QLM Search
Interim Category Excellence Director
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Interim Category Excellence Director
Duration: 6 months +
QLM Search is partnering a high growth Food & Beverage Group to recruit an Interim Category Excellence Director.
Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer, this key role will lead the development and execution of category strategy across the group's core ranges, working in close partnership with sales, marketing, insight and supply chain to strengthen the group's position with major retail customers.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and evolve the group's category strategy across priority customers, translating shopper and market insight into commercial category plans
- Lead category reviews and joint business planning with major grocery retailers, building the group's reputation as a category authority
- Partner with sales, marketing and insight teams to align range, pricing and promotional strategy with category growth opportunities
- Build and develop a high-performing category excellence team, embedding best practice tools, processes and ways of working
- Use shopper, market and competitor data to identify white space and growth opportunities across the portfolio
- Represent the business externally at trade and retailer forums, and act as an internal champion for category-led decision making
- Support new product development and innovation prioritisation with robust category and shopper rationale
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- Proven category management, category development or category excellence leadership experience within branded or private label FMCG/food
- Strong track record of category leadership with major UK grocery retailers, ideally including joint business planning experience
- Comfortable operating at pace in a multi-site, multi-category manufacturing environment
- Strong analytical grounding, with the ability to translate data and shopper insight into commercial action
- Experience building and developing a category or insight team
- Credible, commercially minded operator able to influence senior stakeholders internally and externally
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