Microsoft is seeking a Marketing Manager for a contract role to lead product portfolio management for a digital direct store initiative. The role involves strategic planning, vendor negotiations, and cross-functional collaboration to drive category performance and achieve retail sales revenue goals.
Responsibilities:
- Lead comprehensive category strategy development and execution to achieve annual revenue and gross margin targets for assigned product portfolio
- Negotiate pricing, terms, and agreements with third-party vendors and suppliers to optimize profitability and competitive positioning
- Conduct extensive analysis of business data, inventory, orders, and invoices to ensure accuracy and inform strategic decisions
- Develop and maintain assortment plans that balance customer demand, market trends, and business objective
- Drive product pricing strategies and positioning to maximize purchase intent, conversion, and customer lifetime value
- Orchestrate end-to-end rhythm of business cadence, including partner review meetings and senior leadership presentations
- Partner with cross-organizational teams to create alignment on priorities and develop complementary strategies across sectors
- Execute thoughtful, full-funnel marketing initiatives focused on driving conversion and post-purchase advocacy
- Reconcile inventory, orders, and invoices with high accuracy and attention to detail
- Manage vendor setup processes and ensure operational excellence in supplier performance
- Leverage financial performance data and models to track outcomes and provide market feedback to corporate stakeholders
- Deliver clean, decision-ready analyses with minimal rework to support timely business decisions
- Support sales teams in leading regular partner review meetings and business performance discussions
Requirements:
- Minimum 5 years of overall professional experience in category management, product management, or related fields
- Minimum 3 years of hands-on experience in category management
- Minimum 3 years of experience with product pricing and vendor management
- Minimum 3 years of experience in product planning
- Proven track record of successful vendor negotiations and partnership management
- Marketing background with demonstrated ability to drive product value and selection
- Category management and portfolio optimization
- Vendor negotiation and supplier relationship management
- Product pricing strategy and competitive analysis
- Business planning and financial modeling
- Data analysis and performance metrics interpretation
- Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management
- Strategic planning and execution
- Marketing strategy development
- Inventory and order reconciliation
- Project management and prioritization
- Market research and competitive intelligence
- Revenue and margin optimization
- Marketing, business, or related field of study preferred but not required
- Experience in consumer goods, retail, or related industries strongly preferred
- Background in dropshipping, marketplace, or e-commerce retail operations highly desirable