New Ventures Lead (Branding / Merchandise / Marketing) at CA Global

Job Description:

• An International Sporting Association and preeminent global media and entertainment company is seeking a New Ventures Lead to assist them in their operations in Southern Africa. The New Ventures Director is responsible for researching, creating, maintaining, and growing the brand extension programs for the organization. This individual will need strong strategic, negotiating & sales skills to bring in profitable brand extensions tailored to meet specific objectives, all while addressing the organizations goals. The Director of New Ventures will be responsible for forecasting, managing, and meeting set profit goals.

Responsibilities:

• Development of a regional new verticals strategy across multiple verticals to support business growth via retail channels in the organization’s priority markets.
• Identify regional partners to develop African brand extension programs for the organization.
• Negotiate brand extension categories, product selection, minimum guarantees, royalty rates, payment terms, and territory with licensees, to achieve strong margins and competitive price points at retail.
• Ensure that extension programme resonates with fans by extrapolating key values and themes from the brand and its programming and translating that into extensions by clearly articulating program requirements to partners.
• Negotiate and approve products, merchandise, and promotional deals and items, while overseeing all aspects of business terms from inception to end of the contract term.
• Help to develop & execute brand extension concepts inside retail locations and including concept shops/ stores or eCommerce sites.
• Build and manage brand extensions as part of new and renewed Marketing Partnership agreements in conjunction with both the organizations and associates’ teams.
• Manage partners through the product development cycle - from the development of creative briefs, and obtaining legal clearances, to final execution and production.
• Build forecasts by region and category.

Requirements: Qualification and Skill

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, or a related discipline.
• 10+ Years of relevant work experience in the retail space.
• Requires experience and a proven track record in building new brand and FMCG lines.
• Needs to have led significant strategic projects from launch phase through to execution and thereafter to continued growth and performance targets.
• Proven negotiation skills.
• Possesses a highly innovative business development mindset with a win-win approach to Brand building.
• Has demonstrated strong results at building internal influence and followership throughout their past organizations which can also be accomplished within our Matrixed organization and through key Global based colleagues.