Category Finance Manager - Fans & Consumer Lighting Business

REPORTING TO: Head FP&A

TYPE OF ROLE: Individual Contributor Role

LOCATION: Corporate Office, Mumbai.

BU/ DIVISION: Finance

JOB PURPOSE:

To be the finance co-pilot to the Fans and Consumer Lighting business owning the business P&L, driving profitable growth through disciplined investment decisions, portfolio and pricing management, innovation governance and marketing ROI, so that every rupee invested behind the portfolio creates long term value.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Business P&L ownership:

- Own the Fans and Consumer Lighting P&L end to end from gross sales to business contribution and business EBITDA.

- Act as the single finance point of accountability for the portfolio; co-sign every commercial decision that moves the P&L.

- Publish a monthly business performance review with drivers, risks and corrective actions not just numbers.

2. Rolling forecasts & AOP:

- Build and maintain a rolling 12-month forecast for volume, revenue, margin and A&P at business and category level.

- Lead the Annual Operating Plan for Fans and Consumer Lighting bottom-up build by category, channel and SKU.

- Flag forecast-to-actual gaps early with a quantified bridge and a recovery plan agreed with the business.

3. Margin by SKU & category P&L:

- Maintain SKU-level gross margin, contribution and profitability rankings; refresh with every cost or price change.

- Build product category P&Ls (Fans, Consumer Lighting, Lamps, Luminaires, Decorative and Functional Lighting, etc.) with fully allocated costs.

- Identify and drive margin-accretive mix shifts; escalate loss-making and sub-threshold SKUs with an exit or fix plan.

4. Variance:

- Deliver disciplined pricevolumemixcost (PVM) bridges versus AOP, forecast and prior year at business and category level.

- Explain the business reason behind every variance category mix, channel mix, promo intensity, input cost, operating leverage.

- Convert variance insight into named actions with owners and timelines; track closure to completion.

5. Pricing & revenue growth management:

- Partner on MOP/MRP architecture, price laddering and premiumization across the Fans and Consumer Lighting portfolio.

- Evaluate price elasticity, competitive positioning versus peers, and the pricepack architecture (PPA) opportunity.

- Govern trade schemes, discounts and gross-to-net leakage; quantify the ROI of every scheme before and after launch.

6. PPA & premiumization:

- Lead pricepack architecture work identify white spaces, entry price points and premium tiers by channel.

- Model the margin and mix impact of PPA interventions and track realization against the approved business case.

- Support portfolio simplification and SKU rationalization to reduce complexity, working capital, and supply chain cost.

7. A&P investment & marketing ROI:

- Own planning, tracking and governance of Fans and Consumer Lighting A&P spend media, digital, e-commerce, activation and visibility.

- Measure ROI on media, consumer promotions and platform spends; recommend reallocation towards the highest-return levers.

- Ensure spends follow the DOA process and stay within the approved plan; no unbudgeted commitments.

8. Innovation & NPD finance:

- Build and challenge business cases for new launches costing, pricing, payback, breakeven volumes and cannibalization.

- Prioritize the innovation pipeline on the basis of value creation, not activity.

- Conduct post-launch reviews at 6 and 12 months; report benefit realisation versus the approved case.

9. Channel & customer profitability:

- Track profitability by channel general trade, modern trade, e-commerce, quick commerce and alternate and by key account.

- Quantify the true cost to serve, including placement fees, returns, damages and platform commissions.

- Support channel mix decisions that protect category margins while defending share.

10. Controls, working capital & governance:

- Ensure the integrity of business financials provisions, rebates, claims, price protection and inventory valuation.

- Partner supply chain on inventory health, ageing, non-moving stock and working capital release for the business.

- Uphold internal financial controls, the RACM and statutory/audit requirements within the business commercial processes.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

- Chartered Accountant / MBA (Finance) from a reputed institute. CMA with strong commercial exposure will also be considered.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

- 6-10 years post-qualification, with at least 2 years in category or commercial finance in Consumer Durables, FMEG, Electrical, fans, lighting, FMCG or appliances.

PREFERRED/ ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT:

- Strong costing and margin analytics.

- PVM bridging.

- Price elasticity and scenario modelling.

- Advanced Excel and financial modelling.

- SAP (FI/CO, COPA), Power BI or equivalent visualization, planning tools such as Anaplan / TM1 / SAP BPC. Familiarity with e-commerce and secondary sales data platforms is an advantage.

INTERNAL / EXTERNAL INTERFACE:

- Internal: Brand and Marketing, Category / Product Management, Sales, Supply Chain & Sourcing, Finance, Legal & Compliance.