Commercial Operations Specialist

About the Role: Commercial Operations Executive – Laundry (Europe)

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Home Care Europe team within a high-growth, multi-billion business unit. With a bold and focused strategy driving performance and transformation, we’re on a mission to become the most admired company in home care. Our vision — “Bring it Home!” — is supported by three strategic pillars: Where to Play, How to Win, and Fuel for Growth.

As a key player in the Laundry Channel & Category team, you’ll drive the development and execution of channel and customer strategies, working at the heart of a fast-paced, consumer-focused organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the execution of category and channel plans for Laundry, ensuring alignment with commercial targets across customer accounts.
• Drive decision-making around commercial trade-offs versus strategic priorities.
• Develop and implement a robust promotional strategy; manage trade marketing investment (TMI) across customer teams.
• Track promotional activity across all customers; identify opportunities to optimise effectiveness and return on investment.
• Represent the customer and channel perspective within the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process.
• Deliver half-year and full-year targets for category sales growth (USG), price growth (UPG), and gross margin (GM).
• Manage and optimise trade spend and promotional investment using tools like TPA.
• Execute innovation and renovation plans in collaboration with brand and supply teams.
• Support development of broader channel strategies in partnership with brand and category management.
• Lead performance tracking for customer teams, including monthly and quarterly target reviews (USG, TMI, UPG, GM).
• Own the execution of pricing strategy and trade investment decisions for Laundry.
• Manage and lead the Laundry CAM (Customer Account Management) community, driving consistency and excellence in execution.
• Act as a key partner to the Category Lead to ensure seamless end-to-end representation of customer and channel priorities.

Key Interfaces

• Customer Account Managers (CAMs)
• Category Management Team
• Supply Chain Planning
• Brand Teams

What You Need to Succeed

Core Skills

• Strong commercial and customer acumen
• Experience in category strategy and channel development
• Proficiency in net revenue management
• Ability to translate insights into actionable innovation opportunities
• Understanding of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and S&OP processes

Desirable Technical Skills

• Experience with tools such as SAP, Nielsen, Kantar, Market Heartbeat, EPOS Digest

Behaviours That Drive Success

• Passion for High Performance – Takes ownership, uses data to inform decisions, and delivers results with accountability.
• Personal Mastery – Sets high standards, prioritises resilience and personal wellbeing.
• Consumer Love – Always looks for better ways to serve and delight consumers.
• Purpose & Service – Leads with humility and a service mindset.
• Agility – Embraces continuous learning and adapts in a dynamic environment.

Three Key Requirements:

1. Strong Experience in Channel & Category Development (Preferably in FMCG/Retail)

• Proven track record of building and executing channel and category strategies.
• Experience working cross-functionally with marketing, sales, and supply chain to drive category growth.
• Ability to represent the voice of the customer/channel in strategic planning and deliver insights-driven commercial plans.

2. Commercial Acumen with Trade Spend & Promotional Strategy Management

• Hands-on experience managing trade marketing investment (TMI) and promotional budgets.
• Skilled in evaluating and optimising promotions using tools like Trade Promotion Analytics (TPA) and EPOS data.
• Experience balancing strategic objectives with short-term trade-offs to maximise ROI.

3. Familiarity with S&OP and Performance Management Processes

• Experience participating in or leading within the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) framework.
• Strong understanding of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and performance tracking (USG, UPG, GM).
• Ability to interpret complex data and lead gap-closing actions aligned with business goals.