Business Context
By joining our Regional Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) Finance team, you will be leading the Strategy and Business Development across the AMEA Zone, a very diverse country and category portfolio across South-East & Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. This role will bring to life the Danone AMEA performance from Strategy to Action and will be responsible for external and internal executive level framing of our strategic direction, performance, and challenges. The role will work closely with the AMEA Zone Leadership Team and Functional Leadership Teams as well as the Company’s global Strategy & Business Development Team to synthesize strategy & performance, driving discussion & decisions that advance our strategic ambitions.

Roles & Responsibilities
In this role, you will be responsible for:
• Strategy
o Lead AMEA Strategic Plan work to define regional and category organic strategy with focus on mid- & long term.
o Support of CBUs in local strategic plan through right capabilities and tools (e.g., Structural Portfolio Management projects) and finding most value accretive strategic options
o Close collaboration with Global Strategy Team and Global Category strategy teams.
o Coordinate Danone Impact Journey Strategy as part of the overall regional strategy with Stream Leaders
• Business Development
o Develop inorganic strategies and BD pipeline in collaboration with global Business Development
o Assessment and business case building for BD opportunities in collaboration with global Business Development, global Categories, and global M&A
o Strategic Support of longer-term regional projects
• Macro-economic, Category, market share, Competitor Insights. Create data backed POV on Danone’s performance vs peers on multiple metrics and lead strategic competitive intelligence.
• Creating compelling, powerful presentations for a range of audiences – M&A, global executives, internal etc.

This will be done by:
• Preparing content for key internal and external meetings including quarterly performance reviews with senior Global executives

Key internal stakeholders/relationships
• All AMEA Zone Leadership Team Members
• Global Strategy and BD team
• Global categories (SNU, waters, dairy)
• Corporate M&A team
• Global S&I and data analytics teams

Key external stakeholders/relationships
• Macro and Market research providers
• Singapore Economic Development Board

To be successful in this role, you will need…
The following technical skills and experience:
• Bachelor's Degree in Business or related field; MBA preferred.
• Minimum 10 years in a similar background with preference for Finance or Strategy background.
• Strong business & financial acumen and strategic mindset, with an ability to think across a broad system, refine questions, and develop analytical frameworks.
• Exceptional PowerPoint and fluency – you’re the best at creating powerful, crisp presentations!
• Multiple-function experiences - leaders who were power-users of analytics and insights and have leveraged to drive better business decisions from multiple perspectives. FMCG experience preferred.

These soft skills:
• A trusted partner to executive stakeholders, you have strong influencing skills at all levels of the organization, and ability to partner across teams.
• Skilled at simplifying complexity and distilling key messages into crisp, impactful language.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills underpinned by world class presentation and storytelling abilities.
• High tolerance for ambiguity and on-going change. You are comfortable working in a complex matrixed environment, proactively engaging with stakeholders across all levels of organization.
• Proven record of influencing business decisions with fact-based insights with competitive intelligence, retail intelligence and persuasive communication to drive better business outcomes.

Why Join Danone?

Flexibility
Do things your way. At Danone Singapore, we believe that our teams work best when they are empowered to work flexibly – this is why our hybrid working policy allows you to agree the right balance of homeworking and office working, in line with yours and the team’s needs.

Focus on development – your way
With a suite of learning opportunities and a strong focus on in-role development, your line manager will work closely with you to help unlock your career ambitions within Danone. Working here you will enjoy a fast-paced, complex environment, which is packed with opportunities for the entrepreneurial spirit. You’ll work with some of the best-known brands in the world, such as evian, Dumex and Aptamil, and we absolutely guarantee that you can just be yourself.

Our values
We live by our core ‘HOPE’ values – H is for Humanism, as people are at the heart of everything we do. O is for Openness, welcoming new ideas from the world we live in. P is for Proximity, as we believe that building close relationships leads to better understanding and trust. E is for Enthusiasm, for those who are as passionate as we are about bringing health through food to as many people as possible.

