Category Planner - Grocery Drinks

Sainsbury's; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Colleague discount

Pension scheme

Life cover

Performance bonus up to 20%

Private healthcare

Flexible working

Season ticket loans

Cycle to work

Job summary

Sainsbury's is seeking a Category Planner for Grocery Drinks to own seasonal and activation space delivery, working with buyers, Nectar360, marketing, and supply to deliver best-in-class plans for customers. You’ll combine analysis with strong organisational skills in a fast-paced retail environment.

You’ll collaborate across teams to execute retail events, drive quarterly space planning, and translate data into actionable recommendations, while maintaining flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Organised individual with strong planning and coordination abilities.
• Analytical mindset with data-driven decision making.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder collaboration skills.
• Ability to drive timelines and improvements through data.
• Strong project management capabilities across cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the seasonal and activation space delivery process, working cross-functionally to drive best practice and right-first-time delivery.
• Support the implementation and communication of the retail execution of seasonal events and in-store activations.
• Support space performance reviews for seasonal and activation space, using data and insight to drive improvements.
• Play a key role in the quarterly space planning process, from reviewing allocated space to helping plan and present quarterly space kick-offs and sign-offs.
• Collaborate with buyers, Supply Chain, Marketing, Nectar360, Business Unit Operations and our supply base to deliver best-in-class seasonal and activation plans for our customers.

Skills

Planning

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Communication

Project management

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our stores starts in Sainsbury’s Commercial. From product, proposition, packaging and price, to whether it meets our sustainability commitments or simply tastes great, our team is responsible for, all food, non- food and Clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, online and on demand. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment. People here are in it together and aren’t afraid to take risks. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.

Joining the Category Planning team at Sainsbury’s means being part of a team that is always one step ahead in delivering exceptional propositions for our customers. As a Category Planner for Grocery Drinks, you’ll support the team in delivering the category’s overall value proposition. You’ll work with a range of stakeholders, from buyers and Nectar360 to marketing teams and our supply base. Combining in-depth analysis with a keen eye for detail, you’ll sit at the heart of our corporate strategy, taking ownership of seasonal and activation space delivery and playing a key role in the quarterly space planning process.

At Sainsbury’s, we value work-life balance and provide a flexible working environment that empowers colleagues to excel in their roles while enjoying a fulfilling personal life. Join us to make a difference and be part of a team that thrives on delivering the best for our customers.

As a Category Planner, you’ll:

• Own the seasonal and activation space delivery process, working cross-functionally to drive best practice and right-first-time delivery.
• Support the implementation and communication of the retail execution of seasonal events and in-store activations.
• Support space performance reviews for seasonal and activation space, using data and insight to drive improvements.
• Play a key role in the quarterly space planning process, from reviewing allocated space to helping plan and present quarterly space kick-offs and sign-offs.
• Collaborate with buyers, Supply Chain, Marketing, Nectar360, Business Unit Operations and our supply base to deliver best-in-class seasonal and activation plans for our customers.

Who you are:

• You are a highly organised individual who thrives on planning, prioritising and coordinating.
• You have strong project management and analytical skills, enabling you to manage timelines effectively and drive improvements through data-led insights.
• You have excellent communication and relationship-building skills, enabling you to collaborate closely with stakeholders across the organisation and build strong working relationships at all levels.
• You work effectively within a team and make decisions that are best for the customer, providing both support and constructive challenge.
• You consistently show initiative and drive to solve problems and improve processes.

Our Grocery Drinks team would love to see:

• An understanding of retail, insight and customers; category, buying or promotions knowledge would be an advantage.
• Strong analytical skills, including turning data into insight, solving problems and developing recommendations for stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build strong working relationships and provide support and constructive challenge to stakeholders at different levels.
• An ambitious and motivated approach, with the initiative to solve problems, improve processes, think independently, learn and grow.
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to plan, prioritise, coordinate, drive timelines and identify risks and opportunities.
• Strong working knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 20% of salary, depending on how we perform.

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, interest free car loan of up to £10k, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an Employee Assistance Programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).