Requisition ID: 73639
About Whirlpool India
Whirlpool of India Limited, headquartered in Gurugram, is a leading home appliances company dedicated to enhancing life at home and inspiring generations through its trusted brands. The company operates three state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Faridabad, Pune & Puducherry, each reflecting Whirlpool’s commitment to providing best-in-class consumer solutions. Further driving innovation, the company has a Technology & Engineering Center, where India's world-class talent architects the next generation of home innovation. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, Whirlpool of India reported approximately INR 8110 Cr in annual revenue and employed 2193 people. More information is available at www.india.whirlpool.in
As the Senior Category Manager - Marketing, you will have end-to-end strategic, financial, and operational ownership of your assigned product category. You will blend consumer insights,
product strategy, and data-driven marketing to launch new products, optimize the existing portfolio, and drive market share. This role requires an agile leader who can seamlessly navigate between long-term product roadmapping, rigorous P&L management, consumer research, and ground-level trade enablement. You will be fully accountable for driving market share, optimizing product mix, and ensuring flawless go-to-market execution.
1. Annual & Long-Term Strategic Planning
● Annual Business Planning: Draft and execute the annual category plan, taking absolute ownership of core metrics including market share expansion, volume growth, and margin delivery.
● 3-Year Product Roadmap: Define and maintain a robust 3-year product pipeline and portfolio roadmap, backed comprehensively by consumer learnings and competitive insights.
● Data-Driven Growth: Continuously analyze primary and secondary market research data alongside market share trends to identify untapped growth opportunities.
2. Financial Management & Project Accountability
● Project Financials: Own the financial decision-making process for category projects, evaluating and passing them based on stringent ROI and payback period benchmarks.
● The Project Triangle: Direct and manage product development and marketing initiatives to ensure all projects strictly satisfy the Cost-Quality-Time triangle.
3. Consumer Insights, Positioning & Communication
● Direct Consumer Engagement: Regularly meet and interface with consumer on-ground to extract deep insights on how to improve existing product offerings and identify pipeline innovations.
● Value Proposition & Brand Control: Define and validate the right consumer proposition for the category. Retain end-to-end control over all marketing, brand, and product communication to ensure messaging consistency and brand compliance.
● Competitive Pricing & Fit: Monitor and analyze competitive landscapes continuously to ensure Whirlpool’s offerings are perfectly positioned regarding product-price fit across all segments.
4. Demand Optimization & GTM Execution
● Demand Forecasting: Partner closely with supply chain and commercial planning teams to ensure highly accurate demand forecasting, balancing optimum market availability against inventory costs.
● Robust GTM Strategy: Architect and lead end-to-end, high-impact Go-To-Market (GTM) plans for all new product launches to maximize day-one velocity.
5. Trade Marketing, Promos & Frontline Enablement
● Commercial Schemes: Design, deploy, and evaluate highly targeted conversion drivers, including consumer finance options, RE schemes, and consumer promotional schemes.
● Frontline Capability Building: Drive store promoter training programs to ensure the ground-level sales force is thoroughly educated on product USPs, consumer objections, and premium pitch techniques.
Education: MBA/PGDM in Marketing or Strategy from a premier (Tier-1 / Tier-2) business school.
Experience: 8–10 years of post-MBA experience across Category Management, Product Management, or Brand Marketing.
Industry Preference: Proven track record within Consumer Durables (FMCD), Consumer Electronics, or FMCG sectors.
Strategic Thinking: Proven capability to formulate long-term business visions, anticipating industry shifts and mapping structural growth plans.
Product Innovation & Development: Demonstrated skill in translating raw consumer insights into tangible, commercially viable product configurations.
Commercial Acumen: Robust understanding of business financials, P&L mechanics, margin structures, and price-benefit positioning.
Marketing Communications Development & Media Planning: Expertise in building integrated marketing campaigns and optimizing media allocations across digital,
traditional, and point-of-sale channels.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Superior analytical skills to dissect complex data matrices, diagnose business bottlenecks, and deploy corrective strategies.
Effective Stakeholder Management: Masterful interpersonal skills with a proven track record of cross-functional navigation, conflict resolution, and strategic influencing across matrixed organizations.
Team Management & Coaching: Leadership capability dedicated to fostering high-performance cultures, mentoring direct reports, and accelerating professional development.
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Connect with us and learn more about Whirlpool India. See what it's like to work at Whirlpool by visiting Whirlpool Careers. Additional information about the company can be found on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
At Whirlpool India, we value and celebrate diversity. Whirlpool India is committed to equal employment opportunity and prohibits any discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.
Skills Required
- MBA or PGDM in Marketing or Strategy from a Tier-1 or Tier-2 business school
- 8–10 years of post-MBA experience in Category Management, Product Management, or Brand Marketing
- Experience in Consumer Durables, Consumer Electronics, or FMCG
- Strategic thinking and long-term business planning capability
- Product innovation and development experience translating consumer insights into product configurations
- Commercial acumen, including P&L, financials, margins, and price-benefit positioning
- Marketing communications development and media planning expertise across digital, traditional, and point-of-sale channels
- Strong analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills
- Stakeholder management, influencing, and conflict-resolution skills
- Team management, coaching, and mentoring capability
Whirlpool Corporation Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Whirlpool Corporation and has not been reviewed or approved by Whirlpool Corporation.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage is positioned as comprehensive, spanning medical/dental/vision along with mental-health and EAP resources in the U.S. First-day benefits are also indicated for some roles, reinforcing perceived accessibility of core coverage.
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Parental & Family Support — Family-oriented support is emphasized through paid parental leave references, added caregiver leave options, and expanded family-building benefits such as fertility coverage and adoption/surrogacy reimbursement. External recognition for working-parent practices is cited as consistent with this family-friendly benefits posture.
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Retirement Support — Retirement offerings are described as meaningful, including a 401(k) match and, in some descriptions, additional company contributions alongside other financial supports like coaching and purchase programs. This strengthens total rewards for employees who weigh long-term benefits alongside base pay.
Whirlpool Corporation Insights
What We Do
Life at home has been at the heart of our business for 110 years - it is why we exist and why we are passionate about what we do. Beginning with our founders to the everyday actions of our people, our values have always kept us grounded -- Integrity, Respect, Inclusion & Diversity, One Whirlpool, Spirit of Winning. What we do at Whirlpool Corporation matters because consumers trust our brands. We never take that for granted and we work every day to earn that trust as we are committed to being the best kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home.