Join our movement for a healthier world. One Planet One Health BY YOU. For more information about Danone, our divisions and culture, please visit careers.danone.com.

Reporting of the role

This role reports to: Managing Director

3 best things about the job:
1. Working within a highly inclusive and dynamic environment of young achievers
2. Being able to work on world class accounts that will give a wider opportunity to tap into global gold standards in new strategic planning and frameworks
3. Being a pioneer in systems thinking supported by the systems planning platform

In this role, your goals will be:
In three months:

• On boarded onto the key accounts with full induction/training into all of the other facets of the business such as trading, specialised services (internal and within GroupM).
• Conducted a full audit of your respective accounts in terms of resources, skill sets, processes, quality of servicing and output and put together a 90 day plan with clear KPIs on what you would like to do to transform the accounts.
• Set SMART Goals for each team member.

In six months:

• Built the trust of your clients by demonstrating thought leadership that has brought a new approach/angle to a campaign/s, which is acknowledged by the client in TRR scores.
• Begin to create an energetic and motivated team culture

In 12 months:

• Demonstrated effective leadership skills to transform the rest of the team into greater systems thinkers through identification of on the job and external training
• Leveraged extraction and diversification opportunities and grown the revenue of accounts by 10%-15%

What your day job looks like at EssenceMediacom:

Client/Account and Financial Management

• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with clients, agency partners, media vendors, internal regional/ global planning teams and specialized teams, ensuring alignment and integration – role of “trusted advisor”.
• Direct and manage day-to-day needs of the accounts in line with brand guidelines, global strategic path and agreed contractual terms. Effective time and resource optimization: Prioritize jobs to manage timely fulfilment within allocated resources.
• Develop understanding of all clients’ businesses – brand and products, category and competition, issues and challenges. Brief the team by translating the local/regional/ global strategies as necessary to meet the needs of the local market’s marketing and communication objectives.
• Financial Planning and Management: Negotiate, track and overall management of client budgets/ spends, billing and collections, maintenance of master contract updates and timely utilisation of master contract entitlements.
• Lead innovation and creative thinking across the team.

Planning and Implementation Delivery

• Develop strategies and ideas for campaigns. A complete mastery of the entire suit of proprietary tools, insights properties and software.
• Develop and present media briefs/ plans/ documents incorporating communication goals, recommendations cum rationale, ideas and implementation, planning costs and budget splits and KPI’s. Provide assistance and POV to the team on their local market plans for presentation to clients.
• Negotiate KPI’s with the client prior to start of the campaign/ project and ensure all tracking and measurements are based on the agreed KPIs and media efficiencies. Manage the team’s weekly time-sheets. Coach and monitor KPIs for direct reports including training and development.
• Supervise, coach and work with Managers/Planners/ Executives to ensure that campaign is implemented – implementation goals are met and media buys are effective.
• Contribute to central media strategy development by generating any regional/ local reports.

Business and Market Management

• Lead pitches for new business opportunities and organic revenue growth opportunities. Explore ways to increase revenue via new projects and specialist services and ensure end to end project management of the jobs won.
• Participate in awards, local and regional forums of the industry.
• Liaise and support the regional/ global teams as and when key market/ category/ client information is requested.

What you’ll bring:

• 7 to 12 years of experience of strategic media planning/media management experience. Well versed in all media channels and can “connect the dots” across these channels.
• A strong curiosity in overall market development including new technology, the internet and other digital formats. Solid local media knowledge and experience in handling FMCG and affluent category required.
• An entrepreneurial flair is a definite advantage.
• A can-do attitude who is energetic with a hands-on approach to service client relationships, quick decision maker, negotiate and manage partnerships.
• A high performing team player with excellent communication skills. Experienced in managing and motivating the best in people.
• Ability to multi-task, prioritize jobs and manage time efficiently
• Systems thinker that is adept at exploring creative approaches coupled with strong numerical and analytical skills.
• A clear and concise style of writing with confident, persuasive presentation skills.

