Accessories Category Manager – AMERICAS

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In Consumer Sales Organization (CSO) our purpose is to earn fans and drive growth by building emotional connections to delight and empower everyone. We engage with consumers globally throughout their shopping journeys, navigating both physical storefronts and digital visits across Direct and Partner Channels in Gaming, Windows, M365 and Surface. Together with our ecosystem partners, we strategize and implement plans for customer engagement and economic growth.

As a member of our team, you’ll be part of growing a multi-billion-dollar business, charting new areas of innovation, and impacting billions of lives around the world. You also will be a part of a culture centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. If that appeals to you, it’s an exciting time to be here in CSO.

Within Gaming, we accomplish Microsoft’s mission in two ways

1. Drive consumer engagement and revenue at retail: Use consumer insights, market data, store level analysis, and sales information to evaluate our business performance and develop seasonal, launch, & sustain plans to improve our partners’ business, win share, sell units, and drive revenue.

1. Amplify the Xbox brand through our retail partners: Plan and execute thoughtful and impactful through-line-full-funnel-marketing, focused on driving purchase intent, conversion & post purchase advocacy and consumer lifetime value for Gaming devices, content, accessories, and services.

What our team offers

At the core, we are a customer-focused team that encourages a diverse & inclusive culture. We are respectful, collaborative, accountable and approach work with a fun, positive attitude. The right candidate can expect to have opportunities for career growth and development while shaping our strategic approach to the rapidly changing transactional video and advertising environments.

What I will do for you

• Champion your successes at every level of our leadership.

• Empower you with the opportunity to gain new experiences and improve upon your strengths.

• Support who you are as your authentic self.

• Make career development a consistent priority.

How you can make an impact

As Accessories Category Manager – AMERICAS within CSO you will lead the management of the Gaming Accessories portfolio to achieve annual Retail Sales revenue & GM goals. Leading the category strategy, business operations and investments from end to end and serving as a subject matter expert on Gaming Accessories. Build and drive GTM strategy and KPIs at the regional and/or sub-regional level to deliver upon the priorities and initiatives cascaded from Worldwide Category. Drive Accessories category leadership through revealing and pursuing white-space opportunities for growth.

This role is flexible in that you can work up to 90% from home.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Required/minimum qualifications

• 6+ years category management, product management, marketing strategy, business planning, product planning, or related work experience AND Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Economics, Public Relations, Engineering, or related field OR equivalent experience.
• 4+ years of experience in Gaming devices or electronics through retail channels.

#Consumer

General Management

• Leads business operations within a category from end-to-end, serving as a subject matter expert on the product(s) or service(s) (e.g., product/service knowledge; historical context; category trends; where a product/service sits within category strategy), and provides expertise on the broader category and industry.

• Partners with cross-organizational category management to create alignment between sectors (e.g., consumer, small-to-medium business [SMB]) and develop complementary priorities and strategies to support the One Microsoft approach within the region(s).

• Reports data-driven product channel insights from partners (e.g., voice of the customer [VOC] data) back to the Worldwide Category team and/or the business group and product team(s) to support product strategy, maximize revenue, and help define future product development.

Financial Accountability

• Manages or owns full accountability for top-line and bottom-line profit and loss for the Gaming Accessories category.

• Ensures efficient use of organizational resources to execute marketing and promotional plans within the category.

• Manages the category management team in fiscal year forecasting, planning, and budgeting, and ensures financial compliance.

Business Planning & ROB

• Builds and drives go-to-market (GTM) strategy and key performance indicators (KPIs) for a category at the country and/or sub-regional level to deliver upon the priorities and initiatives cascaded from Worldwide Category.

• In partnership with key stakeholders (e.g., Sales, Marketing, Finance, Sales Excellence, Business Operations), defines and owns product specific channel strategy and investments, supports development of execution plans, and drives longer-term initiatives for the region.

• Leads and orchestrates end-to-end rhythm of the business (ROB) cadence for the product(s) or service area(s), including supporting sales in leading regular partner review meetings, and leading review meetings with senior leadership to summarize feedback on business and campaign performance.

Execution

• Manages execution of category strategy and investments with partners. Adjusts programs and investments, and ensures alignment of execution plans as needed using guidance from corporate and performance data.

• Leverages financial performance data and models to ensure expected outcomes are delivered, and feeds back market insights to corporate to address competitive concerns within the market.

• Drives executional excellence through identifying and implementing efficiencies to produce higher impact.

Measuring and Monitoring

• Leverages deep knowledge of analyses and results to be able to simplify data and report results. Translates data analytics into actionable business insights.

• Disseminates insights to ensure that key stakeholders understand the factors driving performance and what course corrections or resources are needed to enable categories to hit their targets.

• Shares best practices with internal stakeholders and business partners for identifying trends across the product category.

• Leverages historical analyses and insights to support business planning and provide future projections on trends and impacts.

Growth Opportunity

• Drives category leadership through revealing and pursuing white-space opportunities.

• Defines (e.g., identifies Total Available Market [TAM], audience, product) and implements solutions (e.g., target setting, investments) that drive strategic impact for Microsoft and partners.

• Leverages performance data (e.g., first-party, third-party, market trends) and voice of the customer (VOC) information to create and integrate new strategies.