Category Manager, Retail Ecommerce

McCain Foods Limited; Scarborough; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading food company is seeking a Category Manager, Retail Ecommerce in Scarborough, UK. This pivotal role involves developing category strategies to drive ecommerce growth and supporting retail partners. Candidates should have 3-5 years of experience in Category Management or Ecommerce with strong analytical skills. The company offers a hybrid working environment and competitive benefits, including a generous car allowance and an achievable yearly bonus.

Benefits

Generous Car Allowance

Achievable yearly bonus

Excellent pension plan

Flexible holidays

Optional health cash plan

Cycle to work scheme

'Chips In' Volunteering Day Off

Qualifications

• 3-5 years' experience in Category Management, Ecommerce, or Data Analytics.
• A proven track record of delivering category growth.
• Strong analytical skills interpreting commercial and ecommerce data.
• Clear communicator, turning complex data into actionable recommendations.
• Collaborative and influential, especially with sales and marketing teams.

Responsibilities

• Deliver tailored, insight-led category plans for ecommerce retailers.
• Influence Joint Business Plans with data-driven recommendations.
• Lead test-and-learn initiatives on digital media platforms.
• Design customer-centric activation toolkits for ecommerce managers.
• Develop bespoke category strategies for pureplay retailers.

Skills

Category Management

Ecommerce

Digital Trading

Data Analytics

Analytical Capability

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Relevant university degree

Tools

Ecommerce data platforms

Kantar

dunnhumby

IRI/Nielsen

Job description

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Position Title: Category Manager, Retail Ecommerce

Position Type: Regular - Full-Time

Requisition ID: 40339

Category Manager - Retail Ecommerce

About McCain

At McCain, we're feeding the world: from French fries to Smiles, we contribute to the important role food plays in people's lives. That's why we're dedicated to ensuring our core values-Family, Authentic, Trusted, and Quality-shine through every day. As a privately owned family company with over 60 years of experience, a presence in more than 160 countries, and a global team of 22,000 people, our values and culture are at the heart of everything we do. We believe that we can work together, along with our business and community partners, to bring sustainable growth and positive change today, tomorrow, and for generations to come. Join us and see how you can MAKE IT at McCain!

Why join the McCain family

• Your Life - we're here to help you fulfil your potential, flourish, and thrive in work and life.
• Your Success - work alongside passionate individuals who are committed to supporting your career ambitions, drive, and success.
• Your Impact - we want you to make a meaningful, lasting impact for you, for your colleagues, and for the business.

About the role

In every role, McCainers are ambitious, curious, and interested in helping each other create good work experiences. We think about the customer and make doing business with McCain easy.

This is a pivotal specialist role at the forefront of ecommerce growth. As Category Manager - Ecommerce Retail, you will shape and execute winning category strategies across key retail ecommerce channels, driving performance with insight-led plans that unlock growth.

You'll own the development and delivery of category plans for Tier 1 retailers and pureplay customers, while empowering broader teams to win in Tier 2 and 3 accounts through activation playbooks, training and hands‑on support. Beyond today's platforms, you'll help future‑proof the business-accelerating digital growth across emerging channels such as Quick Commerce and Aggregators, and leading commercial thinking on ecommerce technology, innovation and retail media.

As the ecommerce category expert, you'll partner cross‑functionally to ensure plans are practical, compelling and commercially impactful. This is a highly visible, execution‑driven role for someone who thrives on turning insight into action and driving growth in fast‑evolving digital retail environments.

Leadership Principles

Our principles, each with related practices, guide our actions across the organisation. Together, they address how McCain interacts with our customers and employees, and how we work as individuals and collectively to find success. While each role adheres to the Leadership Principles, individual roles may focus more on a specific principle or principles.

We are customer obsessed. Customers are our starting point. By understanding their needs and leveraging data and consumer insights, we drive mutual success.

We think big and plan ahead. Through ambition, curiosity, and smart risks, we can accomplish goals, refine processes, and innovate to scale success.

We bring out the best in our people. We create safe spaces for our people so that trust and empowerment come naturally. Inclusion is about listening first, showing humility, and working together.

We act like owners. Together, we clear obstacles and do the work that makes us all successful and proud to be part of McCain.

