Category Manager - Cafe

Hotel Chocolat; Royston; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading premium chocolate brand seeks a passionate Category Manager for their Café range. This role involves developing and implementing strategies to drive growth and performance while collaborating with cross-functional teams. The successful applicant will have a strong background in F&B management and a results-driven mindset, shaping innovations and overseeing product assortment to maximize profitability.

Benefits

Private healthcare cover

Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

Company pension contributions

50% discount on products

70% discount for stay at Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia

Qualifications

• Proven experience in F&B management and product management within a multinational environment.
• Experience in delivering new concepts in an F&B retail environment.
• Track record in category growth, innovation, and cost savings.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement category vision and strategy.
• Analyze category performance to identify growth opportunities.
• Manage the product lifecycle from introduction to discontinuation.

Skills

Category Management

F&B Management

Commercial Acumen

Data Analysis

Project Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, hospitality, marketing, supply chain or related field

Job description

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As we continue our mission to make people and nature happy through re-inventing chocolate, we’re looking for a Category Manager – Café to join our Category Management Team on a permanent basis.

We are a premium, innovative chocolate brand and cacao grower with 150+ stores and a strong digital presence, now embarking on a global expansion in 2025. As pioneers in product innovation, we are investing in category management to ensure that we continue to keep consumers and customers at the heart of our decisions. By harnessing data and insight, we drive strategies that deliver a triple win, for our consumers, our customers, and our business - now and into the future.

As Category Manager for our Café range, you will shape and lead strategies to drive category growth, profitability, and competitiveness. This is a commercially focused role overseeing all aspects of the product offer - from pricing and positioning to performance across channels. Working closely with cross-functional teams, including Retail Operations, you will deliver a compelling, customer-focused range that aligns with broader business goals.

We are looking for a results-oriented Category Manager with sharp commercial instincts and a collaborative mindset. If you are someone who can work seamlessly across teams to unlock growth opportunities whilst strengthening our competitive edge across specific product categories - then we’d love to hear from you!

As well as a competitive salary and a range of company benefits including private healthcare cover, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and Company pension contributions, you’ll receive 50% discount on products, and a 70% discount for you and your guests when you stay at our Rabot Estate hideaway on the paradise island of Saint Lucia.

Here at Hotel Chocolat, we've adopted hybrid working. This means you’ll join us on site for three days a week, and for the other two days – you can work from wherever you like! The on-site location for this role is our support office, ‘Mint House’, in Royston, Hertfordshire. Our home from the very beginning, it’s just off the A505 and 10 minutes’ walk from Royston train station, with direct rail links to London King’s Cross.

What you’ll be doing….

• Category Strategy Development and Execution - from strategy to execution, develop and implement the Category Vision. You’ll build the strategy, oversee product assortment planning to ensure a balanced portfolio and identify potential improvements whilst developing a winning channel strategy to maximise reach and profitability.
• Analysis and Insights - going beyond the number crunching to deliver rich and actionable insights that build brand differentiation for Hotel Chocolat and a strong commercial pipeline of innovation over a 24–36 month horizon. You’ll analyse category performance data to identify growth and cost optimisation, regularly reviewing and adjusting the plan to maintain competitive advantage and meet financial targets.
• Product Lifecycle Management – Manage the product lifecycle from introduction to discontinuation, ensuring products remain competitive and aligned with category goals. Optimise the product assortment based on sales data, feedback, operational learnings and more and propose action through the portfolio planning process.
• Pricing and Promotions – Develop and implement pricing strategies, working closely with the SRM pricing lead, merchandising and omnichannel to monitor and adjust pricing and promotional strategies based on performance and market conditions.
• Performance Tracking and Reporting– Voicing the commercial category perspective in the S&OP process you will create clear business cases and recommendations for portfolio reviews, setting KPIs and building forecasts through the new product launch process. Owning the end-to-end performance of your categories, partnering with the commercial finance team to track category profitability and ensure alignment with budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Product Innovation and Development – Identify and implement opportunities for product innovation, whether through NPD, modifications or 3rd party. Stay up to date on industry trends, emerging technologies to keep the category competitive and differentiated for Hotel Chocolat.
• Execution -Collaborate with marketing, omnichannel, procurement, supply and ops to ensure category strategies are executed seamlessly across Hotel Chocolat.
• Drive Sales: Explore new ways to commercialise Hotel Chocolat categories and open new channels. Provide insights to shape pricing strategies and promotional activities through SRM (strategic revenue management), ensuring alignment with local market dynamics and overall business goals.

Who you are…

• Demonstrable and proven experience within F&B management, café or restaurant category management, product management within an FMCG or multinational environment.
• Experience in delivery new concepts and developing existing offers in an F&B / retail environment.
• Proven track record of producing NPD, category growth, cost savings and innovation in a competitive market.
• Experience of sourcing products using 3rd party suppliers and working with own brand manufacturing.
• Ability to analyse performance and integrate data-driven insights into processes and decision-making.
• Good knowledge of operations and L&D to ensure successful delivery.
• Demonstrable project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Bachelor’s degree (or similar) in business, hospitality, marketing, supply chain or a related field.

Who are we?

We’re one of the UK’s favourite premium chocolate brands, with a range of products spanning luxury gifts, alcohol and our pioneering drinking chocolate system, the Velvetiser.

A cacao pod takes years to grow – it can’t be rushed if it’s going to be just right for our products. The same can be said for Hotel Chocolat, which originally started as a mint production company before we realised it was luxury chocolate that we were really passionate about.

Now, we’re market leaders in the industry. What began as an online-only business grew to over 140 stores across the UK, and we’re still growing… Today, we’re multi-category, multi-channel, and multi-territory, and our customers, colleagues, cacao farmers and suppliers all benefit from the success we make together.

To learn more about us and read about our People Pledge – our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion – click here: hotelchocolat.com/uk/engaged-ethics/our-people.html

Seniority level

• Seniority level

  Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Employment type

  Full-time

Job function

• Job function

  Product Management and Supply Chain

• Industries

  Retail

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