Assistant Manager – Business Planning & Commercial Excellence

Job Category: Marketing and Service
Location: Chennai
Purpose of the Role
To support business growth and profitability through business planning, budgeting, forecasting, commercial analytics, pricing management, market intelligence, strategic initiatives, and brand-building activities.
Key Responsibilities
1. Business Planning & Budgeting
  • Support preparation of Annual Operating Plans (AOP), Budgets, and Rolling Forecasts (RFC).
  • Coordinate planning inputs across Sales, Finance, Operations, and Supply Chain functions.
  • Monitor business performance against plans and identify key variances.
  • Support monthly, quarterly, and annual business reviews.
2. Pricing, Costing & Commercial Analytics
  • Develop and maintain product costing models.
  • Support pricing decisions through profitability and cost analysis.
  • Monitor customer and product profitability.
  • Conduct pricing reviews and commercial analysis for business decisions.
3. Raw Material & Cost Monitoring
  • Monitor key raw material cost trends and movement.
  • Analyse impact on profitability and pricing.
  • Support commercial recovery and pricing actions where applicable.
  • Maintain cost tracking and reporting mechanisms.
4. Strategic Planning & Business Excellence
  • Support strategic planning initiatives and annual strategy deployment.
  • Coordinate policy deployment and performance tracking.
  • Support TQM, business excellence, and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Prepare presentations and analyses for leadership reviews.
5. Market Intelligence & Research
  • Conduct market research and industry analysis.
  • Monitor competitor activities, customer developments, and industry trends.
  • Identify growth opportunities and emerging market developments.
  • Prepare management reports on market intelligence.
6. Brand Promotion & Marketing Communications
  • Support execution of branding and marketing communication initiatives.
  • Coordinate participation in exhibitions, trade shows, conferences, and customer events.
  • Manage promotional campaigns and brand visibility initiatives.
  • Support development of marketing collateral and digital communication.
7. Industry & Government Liaison
  • Coordinate interactions with industry bodies such as ACMA, CII, ARAI, SIAM, and other forums.
  • Support participation in industry committees, seminars, and networking platforms.
  • Track industry developments relevant to the business.
8. Event Planning & Execution
  • Coordinate annual business events, customer meets, trade exhibitions, and marketing events.
  • Support event planning, budgeting, execution, and post-event reviews.
  • Ensure professional representation of MEI at customer and industry platforms.
Educational Qualifications
Essential
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Mechanical / Automobile preferred)
  • MBA from a reputed institution
Preferred
  • MBA in Marketing, Finance, Operations, or Strategy
Experience
  • 8-15 years of experience in Automotive OEM or Tier-1 component industry.
  • Exposure to:
    • Business Planning
    • Budgeting & Forecasting
    • Costing & Pricing
    • Market Intelligence
    • Commercial Analytics
    • Strategic Planning
Key Skills
  • Business Planning
  • Budgeting & Forecasting
  • Costing & Pricing
  • Financial Analysis
  • Power BI
  • Advanced Excel
  • Market Research
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Presentation Skills
  • Stakeholder Management

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