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Senior Category Development Manager
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Senior Category Development Manager
Berkshire / M4 corridor | Hybrid working with East Midlands customer travel
Circa £80,000 plus £6,600 car allowance, 15% target bonus with enhanced earning potential, 10% pension and family healthcare
Own the category strategy for a critical retail customer
This is an opportunity to take responsibility for category development with one of the most important UK customers of a global consumer health and hygiene business.
You will define the customer-specific category growth strategy, build influential relationships and turn complex insight into recommendations that deliver commercially and in-store.
This highly visible role sits immediately below the team lead level. You will manage a Category Development Executive and gain the exposure to support future progression into senior category, sales, trade marketing or wider commercial roles.
You will work across the complete process: interpreting data, identifying opportunities, creating the strategy, gaining customer support and delivering the plan.
The role
The customer is a major health and beauty retailer with a sophisticated category structure and broad stakeholder group. Excellent insight is essential, but you must also earn credibility, navigate different priorities and gain support for your recommendations.
Working closely with the Sales team, you will:
- Create and own a customer-specific category growth strategy.
- Interpret shopper, category, customer and commercial data.
- Turn complex evidence into clear, retailer-ready recommendations.
- Present persuasive category stories to senior customer stakeholders.
- Drive range reviews, 4P plans, assortment decisions and space recommendations.
- Connect opportunities to sales, margin, productivity and return on investment.
- Convert strategy into practical plans that can be implemented in store.
- Build relationships across the customer organisation.
- Align Sales, Trade Marketing, Marketing and Category colleagues.
- Manage, coach and develop a Category Development Executive.
- Track progress and take responsibility for results.
About you
Your capabilities are more important than your current job title.
Relevant backgrounds could include:
- Category development or customer category management.
- Retail buying, merchandising or retailer-side category management.
- Customer or shopper insight with strong commercial application.
- Sales, trade marketing or shopper marketing with substantial analytical and strategic responsibility.
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Whatever your background, you must be able to demonstrate that you have personally:
- Used complex data to uncover meaningful commercial or shopper insight.
- Created a category or commercial strategy, rather than only implementing an existing plan.
- Gained support from demanding customer and internal stakeholders.
- Turned recommendations into practical action and measurable results.
- Combined strategic thinking with a hands-on approach.
- Taken on increasing responsibility and broader commercial scope.
Experience in consumer health, health and beauty, personal care or a similarly complex retail category would be particularly valuable. Direct experience with the relevant customer would be a major advantage but is not essential.
Transferable experience from wider FMCG and consumer products will also be considered.
Experience using NIQ/Nielsen, Circana/IRI, Kantar, retailer portals or comparable data would be beneficial. Familiarity with Spaceman, JDA, VST or another space-planning platform would also be useful.
What success will look like
Within your first 6-12 months, you will have:
- Established effective relationships with key customer stakeholders.
- Become an integral partner to the Sales team.
- Created a credible category growth strategy for the customer.
- Advanced persuasive recommendations through the range-review process.
- Demonstrated an effective balance of strategic thinking and practical delivery.
- Begun developing a strong two-person customer category team.
Why consider the opportunity?
- Own the category agenda for a strategically important UK customer.
- Create the customer strategy rather than simply inherit it.
- Influence range, space, merchandising and in-store decisions.
- Gain exposure to senior category and commercial management.
- Manage and develop a direct report.
- Build experience that can support wider commercial progression.
- Work across well-known consumer health and hygiene categories.
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Location and package
The position is based in Berkshire within the M4 corridor. Approximately three days each week will be spent in the office or with the customer.
Customer meetings take place in the East Midlands and normally require travel at least twice each month. Customer days count towards the weekly office expectation.
The anticipated package includes:
- Base salary circa £80,000, depending on experience
- £550 monthly car allowance
- 15% target bonus with a 1.5× multiplier
- 10% pension
- Family healthcare
- 25 days' annual leave
If you are comfortable working with data, creating strategy, influencing a complex customer and turning ideas into results, this is an opportunity to own a highly visible commercial relationship and build the platform for your next career move.
Apply now for a confidential conversation.
Desired Skills and Experience
We are looking for candidates who combine strong category or commercial strategy with hands-on analytical capability, customer influence and practical execution.
Relevant backgrounds may include category development, customer category management, retail buying, merchandising, customer or shopper insight, commercial analytics, sales, trade marketing or shopper marketing.
Candidates must be able to demonstrate experience of:
- Analysing complex shopper, category, customer and commercial data
- Creating category or commercial growth strategies
- Translating insight into retailer-ready recommendations
- Influencing senior buying, category and merchandising stakeholders
- Leading range reviews, 4P planning, assortment or space optimisation
- Connecting recommendations to sales, margin, ROI and category growth
- Turning strategy into practical in-store execution and measurable results
- Managing, coaching or developing others
- Working cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing and Trade Marketing teams
Experience in consumer health, health and beauty, personal care or wider FMCG would be valuable. Direct experience of a major UK health and beauty retailer would be advantageous but is not essential.
Knowledge of NIQ/Nielsen, Circana/IRI, Kantar, retailer portals and space-planning platforms such as Spaceman, JDA or VST would also be beneficial.
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