Category Manager - AT

1. Product development & range architecture

- Lead end-to-end new product development across hardside, soft side, and duffle – from consumer insight to shelf-ready product.
- Build a clear range architecture by size (cabin, medium, large, sets), material, and price ladder – and by channel: what goes to GT, MT, ecommerce, CSD, retail, and B2B, with no range overlap and sharp price-point logic.
- Benchmark features that drive choice in this category – weight, durability, wheels, locks, expandability, warranty – against competitors at every price point.
- Write detailed product briefs with the India design team and the Singapore regional design office, translating consumer needs, trend direction, and commercial parameters into actionable design direction.
- Own the development pipeline with suppliers outside India and domestic manufacturing partners – timelines, sample reviews, cost negotiations, and quality sign-offs.
- Balance global brand standards with India-specific consumer expectations, retail requirements, and price sensitivity.
- Deliver products to defined price points, target margins, and launch timelines without compromising design or quality.

2. Business management & P&L

- Own the commercial performance of the company's largest category across all channels – revenue, sell-through, margins, inventory health, and return on marketing investment.
- Build and manage the annual category plan – SKU-level launch calendar, pricing architecture, channel allocation, and trade promotion budgets – built around the category's seasonal peaks.
- Work with supply chain on demand forecasting and stock planning so the right sizes and colours are available ahead of wedding, holiday, festive, and sale-event peaks.
- Define and execute consumer promotions, seasonal offers, and trade schemes for each channel, understanding the distinct levers in GT vs MT vs ecommerce vs CSD vs B2B.
- Partner with Sales so the right product is in the right channel at the right time, with a clear commercial story for each range.
- Track performance closely – spotting trends, gaps, ageing stock, and risks early, and course-correcting fast.

3. BTL execution & content ownership

- Own all BTL assets for the category: catalogues, POSMs, in-store creatives, shelf-talkers, display units, and trade collateral across channels.
- Lead ecommerce content for the category – A+ and B+ content on Amazon and Flipkart, size-wise listings, and conversion-optimised imagery and copy.
- Develop channel-specific content for Modern Trade activations, CSD catalogues, and B2B pitch decks and range presentations.

4. Communications support

- As the brand's lead category, Travel & Duffle is at the heart of most American Tourister campaigns. Give the Communications Head accurate category, product, and consumer inputs for ATL campaign planning and production.
- Act as the category subject-matter expert for the communications team, so product details, range logic, and consumer context are clear before campaigns go into production.
- Contribute category direction for digital and ecommerce content where the range has a distinct story to tell.

5. Consumer & market intelligence

- Keep a sharp, current view of the competitive landscape in luggage – Indian competitors, D2C brands, and global entrants – across price points and channels.
- Track consumer trends across key buyer groups – first-time flyers, young professionals, families, frequent travellers, and wedding and gifting buyers – and turn insights into product and marketing action.
- Understand channel-specific purchase behaviour – what makes a trolley convert on Amazon vs what makes it sell off a GT shelf.

MBA/ Post Graduate

Experience Requirements

The ideal candidate can hold the creative and the commercial at the same time – someone who can write a product brief that inspires a designer in Singapore, then sit with finance to review margin by SKU. This is the category most people think of when they think of American Tourister, and the person who leads it needs to understand what makes a first-time flyer pick a cabin trolley, a family buy a set of three before a wedding, and a frequent traveller upgrade to a better bag.

With no team to delegate to, this person needs to be hands-on, self-driven, and comfortable owning the full category end to end.

- 6–10 years in brand management, category management, or product marketing in consumer goods, fashion, lifestyle, or consumer durables.
- Hands-on new product development experience – working with suppliers, factories, and designers to take a brief to a shelf-ready product.
- Experience managing a category or sub-brand P&L with accountability for revenue, margins, and marketing investment – ideally a high-volume, high-SKU category.
- Strong understanding of Indian retail, with working knowledge of at least 3–4 of the channels in scope (GT, MT, ecommerce, CSD, retail, B2B).
- Ecommerce content experience – A+/B+ pages, listing management, and conversion optimisation – is a meaningful advantage.
- Experience working with regional or global design and product teams is a plus.

Skills & capabilities

•Product instinct – a sharp sense of what travellers will find desirable, useful, and worth paying for, across price points.

•Design sensibility – the ability to brief designers clearly and judge product and creative outputs with confidence.

•Commercial rigour – pricing architecture, margin management, forecasting, and channel-specific mechanics should feel second nature.

•Organised and process-driven – the largest SKU range in the company, multiple channels, and a complex pipeline, managed without a team, means nothing can fall through the cracks.

•Ownership – an individual contributor who drives work across functions through influence rather than authority.

•Strong communication and stakeholder management, especially across geographies and cultures (India teams, Singapore office, suppliers outside India).

•Consumer-first mindset with genuine curiosity about travel behaviour and how Indians buy luggage.

Mobility/Travel

Travel involved (Minimum 10 days of travel)

Computer Skills

Frequent user of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Language

Good communication skills.

Should be fluent in English and Hindi