Chief Marketing Officer — Interim, Premium Consumer Goods

The mandate

Trade loading before year-end inflated sell-in while consumer sell-through and repeat weakened across two flagship ranges. The CMO departed after the audit committee challenged media attribution and distributor inventory reporting.

The interim must join within three weeks for ten months through inventory normalisation and two major launches. A permanent search begins after the first clean demand quarter, with six weeks for brand and agency transfer.

Handover requires channel inventory inside agreed weeks, repeat purchase improved by five points, marketing return measured on an accepted incrementality basis, both launches above contribution thresholds, and the successor owning the next annual plan.

The CMO may reallocate media, stop campaigns and approve launch spend within the annual envelope. Net price changes, distributor settlements above ₹1 crore and agency contracts above ₹3 crore need committee approval; Sales owns customer terms and Finance certifies revenue.

Product formulation, manufacturing footprint and international expansion are excluded. The mandate restores honest demand generation and launch economics in India.

Why this seat is open

The gap between sell-in and consumer movement undermined confidence in reported growth. Leadership departure left agencies and categories defending incompatible versions of performance. A temporary marketer must rebuild measurement before a permanent CMO sets the next strategic chapter.

What you will own

• Reconcile distributor, retailer, marketplace and consumer evidence into one demand and inventory baseline.
• Decide which campaigns stop, continue or redesign using incrementality and contribution evidence.
• Rebase launch volumes and spend after removing unsupported channel-loading assumptions.
• Establish test-and-control measurement for brand, performance, creator and retail media.
• Redesign agency briefs and incentives around accepted consumer and commercial outcomes.
• Govern two launches through awareness, trial, repeat, inventory and contribution gates.
• Transfer brand choices, agency accountability and the annual plan to the permanent CMO.

Candidate qualifications

• More than twenty-two years in consumer brand and growth leadership with national CMO accountability.
• Corrected a sell-in or channel-inventory distortion without destroying underlying consumer demand.
• Strong command of premium positioning, innovation launch, media incrementality and repeat-purchase analytics.
• Experience challenging attribution claims across digital platforms, agencies and internal brand teams.
• Demonstrated profitable launches measured beyond shipment and initial trial.
• Ability to partner with Sales and Finance while keeping marketing evidence independently defensible.

Non-negotiables

• Available in Hyderabad within three weeks and for national retailer and agency travel.
• No current paid relationship with incumbent agencies, creators or major distributors.
• Will not treat trade loading as consumer demand or marketing return.
• Can commit exclusively for ten months and permanent-CMO overlap.

1. 49 words maximum. Confirm your availability and disclose any agency, platform or distributor conflict.
2. 49 words maximum. Which channel-inventory distortion did you correct, and how did consumer demand respond?
3. 49 words maximum. What experiment changed a claimed media return when incrementality was measured properly?