Category Manager, Meal Solutions — Drive Growth & Innovation

Coles Group Pty Ltd; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Gym facility

Free parking

Discounts 5% on supermarket & liquor

Mythanks recognition

Learning & development

Paid parental leave

Share plan

Job summary

Coles Group Pty Ltd in Melbourne is seeking a Category Manager – Meal Solutions to lead 85% of the Convenience portfolio, spanning ready meals, soups, chilled pasta, garlic bread, pies, quiche and pizza. This role reports to the Senior Category Manager – Meals and offers broad visibility across the business.

You will shape the customer proposition, optimise space, drive innovation, and unlock growth opportunities across the portfolio in a fast-paced retail environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in Category Management within a leading retailer or FMCG business.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including P&L responsibilities.
• Experience in strategic trade planning and supplier negotiations.
• Ability to manage high-SKU categories with turnover and drive growth.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Meal Solutions category and drive performance and strategic direction.
• Execute customer-led category strategies to grow sales, profit and market share.
• Collaborate across Supply Chain, Marketing, Operations and Space.
• Lead innovation and range development with Merchandise and supplier base.
• Build relationships with stakeholders to influence category direction.

Skills

Category Management

Negotiation

P&L Management

Stakeholder Engagement

Cross-functional Collaboration

Job description

Category Manager - Meal Solutions - Hawthorn East

We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.

About the team

Our Commercial team is a large, but a close-knit group of trading experts, who are ready to shape the future of Coles. We pride ourselves on the long-lasting supplier relationships we build, the new ideas we develop and how passionately we work to help Australian eat and live better every day. And the best part? We’re all so different. We bring diversity of thought, backgrounds, and experience to every Business Unit across Coles Supermarkets and Liquor.

About the role

Convenience is one of the fastest-growing categories in the business. With ambitions to grow the Convenience portfolio from ~$600m in annual sales to $1b by FY30, this is a category with significant momentum and opportunity.

As Category Manager – Meal Solutions, you will lead ~85% of the total Convenience portfolio, spanning ready meals, soups, chilled pasta, garlic bread, pies, quiche and pizza. This role reports to the Senior Category Manager – Meals.

This is a broad and high-impact role with significant visibility across the business. You will play a central role in shaping the future of Meal Solutions — from evolving the customer proposition and optimising space, to driving innovation, improving quality and unlocking new growth opportunities across the portfolio.

You will also:

Drive the performance and strategic direction of your categories

Execute customer-led category strategies that deliver sales,profitand market share growth

Work cross-functionally across Supply Chain, Marketing, Operations, Range and Space, and Own Brand

Lead innovation and range development in partnership with the broader Merchandise team and supplier base

Build strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and use your influencetoshape category direction

Lead negotiations across CPAs, range reviews and JBPs

Work closely with our vertically integrated meals business, Chef Fresh, as well as major FMCG partners including General Mills

About you and your skills

You are a commercially strong Category professional who is comfortable operating in a dynamic, fast-paced environment and balancing strategy with execution. You bring astrong customer lens, sound commercialjudgementand the ability to lead complex categories with confidence and ownership.

You are likely to have experience across Fresh or adjacent categories, with an understanding of the operational and commercial levers that matter in these spaces, including shelf life, markdowns,wasteand sustainable category profitability.

You will also bring:

Demonstrated Category Management experience within a leading retailer or FMCG business

Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience managing category and/or manufacturing P&Ls

Proven experience in strategic trade planning and supplier negotiations

The ability to manage complex categories with high SKU counts and significant sales turnover

Experience working with a broad supplier network, from large multinational suppliers to smaller independent businesses

Strong influencing and stakeholder management capability across cross-functional teams

An innovative and customer-first mindset, with a passion for improving quality,valueand range performance

The ability to navigate ambiguity, lead through transformation and deliver results in a fast-paced retail environment

A proactive, resilient approach with strong ownership and accountability

#LI-ZH1

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
• Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
• Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
• Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
• Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
• Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
• Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.

About the recruitment process

We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email [e-mail]