- Harsh Raj is a 29-year-old MBA from IIM Ahmedabad with 4 years of experience in eCommerce retail, manufacturing operations, sales, marketing, and data analytics.
- He currently works as a Senior Manager of Category Planning at AJIO.com where he is responsible for merchandise planning and assortment strategy.
- Prior to this, he held roles in business development, channel management, and branding at CEAT Limited and led operations and projects at Ocwen Financial Solutions.
1. Harsh Raj, Male, 29 Years
CONTACT: +91- 8861000419 E-MAIL: p11harshr@iimahd.ernet.in || harsh.raj0509@gmail.com
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PROFILE SUMMARY
• MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, B.E. from MIT Manipal with 4 years of Professional experience
• Experience covers Category Planning in eCommerce Retail, Operations in manufacturing industry, Sales & Marketing and
Data Management & Analytics
• Worked for 21 months with CEAT Limited, RPG Group - Rich experience in the domain of Business development, Channel
management, Branding, Key Account management and BTL activations
• Strong understanding of the Category Planning domain and eCommerce retail Industry
• Supreme analytical ability, strong business acumen, attention to details, strong interpersonal & communication skills
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
PGDM I.I.M. Ahmedabad Grade ‘A’ in FRA,DM-II,BT, IGP 2.96/4.33 2011-13
Exchange Term ESCP Europe, Paris (Ranked #2 Worldwide in MiM by Financial Times) 2012
B.E. Electrical & Electronics Manipal Institute of Technology Ranked 4th among 130 students 9.2/10 2009
XII(State Board) Science College, Patna, Bihar Distinction in Physics & Chemistry 72.7 % 2004
X(CBSE) Gyan Niketan, Patna, Bihar Ranked 3rd in School 89.0 % (5 subjects) 2002
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
One of only 37 students across India to be awarded the ‘Charpak Scholarship of Excellence’ by Embassy of France in India 2012
One of only 2 students from University to be conferred ‘Kadambi Scholarship’ for excellence in field of Academics & Sports 2009
Received interview calls from 6 IIMs and got final admission offer from IIM A, B, C, L & I 2011
Got A+ (10/10) in 18 courses during Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology 2005-09
AIR 314 in National Level Science Talent Search Examination(NSTSE) conducted by Unified Council, India 2001
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Senior Manager, Category Planning, AJIO.com (Reliance Retail Ltd.) Oct 2015 – Present
Responsibilities
• Driving the category AOP and seasonal merchandise planning for Women - National, International, Indie &
International Wholesalers & Kids - National & International portfolios
• Driving the entire assortment/range planning process involving creation of the seasonal plans at price-brick
level and monitoring performance against the same
• Owning the entire OTB tracker and the buy plan process (preseason/in season) involving buy evaluation
against defined planning norms/metrics
• Partnering with Category team to own the P&L metrics (Margin, Discounting, DOH, Sell-thru, FPST etc.)
• Assist in development of the reporting platform by owning various report developments and validations
Achievements
Rated as an Excellent Performer with a performance rating of A+ at the year-end appraisal rating
Core member of the Planning team which laid the roadmap to the launch of AJIO.com in April 2016
Business Operations Manager, Ocwen Financial Solutions Pvt. Ltd. March 2015 – Sept 2015
Responsibilities
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams and drive projects for the Data Management & Analytics BU
• Initiate and lead process improvement, automation and special projects
• Develop work force management, capacity planning and schedule adherence systems and reports
• Develop monitoring and reporting capability to effectively track the performance of each functional area
in order to minimize variability, improve quality & maximize profitability of the business
• Develop daily/periodic pipeline reports, productivity, compliance and quality dashboards
Key Result Areas
• Accurate and timely reporting of all MIS to Operations, Senior Management and other customers
• Real time communication of project updates and timely completion of projects
• Workable Work Force Management/Capacity plans
Group Management Resource, RPG Enterprises June 2013 – Feb 2015
Area Sales
Manager
Led a team of 5 members & handled 42 dealers & distributors in the Pune Regional Office, CEAT Limited
to achieve the month on month average sales target for the Area assigned Feb 2014 – Feb 2015
Channel & Key Account Management
Dealer & Distributor Channel working, Direct & Indirect Customer working in order to maximize the RO sales
Fleet Management – Direct fleet working to get bulk orders to be billed directly from the company
17% Depth increase in Pune RO by ensuring good service levels to channel partners - timely dispatch of goods from Carry &
Forward Agency (CFA)
Business Development
Delivered an effective pitch for Non-CEAT dealers to increase CEAT breadth in the market - 8 new dealers appointed
Category & SKU wise planning and projections with channel partners to ensure delivery from the Distribution Centre (DC)
2. Harsh Raj, Male, 29 Years
