Category Manager

MacGregor Black; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

MacGregor Black is partnering with a leading UK foodservice business in Huddersfield to recruit a Category Manager - Foodservice. The role reports into the senior category leadership team and owns a portfolio, developing and executing category strategies to maximise sales, profitability and customer value across a national foodservice operation.

This broad role combines category strategy, supplier management, pricing, promotions and range optimisation.

Qualifications

• Experience within Category Management, Buying or Commercial roles in FMCG, wholesale or foodservice.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience developing category strategies.
• Excellent supplier negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Experience managing pricing, promotions, range reviews and category performance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver category strategies that drive sales, margin and long-term growth.
• Build strong supplier relationships and lead Joint Business Planning activity.
• Manage category ranging, pricing and assortment to optimise customer choice and profitability.
• Negotiate supplier funding for promotions, marketing activity and commercial initiatives.
• Analyse market trends, customer insight and commercial performance to identify growth opportunities.
• Deliver seasonal plans, promotional programmes and category launches across the business.
• Develop a balanced branded and own-label proposition to maximise commercial performance.
• Monitor promotional effectiveness, forecasting accuracy and category KPIs.
• Work collaboratively across commercial, marketing, supply chain and operational teams.
• Support and mentor Category Assistants, helping to develop capability across the team.

Skills

Category management

Buying experience

Commercial acumen

Supplier negotiation

Pricing & promotions

Data analytics

Stakeholder influence

Project management

Job description

Are you an experienced Category Manager with a background in foodservice or wholesale?

Do you enjoy developing category strategies that drive sales, margin and customer value?

Are you commercially minded, data-driven and confident building strong supplier partnerships?

MacGregor Black are partnering with a leading UK foodservice business on the search for a Category Manager - Foodservice. This is a permanent role based in Huddersfield.

Reporting into the senior category leadership team, you will take ownership of a portfolio, developing and executing category strategies that maximise sales, profitability and customer value across a national foodservice operation.

This is a broad commercial role combining category strategy, supplier management, pricing, promotions and range optimisation. You'll work cross-functionally with Buying, Marketing, Supply Chain and Commercial teams to deliver category growth while building strong supplier relationships and securing commercial investment.

You'll also play an important role in developing junior members of the category team and driving continuous improvement across the function.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver category strategies that drive sales, margin and long-term growth.
• Build strong supplier relationships and lead Joint Business Planning activity.
• Manage category ranging, pricing and assortment to optimise customer choice and profitability.
• Negotiate supplier funding for promotions, marketing activity and commercial initiatives.
• Analyse market trends, customer insight and commercial performance to identify growth opportunities.
• Deliver seasonal plans, promotional programmes and category launches across the business.
• Develop a balanced branded and own-label proposition to maximise commercial performance.
• Monitor promotional effectiveness, forecasting accuracy and category KPIs.
• Work collaboratively across commercial, marketing, supply chain and operational teams.
• Support and mentor Category Assistants, helping to develop capability across the team.

What We're Looking For:

• Experience within Category Management, Buying or Commercial roles in FMCG, wholesale or foodservice.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience developing and delivering category strategies.
• Excellent supplier negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Experience managing pricing, promotions, range reviews and category performance.
• Strong analytical capability with the ability to turn data into commercial decisions.
• Confident communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Highly organised with excellent project management skills.
• Passion for delivering continuous improvement and commercial growth.

Salary c £55k