Senior Category Manager

GWA Group; North Sydney; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

GWA Group seeks an experienced Category, Product or Portfolio Manager to own a significant portfolio of market leading products. Reporting to the Head of Category, you will shape category strategy, pricing, new product development and portfolio optimisation to deliver growth and profitability.

You will work in a cross functional environment with Sales, R&D, Sourcing, Supply and Finance, based at North Sydney or Prestons, with travel to customers and suppliers as required.

Qualifications

• Proven ownership of category or portfolio performance.
• Expertise in pricing, margins and business cases.
• Experience leading and managing product development and launches.
• Background in manufacturing, building products, plumbing, electrical, hardware, industrial or consumer durables.
• Genuine product enthusiasm and technical aptitude, connecting design, manufacture and use with customer value and business results.
• Strong commercial judgement, analytical skills and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Own category strategy, revenue, margin and profitable growth.
• Set pricing, mix and range priorities to improve returns and competitiveness.
• Lead product development from opportunity and technical brief to launch and adoption.
• Build investment cases with clear customer value, funding needs and returns.
• Direct lifecycle priorities across launches, enhancements and range rationalisation.
• Turn customer, competitor and market insight into growth opportunities.
• Align cross functional teams, remove barriers and hold delivery on track.

Skills

Category ownership

Pricing expertise

Product development leadership

Manufacturing background

Product enthusiasm

Commercial judgement

Job description

• Rare opportunity to work directly with Australian-based R&D, sourcing and product experts.
• Own the strategy, growth and future direction of a product category.
• Help create the next generation of products for some of Australia's most trusted brands.

For product people, GWA offers a rare opportunity: R&D, supply, sourcing and deep product expertise right here in Australia. You'll work directly with the people who develop and deliver our products, getting close to the technical detail and helping shape what reaches the market. It's an experience that's hard to come by.

As an ASX listed market leader with household brands, GWA creates products that influence how we live today and how we want to live tomorrow. If you're excited by the opportunity to make that kind of everyday impact, we'd like to hear from you.

We're looking for an experienced Category, Product or Portfolio Manager to own a significant portfolio of market leading products. Reporting to the Head of Category (Product), you'll lead category strategy, pricing, new product development and portfolio optimisation, with clear accountability for growth and profitability.

You'll join a professional product portfolio team that is integral to GWA's operations and relied on across the business for product expertise, direction and delivery. This is hands on product leadership, rather than brand, communications or digital marketing, suited to someone with genuine product enthusiasm, technical curiosity and the drive to turn ideas into results.

About the role

You'll own the direction and performance of your category, shaping the product range and a rolling three to five year roadmap. Using customer, market and technical insight, you'll set priorities across pricing, investment and product development to deliver profitable growth.

Your ownership spans the full product lifecycle, from opportunity and business case through development, launch, customer adoption and eventual replacement or exit. You'll balance product specifications, compliance, quality and supply requirements with customer value, cost and inventory exposure.

You'll work in a highly cross functional environment, partnering closely with Sales, R&D, Sourcing, Supply, Finance and Operations.

Based at North Sydney or Prestons, you'll work regularly across both locations, with travel to customers, suppliers and other business locations as required.

Key responsibilities

• Own category strategy, revenue, margin and profitable growth
• Set pricing, mix and range priorities to improve returns and competitiveness
• Lead product development from opportunity and technical brief to launch and adoption
• Build investment cases with clear customer value, funding needs and returns
• Direct lifecycle priorities across launches, enhancements and range rationalisation
• Turn customer, competitor and market insight into growth opportunities
• Align cross functional teams, remove barriers and hold delivery on track

What you'll bring

• Proven ownership of category or portfolio performance
• Expertise in pricing, margins and business cases
• Experience leading and managing product development and launches
• A background in manufacturing, building products, plumbing, electrical, hardware, industrial or consumer durables
• Genuine product enthusiasm and technical aptitude, connecting design, manufacture and use with customer value and business results
• Strong commercial judgement, analytical skills and stakeholder management
• Experience navigating large organisations, governance and competing priorities, influencing decisions without direct authority

Join an Australian business with household brands, great people and a down to earth culture. With R&D, supply, sourcing and deep product expertise here in Australia, you'll have experienced people around you and a rare opportunity to learn, collaborate and bring products to life.

You'll have real ownership and the opportunity to help shape GWA's future through products that make a difference to everyday life. If that sounds like your kind of challenge, we'd love to hear from you.