Manager- Connections Planning

Overview

Lead Connections Planning and digital activation across brands in India, translating brand and business priorities into consumer-led, integrated connections strategies.

What you'll do

• Translate brand and business objectives into consumer-led Connections strategies and architectures.
• Identify priority consumer moments and define the role of relevant touchpoints across the consumer journey.
• Integrate social, creators, digital, PR, experiences, partnerships and owned ecosystems into cohesive brand plans.
• Ensure Connections Planning is embedded upstream in campaign development and not treated as a channel activation exercise.
• Partner with the Media team to ensure paid media activation aligns with the overall Connections Architecture.
• Drive the brand's digital ecosystem across websites, social, search, WhatsApp, CRM and other relevant owned touchpoints, leading digital activation across owned and organic touchpoints.
• Develop engagement strategies to strengthen consumer discovery, engagement and Share of Search.
• Lead SEO and owned-content strategy in partnership with specialist agencies.
• Build 1PD and CRM strategies to acquire, engage and activate consumers across relevant brand touchpoints.
• Measure and report performance of all digital marketing campaigns, assess against goals (ROI and KPIs) and identify key learnings and insights.
• Continuously optimize digital consumer experiences based on consumer behavior and performance.
• Define the role of social and creators within the broader Connections strategy and lead the end-to-end creator approach, from partner selection and briefing through activation and measurement.
• Identify relevant cultural conversations, communities, creators and emerging consumer behaviors that brands can credibly participate in.
• Drive social-first and creator-led thinking in partnership with Brand teams and agencies.
• Identify and test relevant opportunities across emerging platforms, technology, AI and new content formats.
• Lead social listening and use search, social and digital signals to identify consumer, category and cultural insights.
• Translate consumer and performance data into actionable recommendations for brands and future campaigns.
• Establish relevant KPIs and measurement frameworks across digital, social, search, creators, owned channels and CRM/1PD.
• Track key measures including Share of Search, engagement, organic traffic, consumer participation and 1PD/CRM effectiveness.
• Build and share learnings to continuously improve Connections effectiveness.
• Work closely with Brand Marketing, Media, Consumer Insights and regional/global stakeholders.
• Lead integrated briefing and ways of working across digital and social.
• Drive stronger integration across agencies and challenge siloed or channel-first recommendations.
• Ensure clarity of roles, deliverables and accountability across partners.

What you'll need

• MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification in Marketing.
• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in a renowned agency or brand management, out of which a minimum of 3 years on digital, social media initiatives and Connections planning.
• Experience working with established consumer brands.
• Strong understanding of the Indian digital, social, creator, search and consumer ecosystem.
• Experience developing integrated campaigns across multiple consumer touchpoints.
• Experience across owned digital platforms, SEO, CRM/1PD and social ecosystems.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate consumer and performance data into actionable recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple stakeholders and specialist agency partners.
• Ability to work in an individual capacity while being self-motivated.
• Consumer-centric and strategic thinking.
• Curiosity around culture, technology and emerging consumer behavior.
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder management.
• Ability to influence and challenge constructively.
• High ownership and ability to work independently.
• Analytical and learning-oriented mindset.

Nice to have

• Experience with established consumer brands in FMCG, lifestyle or other culturally driven categories.
• Alco-Bev and/or experience working in regulated categories.
• Digital IT domain knowledge.

Details

• Location: Gurugram.
• Job posting end date: 2026-11-05.
• Target hire date: 2027-02-28.