CONTACT: +91- 8861000419 E-MAIL: p11harshr@iimahd.ernet.in || harsh.raj0509@gmail.com
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New Product Launch/ Product Extension - Planning, Development and Launch
Competitor benchmarking to assure product attractiveness in packaging & pricing vis-à-vis competition
Branding & BTL Activation
Conducted effective BTL activities like consumer meets/Van Campaigns to improve CEAT brand presence in focus territories
Conceptualized consumer promotion schemes, prepared promotion briefs & executed the same
Evaluated the need for trade promotion by analyzing region wise & outlet wise purchase pattern
Identified agencies for event activations, negotiated terms & conditions and planned for the execution of the event
Other Projects & Achievements
Customer Service & Sales stint – Understood CEAT’s Customer Service & Sales module - Bhubaneswar RO (July’13 - Nov’13)
Successfully Implemented Truck, Dealer and Distributor module designed by Mckinsey for CEAT at Bhubaneshwar RO
Revamping & re-launching packaging of CEAT 2-3W & 4W packaged tubes - Marketing stint, Mumbai HO (Dec’13- Feb’14)
Recognized as the “Best ASM”, for the West 1 Zone for the year 2014-15 in the Annual Sales Conference
Aviation Officer, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Guwahati Aug 2009 – Sep 2010
Responsibilities
Responsible for Quality Control Checks of ‘Aviation Turbine Fuel’ (ATF)
Supervised refueling of air-crafts, decantation of tank trucks & topping-up of refuelers
SAP implementation for sales calculation & entry of sales and loss/gain over a day
Led a team of 18 workmen & supervised maintenance of about 30 equipments (static & mobile)
Designed a manpower planning module for shift operation at Guwahati Aviation Fuel Station
Achievements
Rated as an Outstanding Performer with a performance rating of 4.1 out of 5
Contributed to 13 % reduction in the Overtime (OT) hours of the staffs at Guwahati AFS
Passed “Quality Control Signatory” certification for AFS Operations issued by DGCA
Remarkable contribution in avoiding 2 accidents at Guwahati AFS & Airport –
Overflow of ATF from Storage tank during unloading of road tankers
Hitting of Aircraft refueler by Airlines baggage trolley
INTERNSHIPS & PROJECTS
Summer Intern, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited, New Delhi April 2012 –
June 2012
Responsibilities & Achievements • A LIVE Project on ‘Packaged Juice category in ‘Modern Trade’
distribution channel of Delhi market
• Researched on the parameters that majorly affect the sales of any brand in the packaged fruit juice category
• Devised a marketing strategy to increase the market share of Coca-Cola’s brands (Minute Maid & Maaza) in
the juice category from then 32% to 44% in the ‘Modern trade’ distribution channel in the Delhi region
• Summer Intern, Steel Authority of India Limited, Ranchi – Project study on “Programmable Logic
Controller (PLC)” 2007
Summer Intern, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited, New Delhi April 2012 – June 2012
Responsibilities
& Achievements
• A LIVE Project on ‘Packaged Juice category in ‘Modern Trade’ distribution channel of Delhi market
• Researched on the parameters that majorly affect the sales of any brand in the packaged fruit juice category
• Devised a marketing strategy to increase the market share of brands Minute Maid & Maaza in the juice
category from then 32% to 44% in the ‘Modern trade’ distribution channel in the Delhi region
Summer Intern, Steel Authority of India Limited, Ranchi – Project study on “Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)” 2007
POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY
Led a team of 3 Territory leaders and 2 customer service territory leaders to achieve a month on month average sales
figure of 4.2 crores in the area assigned to me at the Pune Regional Office, CEAT Limited
Member of the Sports Committee at IIM-Ahmedabad –Single Point of Contact for Chess & Carom
Active member of the team which organized the Intra-IIMA Chess tournament at IIMA comprising 108 participants
Spearheaded the department of ‘SAFETY’ (the most important division in the Oil industry) at Guwahati AFS
Assigned the responsibility of the “location-in-charge” of Silchar AFS and Dimapur AFS
2014-15
2012-13
2012
2009-10
2010
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACHIEVEMENTS
Sports
Captained the IIMA Chess Team to Gold at SAMAR, MICA’s National level Inter College Sports Event 2012
1st Runner-Up in Carom at Sangharsh’12, the Inter IIM Sports meet held at IIM-Ahmedabad 2012
1st Runner-Up at Intra IIMA Chess knockout tournament amongst 108 participants 2012
One of only 3 students to represent IIMA in Chess at Shaurya’11 – Winner of Gold medal 2011
1st Runner-Up in Manipal University Inter Collegiate Chess tournament held at KMC, Mangalore 2008
Quizzing &
Aptitude
Grade ‘A’ in Science Aptitude & Talent Search Test by ‘All India Science Teachers Association’ 2001
AIR 15 in All India Level Mathematics & Science test conducted by CIPEL 2000
AIR 36 in All India Level English proficiency & General Knowledge test conducted by CIPEL 2000
INTERESTS
Avid traveler & have been to 24 states across India and 17 countries across the World
Love to play sports like Chess, Carom, pool, table tennis & cricket. An ardent follower of Formula-1 & Manchester United FC