Category Lead – Marketing (Food & Snacks)

Role Overview

This position places you at the centre of marketing leadership for a portfolio of daily-consumption food brands spanning noodles, cereals, and snacks. You will take ownership of how these categories are positioned, communicated, and activated across Kenya and neighbouring East African markets, working alongside sales, supply, and external agencies to turn consumer understanding into sustained commercial growth. Day to day, you balance strategic planning with hands-on campaign execution — reviewing market data, briefing creatives, supporting launch timelines, and aligning trade plans so that every investment strengthens both market share and brand relevance.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the annual brand marketing plan across the food and snacks portfolio, ensuring it translates growth objectives into concrete campaigns, promotions, and product initiatives.
• Build a deep understanding of category consumers — from value-seeking households to convenience-driven youth snackers — and convert those insights into positioning and messaging that resonates across Kenya and regional markets.
• Lead integrated 360-degree campaigns spanning above-the-line media, digital and social content, influencer collaborations, public relations, and in-store activation to ensure consistent and compelling brand presence.
• Partner with trade marketing and field sales to design activation programs that improve shelf visibility, distribution coverage, and conversion in general trade, modern trade, and institutional channels.
• Steer new product development from consumer insight and concept stage through to commercialization, coordinating with R&D, packaging, supply chain, and sales to meet launch timelines and market expectations.
• Track brand health, market share, revenue, and profitability using dashboards and market intelligence, then apply those findings to adjust pricing, portfolio priorities, and media investment.
• Prepare clear performance reviews and business updates for senior leadership, using evidence to justify future investment decisions and highlight category opportunities.
• Manage external agency partners and internal stakeholders to deliver campaigns on budget, on time, and with measurable impact on awareness, trial, and repeat purchase.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related discipline; a CIM qualification or MBA is an advantage.
• 5 to 8 years of FMCG marketing experience, with at least 3 years dedicated to food, snacks, or category management.
• Proven experience managing brands that target youth, families, and mass-market consumers, ideally with direct accountability for food or snack brand performance.
• Strong working knowledge of Kenya's general and modern trade landscape, including exposure to East African regional markets and route-to-market dynamics.
• Track record of leading brand campaigns and trade activations, including budget management and independent agency coordination.
• Experience navigating new product development processes, including flavour or product innovation, packaging changes, and launch planning.
• Familiarity with digital marketing platforms, consumer engagement strategies, and marketing analytics tools; experience with SAP S/4HANA or BI dashboards is a plus.
• Commercially minded with the ability to move quickly from analysis to execution, while demonstrating integrity, accountability, and strong cross-functional collaboration.

What We Offer / Why Join

This is an opportunity to shape the strategic direction of high-volume, fast-moving food categories in an environment where marketing decisions visibly affect household penetration, shelf presence, and consumer loyalty. You will have direct ownership over brand equity and growth trajectory, with the scope to lead cross-functional teams and external partners toward measurable commercial results. The role is suited to a marketer who wants to operate with both creative freedom and disciplined execution inside a fast-paced, results-driven culture.