Brand Manager, Human Expression - Africa

Job Summary

The Manager, Brand Stationery Africa is accountable for accelerating Stationery category growth across Africa by translating Global Category strategies into Africa Stationery growth priorities, portfolio strategies and deployment frameworks adapted to different African market archetypes.

The role leads the Africa marketing agenda for the Stationery category, including portfolio deployment, innovation, brand communication and performance management, while ensuring strong alignment between Global Category teams, Commercial Strategy & Transformation (CST), Commercial Excellence Africa and local commercial organizations.

The position continuously evaluates consumer insights, market dynamics and competitive landscapes to identify growth opportunities, shape category recommendations and support data-driven decision making across African market archetypes.

Operating within a highly matrixed environment, the role provides marketing leadership and deployment governance to ensure consistent implementation of Stationery category priorities across markets, enabling sustainable penetration, volume and market share growth.

Main Responsibilities / Tasks

Strategy & Business Growth

• Translate Global Category strategies into Africa Stationery growth plans adapted to different market archetypes.
• Define Africa Stationery priorities and provide strategic directions to guide local market planning.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen core business, increase penetration and develop new growth platforms through consumer, market and competitive insights.
• Recommend Stationery strategic priorities and growth initiatives based on consumer, market and competitive insights.

Portfolio & Innovation

• Lead Stationery portfolio deployment across Africa, ensuring alignment with Global Category strategies while adapting to local market needs.
• Drive Stationery portfolio architecture, lifecycle management, simplification and harmonization across key categories, consumer segments and price tiers, balancing regional scale with local market requirements to strengthen penetration and maximize efficiency.
• Develop category growth strategies across key consumer occasions, including Back-to-School, education, office and everyday use, to strengthen the core business, accelerate penetration and unlock new growth opportunities.
• Partner with Global Category teams to prioritize, develop and launch innovations across key categories, consumer segments and price tiers, addressing African consumer and market needs.
• Oversee Stationery regional portfolio and packaging adaptation projects to support business, consumer and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate cross-functional launch readiness to ensure successful deployment of innovations across African markets.
• Support local markets in deploying key Stationery category priorities, with particular focus on Back-to-School and other strategic commercial occasions.

Brand Communication

• Lead the deployment of Pan-African Stationery communication platforms and campaigns in partnership with Global Category teams and local markets.
• Coordinate the development and deployment of communication assets across African markets.
• Ensure consistent brand identity while enabling relevant local adaptation.
• Ensure communication assets comply with local regulatory requirements where applicable.

 Consumer & Market Insights

• Develop a deep understanding of African consumers, shoppers, customers and market dynamics.
• Leverage consumer research, retail audits (Nielsen and Circana), market intelligence and competitive monitoring to generate actionable recommendations.
• Identify emerging trends and translate insights into growth opportunities.

Business Performance

• Monitor Stationery performance through relevant KPIs, recommending corrective actions where needed.
• Lead regular business reviews and performance analyses.
• Support data-driven decision making across markets.
• Provide pricing recommendations based on market dynamics, consumer insights and competitive positioning, in partnership with Global Category teams, Commercial Excellence Africa and local commercial teams.

Commercial Deployment

• Partner with Commercial Excellence Africa and local commercial teams to ensure effective deployment of Stationery priorities.
• Provide strategic guidance for market activation plans aligned with commercial objectives.
• Monitor deployment progress and recommend corrective actions where required.
• Identify, share and scale marketing best practices across African markets to accelerate learning and improve execution consistency.

Financial Management

• Manage the Africa Stationery marketing budget.
• Recommend investment priorities to maximize business impact and marketing ROI.
• Partner with markets to optimize marketing investment decisions across media and brand-building initiatives.
• Monitor budget performance and ensure efficient allocation of resources.

Cross-functional Leadership 

• Partner closely with the Senior Manager, Africa Marketing while building strong partnerships with Global Category teams, Commercial Strategy & Transformation (CST), Commercial Excellence Africa, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, Regulatory Affairs and local commercial organizations.
• Influence cross-functional stakeholders across a highly matrixed organization to ensure alignment and successful delivery of category priorities.                                               

Key Performance Indicators / Key Figures

• Achievement of category business objectives (e.g. penetration, volume, market share, Net Sales, profitability).
• Quality and timeliness of strategic initiatives, innovation deployment effectiveness and marketing project delivery, including key regional transformation initiatives.
• Quality and relevance of business recommendations based on consumer, market and competitive insights.
• Effectiveness of cross-functional collaboration with Global Category teams, Commercial Excellence Africa, CST and local commercial organizations.
• Effective management of the Africa Stationery marketing budget and optimization of marketing investments.

Candidate Profile: Qualifications / Technical Skills

Professional Skills

• Strong understanding of brand management, portfolio management, consumer insights, innovation deployment and integrated marketing.
• Ability to translate consumer, market and competitive insights into actionable business recommendations.
• Strong analytical and business acumen, with the ability to interpret market data and identify growth opportunities.
• Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously while delivering high-quality results within agreed timelines.
• Confident presenter with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate effectively across different functions and cultures.
• Results-oriented with strong planning, prioritization and project management skills.
• Ability to work independently while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Personal Skills

• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills within a highly matrixed organization.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to build trusted partnerships across global, regional and local teams.
• High level of ownership and accountability.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Adaptability and cultural agility to work effectively across diverse African markets.
• Well-organized, resilient and able to perform effectively under pressure.

Previous / Professional Experience

• 10 years of progressive marketing experience within a leading FMCG organization, with a strong track record in Brand Management and/or Regional Marketing. 
• Experience managing multi-country or regional marketing activities, preferably across emerging markets.
• Proven experience managing brands and portfolios, leading innovation deployment and delivering integrated communication plans.
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to translate consumer and market insights into commercial recommendations. Experience with consumer research and retail audit data (e.g. Nielsen, Circana or equivalent) is an advantage.
• Experience working in a highly matrixed, cross-functional environment.

Additional Information

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration or a related field. An MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• Fluent in English and French. Arabic is a strong advantage.
• Willingness to travel across Africa according to business needs (approximately one trip per quarter on average, with more frequent travel during the onboarding period if required).
• Ability to work effectively across diverse cultures and market environments.
• The role covers the Africa region, partnering with Global Stationery Category team and supporting a broad network of subsidiary and distributor markets.

#LI-MB1

BIC World is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strongly commit to hiring people with different backgrounds and experiences to help us build better products, make better decisions, and better serve our customers. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability status, or similar characteristics. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.

BIC World is not seeking assistance or accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this employment opportunity. Regardless of past practice, all resumes submitted by search firms to any team member at BIC via email, or directly to a BIC team member in any form without a valid written search agreement in place for that position will be deemed the sole property of BIC, and no fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by BIC as a result of the referral or through other means.