About EssenceMediaCom

We are a global communications agency leading with breakthrough thinking, building explosive growth for brands, and helping our clients see the bigger picture. Our daring global network of 10,000 influencers help our clients breach traditional boundaries in media, uncover novel ideas, and unleash exponential growth. EssenceMediacom challenges conventional thinking to build, propel, and supercharge our clients’ businesses at scale and lead our industry in critical areas such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability.

EssenceMediacom understands that our people are tasked with big goals: building breakthrough growth for brands and leading with breakthrough thinking in our industry. Our people are at the heart of this work because their ideas will enable us to decode the intersections of people, content, and technology to bring our aspirations to life. Our success is down to our eclectic, diverse, and talented people. EssenceMediacom is a place for us to grow our careers and expand our horizons. EssenceMediacom is committed to building an agency culture that supports our people, puts diversity at the forefront of our operations, and creates opportunity for all. This collective culture will be our “new power” where ideas are freely exchanged, and collaboration is actively encouraged in a place where you can innovate in our hyperconnected world.

About GroupM Singapore

GroupM Singapore operates in one of the most dynamic and exciting environments in the world. Although it is a small domestic market, there is a vibrant media industry which is undergoing rapid evolution as digital technology reshapes the way marketing supports advertisers’ needs. Being at the crossroads of Asia means, that aside from the local clients and media owners, we also have a high proportion of multi-national clients, renowned brands and media owners. Making GroupM Singapore the Number One organisation to join and develop your career in media investment.

GroupM is an equal opportunity employer. We view everyone as an individual and we understand that inclusion is more than just diversity – it’s about belonging. We celebrate the fact that everyone is unique and that’s what makes us so good at what we do. We pride ourselves on being a company that embraces difference and truly represents the global clients we work with.

Responsibilities:

• Understand, and align target consumer/occasion, consumer needs, target benefit, target cost, and timeline including key milestone, through discussion with Marketing/ Innovation Director
• Leading team to develop new formula with deep understanding of consumer needs, ingredient trends
• Leading team to assess all technical risks through feasibility study and provide technical solutions
• Manage projects to move forward on time
• Leading team to assess all the risk of new ingredients to obtain internal approval, in collaboration with QA/ Procurement
• Leading team to confirm regulatory compliance with QA on time
• Leading team to evaluate/ confirm no technical issue including product stability and safety, micro, and IP infringement
• Leading team to finalize formula including setting specs/process and scale up for commercial production by test trial
• Support reporting manager to create mid-term pipeline based on business needs/consumer understanding, through ideation/ prototype development
• Support reporting manager to provide technical insight, leverage network of group R&D/ suppliers/ tech. institutes, info of local calture and consumer behavior etc.
• Leading team to generate innovative idea ( especially in idea creation)
• Support reporting manager to establish SBFAP R&D Way by incorporating Suntory R&D Way into existing R&D process.
• Introducing Suntory development R&D way, and creating Omoroi culture in each R&D group.
• Accumulate knowledge/ learning in the area of product development/ raw material/ technical issues, etc. and share with team
• Propose new ideas/ useful equipment/ technologies to be effective for the team

Requirements:

• Master degree or bachelor degree in Technology, Food Science or similar
• Over 7 years in Food and/or Beverage industry (experience in Beverage category is preferred)
• Based on consumer insight, propose liquid design concept and discuss with marketing.
• Make an unique and differentiated formula.
• Deep understanding of manufacturing process and propose standardization of process design.
• Deep understanding of Beverage regulation (i.g. FDA, Halal, NIP) and ensure quality standard
• Can execute proper Gate system and DR system
• Flexible and positive attitude about new challenges and solving issues
• Strong commitment to being a professional leader
• Building a high-performing team utilizing internal/external resources