Accountabilities

Drive Ecommerce Category Leadership with Tier 1 Retailers

• Deliver tailored, insight-led category plans that accelerate growth with priority ecommerce retailers, working in close partnership with Sales, Marketing and Category Growth teams.
• Influence and support Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with clear, data-driven recommendations that deliver against commercial objectives.
• Build trusted partnerships across customer, category and digital technology teams, acting as a go‑to expert for bespoke projects and customer briefs.
• Lead test-and-learn initiatives with Tier 1 customers across evolving digital media platforms to deepen understanding of shopper journeys and improve digital media ROI.

Build Activation Capability for Tier 2 & 3 Customers

• Design and launch customer‑centric activation toolkits and training that strengthen ecommerce category management capability across Tier 2 and 3 accounts.
• Create structured processes, tools and reporting to enable Retail customer and category managers to confidently execute and optimise ecommerce plans.
• Ensure all activation activity aligns to McCain's ecommerce strategy and delivers measurable value for both customers and the business.

Own Category Strategy for Pureplay Retailers

• Develop and execute bespoke category strategies for pureplay and online‑first retailers, leveraging agility and deep digital insight.
• Provide best‑in‑class recommendations across media, assortment and execution, grounded in ecommerce analytics and shopper behaviour.

Shape Growth in Quick Commerce and Aggregator Channels

• Identify and unlock category growth opportunities across emerging Quick Commerce and Aggregator platforms.
• Build frameworks that guide resource prioritisation and commercial engagement in fast‑moving, high‑growth channels.

Lead Thinking on Ecommerce Technology and Retail Media

• Act as the internal authority on ecommerce innovation, including AI adoption, retail ecommerce technologies and retail media evolution.
• Assess risks and opportunities from new tools and platforms, translating insight into clear recommendations and thought leadership for the Commercial team.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years' experience in Category Management, Ecommerce, Digital Trading or Data Analytics within FMCG/CPG or retail environments.
• A proven track record of delivering category growth, with hands‑on experience executing commercial and category plans across both bricks‑and‑mortar and digital retail channels.
• Strong analytical capability , with confidence interpreting and applying commercial and ecommerce data from sources such as Kantar, dunnhumby, Circana (IRI/Nielsen) and relevant ecommerce data partners.
• Clear and persuasive communicator , skilled at turning complex data and trends into compelling, actionable recommendations for diverse stakeholder audiences‑both verbally and visually.
• Highly collaborative and influential , with experience partnering across sales, marketing and category teams, and working directly with external retail and trading partners.

Location

Being in the office every single day is a thing of the past. Here at McCain, we champion hybrid working. This means we don't have a set expectation of exactly when you need to be in the office - however we do encourage our full‑time, office‑based people to connect in person with others for around half of their working time as that's the best way for us to build and maintain our connections. Our head office (Customer Experience Centre) is on the outskirts of Scarborough - 1.5 hours away from Leeds City Centre, and about an hour from York. We have lots of colleagues who travel to and from our Experience Centre (even if it is just for a good coffee!) and because hybrid really does mean hybrid at McCain, they get the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues when they're in the office, and balance that with working from home to ensure they get a good life‑work balance.

The benefits of working for McCain

Although we do encourage you to taste the goods you'll be pleased to know we don't pay you in 'chips'. For working hard, you'll also get a great salary and some pretty good benefits including:

• A generous Car Allowance
• An achievable yearly bonus based on personal performance.
• An excellent pension where we will pay double what you do, up to a maximum of 12% of your pay
• Flexible holidays - where you can buy & sell up to 5 days holiday per year
• Optional health cash plan
• Cycle to work scheme
• 'Chips In' Volunteering Day Off - to make a positive impact to the competitiveness, resilience, and long-term development of McCain communities across the globe

And of course, being part of a Global business there are great opportunities to shine/thrive should you wish to relocate in the future. We have an ambitious 5-year growth plan that presents development & progression opportunities for those who seek it out.

The McCain experience

We are McCain: this statement is about our power collectively and our importance individually-your impact is a significant part of the business. Our winning culture focuses on authenticity and trust so we can always bring out the best in our people. Here, you have the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive while being yourself. Join our team to see why we're better together.

#LI-OW1

Job Family: Sales
Division: GB Commercial Foodservice
Department: Category Strategy
Location(s): GB - United Kingdom : England : Scarborough || GB - United Kingdom : England : Hull || GB - United Kingdom : England : Leeds* || GB - United Kingdom : England : York*
Company: McCain Foods (G.B.) Ltd