Senior Manager – Offline Retail & Distribution | Home Appliances

Company Overview

Not specified.

Job Summary

The Senior Manager – Offline Retail & Distribution will play a pivotal role in building and scaling the offline route-to-market for a pioneering climate-tech venture focused on home appliances. This role involves designing and executing the distribution strategy from the ground up, establishing relationships with key retail partners and distributors, and driving market expansion across India. The candidate will contribute directly to the venture’s growth objectives by creating a robust offline retail infrastructure, ensuring effective channel economics, and fostering retailer confidence in a new brand.

Responsibilities

• Build the offline retail and distribution engine from 0→1, establishing scalable systems to expand 1→10 across India.
• Design and implement the route-to-market strategy, including identifying, appointing, and managing distributors, dealers, regional chains, and appliance retailers for both small and large home appliances.
• Own channel economics end-to-end, including margins, schemes, incentives, credit terms, inventory management, and sell-in vs. sell-out analysis.
• Develop retailer confidence and pull for the new brand through tailored commercial propositions, product training, visibility initiatives, demos, and after-sales service promises.
• Drive primary and secondary sales, monitor sell-through rates, and address slow-moving inventory issues before expanding distribution.
• Create a market-by-market expansion playbook, starting with micro-markets and scaling after validating channel economics and repeatability.
• Build and activate relationships within the offline appliance ecosystem, leveraging an existing network of distributors, dealers, and retailers to accelerate market entry.
• Collaborate with category, supply, procurement, and marketing teams on assortment planning, pricing strategies, launch plans, demand creation, inventory management, and after-sales readiness.
• Incorporate retailer and distributor feedback into product, pricing, packaging, warranty, and service decisions to shape the offline proposition.
• Establish operational metrics and cadence for the channel, including active outlets, throughput per outlet, secondary sales, inventory aging, collections, returns, and profitability.

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on experience in building and scaling offline retail/distribution for home appliances in India.
• Demonstrated success in cracking physical retail for a new or emerging brand, including market entry, distributor appointment, retailer activation, and sales growth.
• Experience across a range of appliance price points, from affordable high-volume small appliances to higher-ticket large appliances, with understanding of channel behavior variations.
• Established network of appliance distributors, dealers, retailers, and regional chains that can be activated for new market entries.
• Strong understanding of distributor and retailer economics, including margins, schemes, credit, inventory management, sell-through, and working capital implications.
• Ability to build brand credibility with retailers and address practical barriers to stocking and recommending an unfamiliar brand.
• Deep knowledge of after-sales, warranty, and service expectations in offline appliance retail and their impact on trust.
• Experience with 0→1 and 1→10 growth phases, managing new market launches and scaling operations.
• Proficiency in using market data and retailer feedback to inform expansion decisions, SKU prioritization, and economic adjustments.
• High ownership mindset with willingness to spend significant time in-market with distributors and retailers, and to develop processes for national scale.

Preferred Skills

• Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret market data.
• Strategic thinking for market segmentation and expansion.
• Experience working in startup or venture-building environments.
• Knowledge of the climate-tech or energy-efficient appliances sector is a plus.

Experience

• Minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience in offline retail and distribution for home appliances in India.
• Proven track record of launching and scaling new brands or categories in offline retail channels.

Environment

• The role involves a hybrid work environment with significant in-market presence across various regions in India.
• The candidate should be comfortable working in a dynamic startup setting, with a hands-on approach to building processes and teams.
• Travel within India to establish and manage distributor and retailer relationships is expected.

Salary

Not specified.

Growth Opportunities

Not specified.

Benefits

Not specified.