Marketing Manager, Asia

As the commercial counterpart to the sub-region's sales leadership, the Marketing Manager is responsible for delivering effectful marketing within Asia covering Southeast Asia, North Asia, Japan and South Korea in APAC reporting directly to the Head of Regional Marketing APAC. She/he creates the market specific marketing plan for her/he’s territory or sub-region, defines the activation tactics in Asia and follows through on the execution and effectiveness of the initiatives, working in close collaboration with the Global Marketing counterparts. She/he will analyze market trends, manage the marketing budget for her/his markets, monitor overall performance, track KPIs, and optimize activation for maximum return on investment. Milestone Systems is primarily selling through and with channel partners and this role is pivotal in managing the partner relationships, to ensure success of marketing initiatives in our indirect sales channels. The role requires extensive engagement with the global and regional marketing teams, as well as with Sales, and with Milestone’s community partners. 

Key roles & responsibilities

Planning and targets

• Translates market specific sales strategies, plans and targets into effectful marketing plans and initiatives for Asia covering Southeast Asia, North Asia, Japan and South Korea (hereon known as Asia)
• Proactively and timely communicates and documents the market(s) marketing plan and activities as part of the Milestone Marketing planning and communication regime.
• Sets the market specific marketing targets for globally agreed KPIs.

Marketing activation 

• Delivers effective channel marketing initiatives within Asia as per agreed business objectives. Collaborates with the Channel Marketing team and Partner Marketing team and supports execution where possible. This includes but is not limited to: co-marketing campaigns, sales training programs, content on the partner portal and sales promotions. 
• Anchors, delivers and follows through on internal sales enablement initiatives within Asia.
• Leads the roll-out of global campaigns timely and efficiently as per agreed objectives in Asia. Monitors, evaluates, and provides feedback on performance and opportunities for continued optimization in Asia.
• Supports development and oversees execution of localized digital demand generation initiatives, working with Global Demand Generation team to run and optimize performance in APAC.
• Plans and oversees execution of events and tradeshows (online and offline) in coordination with regional event execution team members in APAC. Defines targets of events and drives continuous follow up on leads generated from event.  
• Identifies and oversees development of relevant local references and case studies across APAC – from identifying desirable stories to collaborating with partners to securing sign-off from relevant parties and effective publication.
• Plans and executes co-marketing with selected technology partners, as per the global Technology Partner Strategy.
• Develops and guides the earned and own media coverage in Asia in collaboration with global marketing. Defines, develops, and project manages posts for Social Media channels and works closely with Global Communications Partners and PR agencies to drive tier 3 media coverage in relevant publications and industry media.

Brand awareness and compliance

• Understands the perception and level of brand awareness in Asia and is committed to strengthening the position through all marketing efforts. 
• Is a brand ambassador, ensuring consistency and adherence to brand standards across market specific marketing activities, including messaging, visuals, and partner and end-customer experience.

Collaboration and stakeholder engagement

• Works intimately with the regional sales managers and other key stakeholders to set plans, define must win battles, evaluates performance and business requirements.
• Works closely with Global marketing to ensure alignment of regional marketing initiatives with overall business goals and objectives. 
• Proactively shares and leverages best practices across the regional marketing group.
• Establishes and nurtures trusted relationships with channel partners to continuously drive growth and sales in Asia. Coordinates and aligns with the Channel Marketing team.
• Work closely with Milestone’s community partners on joint marketing activities throughout the region.
• Source and engage external vendors in Asia if/when required to support marketing efforts and drive business growth.

Budget management

• Develop, manage, and optimize their sub -regions marketing budget, ensuring optimal allocation of resources, cost-effective execution of initiatives, as well as accurate and timely forecasts and reporting. 

Performance tracking

• In line with global standards, monitors and analyzes key performance metrics for Asia to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and initiatives, providing insights and recommendations for continuous improvement.
• Ensure adherence to performance tracking and reporting requirements.

Market analysis and insights

• Support market research and analysis initiatives at market level to identify market trends, end-customer preferences, and competitive landscape, providing insights to inform marketing strategies and tactics – this extends to supporting brand surveys and NPS initiatives.

The ideal candidate shall possess: 
•    Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) in Marketing or related business field
•    3-4 years experience in B2B marketing with demonstrated success in driving growth in a two-tier channel model
•    Experience from the tech and/or software industry
•    A team player with an intrinsic motive to help colleagues and go an extra mile to deliver on commitments
•    Skilled in developing and executing marketing plans addressing business objectives with and through channel partners
•    Digital mindset with a multi-channel data-driven approach 
•    Strong proficiency in marketing analytics tools and platforms for tracking and reporting on performance
•    Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data and metrics to inform decision-making and optimize marketing performance
•    Experienced in managing multiple projects and priorities in parallel, works efficiently to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and manage budgets and resources effectively
•    A marketing partner to sales 
•    Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams, build relationships and influence stakeholders. 
•    Experienced working across cultures and geographies
•    Native or bilingual proficiency in English, professional working proficiency in language/s in Asia is an advantage