Strategic Market Development Manager

Probably the least boring job you’ll ever have.

At air up, we don’t just make bottles. We unbore water with flavor by scent. It makes no sense until you try it, and once you do, there’s no going back. Behind it all are teams pushing boundaries every day. Product bends taste and design in new directions. Marketing turns ideas into moments people talk about. Operations makes sure those moments reach hands everywhere.
Working here feels like stepping on stage: professionalism meets passion, curiosity meets courage. You’ll experiment, fail fast, learn faster, and actually see your ideas come to life. It's refreshingly low politics and low ego. Just smart, driven people who lift each other up and make things happen. And whatever happens, it sure won't be boring.

Welcome to air up.

You are part of the central Insights & Data organization, playing a pivotal role at the intersection of Brand, Marketing and Commercial. Your mission is to materially improve topline performance in our core markets by developing a holistic market view and turning market insights into clear market-specific commercial decisions — where to invest, what to localize, and what to stop. You are the market-level counterpart that enables our global setup to win locally.

***This role is located in Munich***
In this role, we follow a hybrid working model: time in the office each week to collaborate and connect with the team, balanced with remote days that support focused, independent work.

Your Responsibilities

• Performance Diagnostics: You own the holistic market view for our core markets by diagnosing why performance differs across markets, channels and time — and identifying the few levers that actually drive or block topline.
• Strategy Translation: You translate global strategies and goals into clear, market-specific commercial plans and priorities, making explicit trade-offs on what to localize, scale, or stop.
• Investment Prioritization: You challenge and influence resource allocation across markets (pricing, channels, promotions) by recommending explicit bets and trade-offs based on expected commercial impact.
• Impact Measurement: You develop models to track the ROI and commercial success of local marketing and sales initiatives.
• Barrier Resolution: Identify structural barriers to growth (e.g. pricing, distribution gaps, promo mechanics) and develop prioritized, actionable recommendations to address them for commercial teams.
• Forecasting & Modeling: You build scenario and forecast models to quantify the expected impact of commercial and marketing decisions and support leadership decision-making under uncertainty.
• Competitive Tracking: You systematically monitor competitors’ strategies and market dynamics to identify risks and opportunities with clear commercial relevance.
• White Space Identification: You track emerging consumer trends and quantify white spaces to proactively identify and advise on new growth areas.

That’s You

• You have 2+ years of experience in strategy consulting, commercial strategy or company building, ideally within the FMCG/CPG industry. 
• You bring a strong intuition for cultural differences and mindsets across markets, and are experienced in navigating them with respect and curiosity.
• You demonstrate a deep understanding of commercial planning, distribution & marketing channels, combined with expertise in quantitative & qualitative consumer research methods (e.g., using Qualtrics data & interviewing tools).
• You are analytically strong and highly proficient with data visualization (e.g., Veezoo, Looker) and advanced modeling (Excel, Google Sheets) to turn complex data into clear business actions.
• You are comfortable operating in a global or multi-market environment, while deeply understanding where local realities require deviation from the global default.
• You are an exceptional communicator who can distill complex data into compelling stories that can constructively challenge and influence senior leadership across Sales, Marketing, Strategy, and Finance.