B&W Customer Strategy & Planning (CSP) Lead - Japan

About the Role

Japan is one of the world's most sophisticated and competitive beauty markets, with rapidly evolving shopper behavior, fragmented retail channels, growing eCommerce influence, and increasing expectations around personalization and innovation. The Japan CSP Lead is responsible for shaping the commercial growth agenda by connecting consumer, shopper, customer, and channel insights to winning execution. This role serves as the strategic bridge between Demand Creation (Marketing), Customer Business Development (CBD), Finance, and Supply Chain to unlock sustainable and profitable growth. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with strong executional excellence, ensuring category opportunities are translated into impactful customer plans, perfect launches, effective revenue growth management, and superior in-market execution.

Key Responsibilities

1. Commercial Strategy Leadership

• Lead the development of category and channel growth strategies for the Japan market, owning P&L of B&W Japan.
• Convert Integrated Business Planning (IBP) priorities into actionable 12-Quarter Plans and annual commercial strategies.
• Shape portfolio, pricing, promotion, assortment, and distribution strategies to maximize growth and profitability.
• Drive strategic decision-making through market, consumer, shopper, and customer insights.

2. Revenue Growth Management (RGM/NRM)

• Own the Japan Net Revenue Management agenda.
• Develop pricing architecture and promotional effectiveness strategies.
• Identify opportunities to improve mix, margin, and trade investment productivity.
• Partner closely with Finance and CBD to drive profitable growth.

3. Customer & Channel Planning

• Design differentiated channel strategies across Drug, GMS, CVS, eCommerce, Specialty Retail, and Emerging Channels.
• Lead Joint Business Planning (JBP) processes with strategic customers.
• Ensure category opportunities are converted into customer-specific growth plans.
• Strengthen customer engagement through data-driven insights and category leadership.

4. Shopper Marketing Excellence

• Lead the shopper marketing agenda across all channels.
• Deliver best-in-class customer activation plans that win at the point of purchase.
• Drive perfect launch and perfect store execution.
• Leverage retail media and digital commerce opportunities to maximize conversion.

5. Cross-Functional Business Leadership

• Serve as a core member of the Japan Commercial Leadership Team.
• Partner with Marketing, CBD, Finance, Supply Chain, and Digital Commerce teams to drive business performance.
• Build strong alignment between brand strategies and commercial execution.
• Lead business reviews and performance management routines.

6. Team & Capability Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing CSP organization.
• Build future-ready capabilities in category management, shopper marketing, data analytics, NRM, and commercial planning.
• Foster a culture of ownership, speed, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Coach WL2 and WL1 talent and strengthen succession pipelines.

Key Deliverables

• Delivery of Turnover, Profit and Market Share ambitions.
• Best-in-class category and channel growth plans.
• Increased profitability through NRM and trade investment effectiveness.
• Strong customer partnerships and JBP execution.
• Superior launch and activation performance.
• High employee engagement and capability growth across CSP teams.

Candidate Requirements (Skills & Experience):

Must-have:

• 12+ years of experience across CSP, Category Management, Sales, Marketing, Commercial Strategy, or Revenue Growth Management.
• Strong understanding of the Japan retail and eCommerce landscape.
• Proven leadership experience managing multifunctional teams.
• Experience leading customer and channel strategy development.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Preferred:

• FMCG, Beauty, Consumer Goods, Retail, or Omnichannel experience.
• Experience in transformation or turnaround situations.
• Exposure to NRM, IBP, JBP, and Commercial Excellence programs.
• Experience leading large cross-functional projects and organizational change.

Leadership Expectations:

• Consumer & Shopper Obsessed
• Growth Mindset
• Strategic yet Action-Oriented
• Strong Influencer Across Functions
• Courageous Decision Maker
• Develops Talent & Builds Teams
• Drives Accountability & Execution Excellence

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.

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