Category Manager - New Categories

Why BAT Japan

Most brand managers wait years for regional scope and a budget of their own. Here both come with the job.

• A market-leading annual performance bonus (subject to eligibility)

• Health cover, transport support and a flexible holiday plan with additional incentives

• English and Japanese language training, delivered on company time

• A published capability framework for every role and grade - so you know precisely what the next grade requires, not just that progression exists - plus online learning and structured leadership programmes

• Global Top Employer for the ninth consecutive year - certified across five regions and a record 44 countries

Tokyo, Japan - Full-time - Manager - Scope: Japan, Korea and Taiwan

Build a brand in a category that didn't exist a decade ago, in the region that decides how it develops.

BAT is a global multi-category consumer goods business. Our purpose is to create A Better Tomorrow™, with a vision to build a smokeless world: as at 31 December 2025, 34.1m consumers used our Smokeless Products, generating 18.2% of Group revenue, and our ambition is 50m Smokeless consumers by 2030. North Asia is one of the most advanced smokeless markets anywhere - which means the marketing playbook here is being written rather than borrowed.

The role

You lead brand strategy and delivery for our new categories across Japan, Korea and Taiwan: what we stand for, who we're for, what we launch, how it's priced and packaged, and how it's communicated. You hold your own budget and you're accountable for the results - including the post-launch review that says whether the plan was right.

What you'll own

• Brand strategy on a one-to-four-year horizon - positioning, audience, innovation pipeline and the full marketing mix

• Adapting global brand direction for three very different markets without losing what makes the brand coherent

• The communications strategy, grounded in consumer insight, competitor behaviour and where the technology is going

• Creative, media, design and innovation agencies - briefing them, steering them, and evaluating them honestly

• Your full-year budget: allocating it, defending it, and releasing or requesting funds as the plan changes

• Approval of trademarks, product claims and campaign elements through Legal, R&D and Insights, on time

• Brand integrity in market - spotting where execution has drifted from strategy and correcting it

• Working relationships with the consumer experience and deployment teams who turn your strategy into what a consumer sees

What you'll bring

• Ownership of a brand or category - including the commercial numbers, not just the campaign

• Strength in communications and digital marketing, which this category depends on more than most

• Confidence with pricing and profitability, and the judgement to argue for a position

• Useful, not essential: brand building in a new or disrupted category

Qualifications

• 5+ years in brand marketing at an international consumer goods company or a consumer-facing business with real pace

• A university degree

• Native-level Japanese and business English. Korean is a bonus, not a requirement

Whoever you are and wherever you're from, you can belong here - many nationalities, ages, genders and professional backgrounds, supported by Women in Leadership and B-United, our LGBTQ+ and allies network. Our Global Returners programme supports people restarting after time away from work. Need an adjustment during the process? Just tell us.