Senior Manager - Business Performance & Strategic Initiatives

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

This role is responsible for driving business performance and strategic execution through a combination of market intelligence, financial analysis, operational transformation, innovation business cases, and structured project governance. The incumbent will partner with cross-functional teams to identify growth opportunities, improve operational efficiency, support new product launches, and ensure that strategic initiatives deliver measurable business value.

KEY RESPONSIBILTIES

Develop & Drive Operation Strategy

• Develop and govern the Operations Transformation Roadmap aligned with business objectives.
• Translate strategic priorities into a structured portfolio of transformation projects and initiatives.
• Establish and lead the PMO framework, including governance, milestones, risk management, and stakeholder reviews.
• Define and track project-specific KPIs to measure business impact, operational efficiency, and value delivery.
• Monitor project execution against timelines, budgets, and performance targets, ensuring timely course correction.
• Conduct root-cause analysis of performance deviations and drive corrective and preventive actions.
• Provide periodic management dashboards and progress reviews to leadership on transformation initiatives.
• Identify and prioritize process improvement, cost optimisation, and productivity enhancement opportunities.
• Drive cross-functional alignment to ensure successful implementation and benefits realisation of transformation projects.

Diagnostic Studies

• Identify underperforming Brand x Market, establish state specific battlegrounds, and drive targeted action plans to improve market performance.
• Identify and evaluate business growth opportunities through analysis of market trends, consumer preferences, competitive dynamics, pricing, leveraging excise policy developments
• Monitor new product launches, SKU introductions, promotional activities, and competitive developments across markets.
• Analyse competitor growth drivers, market strategies, and share trends to inform long-term business planning and strategic priorities.

Work with innovation council

• Assess opportunities by estimating addressable market, industry sizing, growth trends, & market share projections.
• Align pricing with marketing strategy, considering global benchmarks, competition, and price laddering.
• Develop business cases, including cost cards, evaluate capex requirement, roll-up projected P&L and cash flow, conduct ROCE analysis.
• Aligning top-down estimates with bottom-up sales inputs.
• Identify key risks and define mitigation strategies.
• Analyse evolving consumer behaviour, consumption trends, premiumisation, urbanisation, and LDA dynamics to identify growth opportunities and risks.
• Track performance and capture learnings for future replication.
• Drive cross-functional (Commercial, marketing and SC) and alignment by providing fact-based recommendations using market intelligence, financial analysis, and scenario planning.

Project Management Office (PMO)

• Build and operationalize a structured PMO framework (milestones, timelines, RACI, escalation protocols)
• Drive periodic cross-functional reviews to track progress and ensure on-time delivery.
• Maintain a dashboard with real-time visibility on status, risks, issues, and interdependencies for leadership.
• Proactively assess risks, flag deviations, and drive corrective actions with stakeholders.

Projects

• Develop industry trend projections, market share forecasts, and long-term business outlooks for the next 3-5 years to support project lead.
• Provide robust financial assumptions and business insights for annual plans, forecasts, and strategic initiatives.
• Evaluate and incorporate the impact of state-specific excise policies, regulatory changes, and sectoral headwinds/tailwinds on business performance and growth outlook.
• Market share validation, industry benchmarking, and competitive intelligence.
• Support external agencies with ECP, financial, and volume data
• Partner with FP&A teams to consolidate stat and management P&Ls

KEY INTERFACES:

• Strategy & Transformation Team (primary team)
• Finance Team – for value efficiency tracking, cost analytics and budget governance
• Integrated Operations leadership & Team – Integrated operations initiatives execution and reporting
• Senior Leadership– BTM reporting, dashboards

SKILLS REQUIRED:

Strategic & Business Acumen

• Strong understanding of market share dynamics
• Knowledge of Alcobev / FMCG / Pharma industry
• Strategic thinking with ability to identify early signals of market shifts
• Strong problem-solving skills using structured approaches (e.g., root cause analysis, driver trees)

New Product Launch (NPD)

• Go-to-market planning (distribution, pricing, launch phasing)
• Demand planning and commercialization tracking
• Risk identification and mitigation during launches

Project Management & Governance

• Project management methodologies: Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid
• PMO framework design, governance model setup, portfolio management
• Risk management, issue tracking, escalation frameworks
• Knowledge of PMO tools: MS Project/Jira etc.

Data Analytics & Reporting

• Advanced proficiency in MS Excel, Power BI, Python/R, sound presentation skill and command over language
• MIS reporting, KPI framework design, balanced scorecard development
• Predictive modelling, root cause analysis

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Cross-functional collaboration and executive-level communication
• Capability building and change management

QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Qualified Chartered Accountant or MBA from a premier business school.
• 6-8 years of experience preferred, with a strong track record in driving business performance through data-driven market share analytics, building business cases for new product launches, running operational efficiency program in manufacturing and supply chain function through PMO frameworks though gamification-led team engagement.