Category Finance Manager

JOB ROLE: Category Finance Manager – Fans and Consumer Lighting

REPORTING TO: Head – FP&A

TYPE OF ROLE: Individual Contributor Role

LOCATION: Prabhadevi, 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 price–volume–mix–cost (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 price–pack 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 price–pack 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, electricals, 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.