Weldfast UK
Category Manager
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About Weldfast UK
Weldfast UK Limited is a leading provider in the welding industry, delivering high-quality products and services that support professionals and businesses across the country. We are committed to innovation, excellence, and becoming the go-to business in the welding sector.
Backed by investors and supported by a strengthened leadership team, Weldfast is going through an exciting period of transformation. Systems and infrastructure are being upgraded, and the business is evolving from a traditional founder-led model to a more modern, scalable operation. This is a genuine opportunity to join at a pivotal point and help shape the next stage of the business.
Role Purpose
The Category Manager owns the commercial strategy and performance of their defined product categories, with accountability for delivering sales, margin, and profitable growth.
Responsible for developing a competitive, customer-led product proposition, the Category Manager will manage the full product lifecycle, develop category and pricing strategies, manage supplier relationships, and identify opportunities for growth.
Working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Inventory Planning, and Operations, and in close partnership with suppliers, the Category Manager will use market insight, customer understanding, and performance data to drive clear commercial actions that improve category performance, customer relevance, and profitability.
Key Responsibilities
Category & Commercial Management
- Develop and own category strategies and annual category plans aligned to business objectives.
- Define and continually optimize the range architecture, ensuring the right breadth, depth, price positioning, and brand mix to meet customer and commercial requirements.
- Manage the full product lifecycle from opportunity identification and new product introduction through to range rationalization and discontinuation.
- Regularly review category and SKU performance, identifying gaps, duplication, underperformance, and opportunities for growth.
- Own category pricing strategy, balancing market competitiveness with sales, margin, and profitability objectives.
- Monitor category performance across sales, gross margin, pricing, inventory, and availability, translating performance into clear commercial actions.
- Build and maintain a category development pipeline, identifying new products, suppliers, and market opportunities.
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Customer, Market & Supplier Development
- Use market intelligence, industry trends, competitor activity, and customer feedback to identify opportunities and ensure a relevant, competitive proposition.
- Partner with Sales to understand customer requirements and demand patterns and translate these into category opportunities and actions.
- Build strong, commercially productive relationships with key suppliers and develop joint plans to drive mutual growth.
- Lead commercial negotiations to secure competitive cost prices, rebates, trading terms, and supplier support.
- Identify opportunities to grow supplier income through marketing support, promotional activity, exclusivity, and other commercial initiatives.
- Continually assess the supplier base against cost, quality, innovation, service, and strategic fit, identifying opportunities to strengthen or diversify supply.
Cross-Functional Delivery
- Work closely with Sales to provide clear product propositions, pricing, product knowledge, and commercial plans that support growth.
- Develop category marketing priorities and briefs, partnering with Marketing on campaigns, promotions, launches, and supplier-funded activity.
- Partner with Inventory Planning to align forecasts, inventory investment, and availability with category plans and commercial priorities.
- Maintain clear visibility of inventory performance, including availability, stock turn, excess, and slow-moving stock, agreeing actions to address risks and opportunities.
- Ensure new product introductions, range changes, and discontinuations are effectively planned and communicated across the business.
Skills & Experience
We are looking for an experienced commercial category professional with a track record of taking ownership of a product range and delivering measurable improvements in performance.
Essential:
- Proven category management, buying, or product management experience with genuine ownership of a product range.
- Track record of delivering sales, margin, and profitability improvement.
- Strong commercial negotiation and supplier management capability.
- Experience of range development, range reviews, and product lifecycle management.
- Good understanding of pricing and the commercial levers that drive category profitability.
- Strong analytical capability, with the ability to interpret performance data and turn insight into action.
- Confident communicator, able to influence and work effectively across different functions.
- Experience within industrial, engineering, technical, or trade distribution would be advantageous, but strong commercial category management capability and the ability to rapidly develop technical product knowledge are equally important.
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Desirable:
- Welding, gas, or industrial product knowledge.
- Experience managing technical products.
- Existing knowledge of relevant markets and suppliers.
Key Behaviours
- Takes ownership and accountability for outcomes.
- Commercially curious and actively seeks opportunities to improve performance.
- Uses evidence and data to form recommendations and make decisions.
- Constructively challenges existing ways of working and is comfortable driving change.
- Pragmatic and action-oriented, able to move from analysis to delivery.
- Collaborative and able to influence across functions.
- Customer and market focused, balancing customer needs with commercial outcomes.
Success Measures
Success will be measured through the overall commercial performance and development of the assigned categories, including:
- Sales, gross margin, and profitability performance.
- Delivery of category growth plans and strategic initiatives.
- Range and SKU productivity.
- Pricing competitiveness and effectiveness.
- Inventory health, stock turn, and availability.
- Performance of new product introductions.
- Improvement in supplier performance, commercial terms, and supplier income.
Why Join Weldfast UK?
- A key role within a supportive, dynamic working environment.
- Continuous training and development.
- Competitive salary with annual review.
- Workplace pension scheme.
- Mobile phone.
- One paid volunteering day per year.
- 20 days' holiday, plus public holidays and Christmas shutdown.
- Additional holiday with length of service.
- Hybrid working - three days in the office and two remotely.
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