effective inspirational leadership, facilitate the creation of accountable, full service teams who understand and strive to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
Role model behavior and motivate team members in line with the core values.
Take full responsibility for performance of all direct reports, motivating and managing them in relation to quality standards and agreed benchmarks and objectives, focusing on all aspects of sound people management.
Provide support and guidance on career path planning, on-the-job training, coaching and mentoring to direct reports.
Develop, promote and direct the implementation of equal opportunities policies in all aspects of the company’s work.
Communicate and maintain trust relationships with shareholders, business partners and authorities.

Self-Management:
Set an example through personal quality and productivity standards and ways of working with others.
Demonstrate consistent application of internal procedures.
Plan and prioritise, demonstrating abilities to manage competing demands.
Demonstrate abilities to anticipate and manage change.
Demonstrate flexibility in balancing achievement of own objectives with abilities to understand and respond to organisational and team needs.

BEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES:

Strategic Mindset
Business Insight
Balances Stakeholders
Builds Effective Teams
Collaborates
Situational Adaptability
Communicates Effectively
Customer Focus
Cultivates Innovation
Drives Vision and Purpose
Ensures Accountability
Financial Acumen
Instills Trust

EDUCATION:

Matric
Bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing or related field

EXPERIENCE:

Minimum 7 years’ experience in similar or related role
Experience of interpreting strategy and policy in order to set and deliver objectives within medium to long time frames

To Apply:

Click Here!

Application Deadline: 23/11/2021