| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Marketing |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Managing Director |
| Direct reports | Senior Brand Manager, Market Research Manager, Trade Marketing Manager, Head of Digital Marketing |
| Experience | 15 to 20 years in brand management, with at least 5 years leading a category or portfolio |
Marketing Director job description template
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Job title: Marketing Director
Department: Marketing
Reports to: Managing Director
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Marketing Director leads marketing for a category or for the whole India business, most often in multinational FMCG, consumer durables, OTC healthcare and food companies. They sit on the leadership team, decide portfolio strategy, pricing and the innovation pipeline with the Managing Director, and control the advertising and promotion investment. Senior brand managers, insights, media and trade marketing teams report to them, and they are judged on category market share, value growth and gross margin.
Key responsibilities
- Set the category or portfolio strategy for the next three to five years, including where to compete by segment, price tier and region.
- Own the annual brand plans and promotion investment for the portfolio, and agree them in the operating plan with the Managing Director and finance.
- Decide the innovation pipeline with R&D and supply chain, including which launches, pack sizes and price points go ahead each year.
- Approve pricing, pack-price architecture and changes to trade terms together with the sales director and finance.
- Review retail audit, household panel and brand health data every month, and act on share losses by brand and region.
- Approve major campaigns, celebrity contracts and media plans, and hold agencies to agreed effectiveness measures.
- Present the category's performance, risks and plans in leadership meetings and, where relevant, to regional or global headquarters.
- Make sure advertising claims, pack declarations and promotions clear legal and regulatory review before launch.
- Build the marketing talent bench by coaching senior brand managers and planning their rotations across brands and functions.
- Represent the company in industry bodies and advertising forums when the category needs a public voice.
Requirements
- MBA or PGDM in Marketing from a leading institute
- A first degree in engineering, science or economics is common
- Experience across more than one category or market is an advantage
- 15 to 20 years in brand management, with at least 5 years leading a category or portfolio
KRAs and KPIs for a Marketing Director
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Category market share | Portfolio value share in the retail audit at or above the operating plan target |
| Value growth | Portfolio value growth ahead of the category's growth rate for the year |
| Gross margin | Portfolio gross margin at or above plan after price and mix decisions |
| Innovation contribution | Launches from the last 3 years delivering the planned share of portfolio revenue |
| Promotion return | Promotion spend within plan, with a measured sales effect reported for every major campaign |
| Talent bench | A ready successor identified for every senior brand manager role within the year |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Retail audit and household panel data, SAP or similar ERP, Brand P&L models in Excel, Power BI or Tableau, MS PowerPoint.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Chief Marketing Officer, Business Head, Managing Director
Interview questions for a Marketing Director
- Our category is growing but our share is falling in two regions. How would you approach it?
- When input costs rise, how do you choose between a price increase and a grammage cut?
- Tell me about an innovation you stopped before launch, and why.
- How do you split promotion investment between big established brands and small growing ones?
- How do you measure whether a TV campaign paid back?
- Which senior brand managers have you developed who later ran categories themselves?
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What does a marketing director do?
A marketing director leads marketing for a category or a whole business. They set portfolio strategy, own the brand plans and promotion budget, decide innovations and pricing with the Managing Director and the sales director, approve major campaigns and develop the senior brand team. They are judged on market share, growth and margin.
What is the difference between a marketing director and a senior brand manager?
A senior brand manager runs one large brand or a small portfolio and delivers its plan. The marketing director owns strategy for the whole category or business, decides how investment is split across brands, approves pricing and launches, and leads the senior brand managers.
How do you become a marketing director in India?
Most marketing directors join as management trainees or brand executives after an MBA, then move through brand manager and senior brand manager roles over 12 to 15 years. Running a large brand profitably, leading successful launches and managing people across functions are the usual stepping stones.