Category Controller - Wholesale

Undisclosed; City Of London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Undisclosed is seeking an experienced Category Controller to lead the wholesale category team in North West London, onsite. You will develop category strategies, manage supplier relationships and drive operational excellence.

The role focuses on delivering financial targets, margin improvement and cross-functional collaboration, including the finance function, to maximise profitability. This is a permanent, on-site appointment with a market-competitive salary.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading a Trading team with accountability and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Significant experience in senior commercial, buying, or trading in food retail or FMCG.
• Strong ability to negotiate high-impact deals on costing and margin.

Responsibilities

• Provide excellent service with customer-centric ranges, price integrity and value, quality assurance and review of NPS data.
• Deliver financial targets through P&L ownership, budget management and sales strategies.
• Create a supportive culture to lead and develop the Category Managers and Category Assistants.
• Leverage market position to maintain supplier relationships and drive performance.
• Ensure operational excellence through supply chain oversight, wastage control and food safety compliance.
• Collaborate with Finance to maximise margin and profitability.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Data interpretation

Category strategy

Negotiation

People development

Job description

Category Controller - Wholesale

The location of the role is North West London (onsite).

The salary on offer is up to £80,000 - £90,000 per annum.

The role is permanent.

Role Summary

We’re searching for an experienced Category Controller to lead the category team in maintaining excellent supplier relationships, developing effective category strategies and gaining competitive edge in the marketplace. Using your strong leadership skills, you’ll strive to deliver operational excellence by finding new ways to continuously improve and maximise efficiency.

Key accountabilities of the role

• Providing excellent service to our customers through customer-centric ranges, price integrity & value, quality assurance and reviewing NPS data.
• Delivering financial targets through P&L ownership, budget management and the execution of effective sales strategies.
• Creating a supportive team culture to lead and develop the team of Category Managers and Category Assistants.
• Effectively leveraging the business’ position in the market to maintain strong supplier relationships and drive performance.
• Ensuring operational excellence through supply chain oversight, wastage control and ensuring compliance & food safety.
• Collaborating with the Finance team to ensure we have the commercial insights required to maximise margin and profitability.

Key skills and experience

• Proven track record leading a Trading team with Trading functional accountability working with and effectively influencing senior stakeholders, in a complex and multi-functional operating environment, where there are competing priorities
• Significant experience in a senior commercial, buying, or trading role within the food retail or FMCG sector.
• Proven ability to negotiate high-impact deals on costing and margin.
• Strong skills in data interpretation to inform decisions.
• Experience in managing and developing teams.
• A deep understanding of merchandising, profitability, and supply chain management.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrable strategic thinking ability with experience of being solely accountable for developing and delivering business step change in a Trading environment