Category Planner - Grocery Food (C4)

Sainsbury’s Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading grocery retailer is seeking a Category Planner to join their Grocery Food team in Greater London. This role involves coordinating promotional strategies across various platforms and collaborating with internal teams and external partners to optimize sales. Candidates should possess strong project management skills, be proficient in Excel, and have the ability to influence stakeholders. The position offers a competitive benefits package, including colleague discounts, a pension scheme, and a performance-related bonus.

Benefits

Colleague discount

Pension scheme and life cover

Performance-related bonus

Annual holiday allowance

Season ticket loans

Interest-free car loan

Cycle to work scheme

Private healthcare

Qualifications

• Highly organised with strong planning and prioritising skills.
• Excellent project management and communication skills necessary.
• Ability to influence stakeholders effectively.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and optimise the promotional strategy.
• Work with stakeholders to enhance promotional plans.
• Utilise data to inform decisions and performance reviews.

Skills

Project management

Organisational skills

Stakeholder management

Client-centricity

Excel (Basic)

Communication

Job description

Job Summary

We are currently looking for a Category Planner to join the Grocery Food team here at Sainsbury's. To succeed in the highly competitive landscape of grocery retail, you must be bold, make decisions quickly, and spot opportunities where others do not. We are looking for a motivated, organised and commercially minded individual who is passionate about retail and excited to play a pivotal role in the success of Sainsbury's largest food category. Our Grocery Food team is a diverse group of problem solvers and strategic thinkers, passionate about delivering exceptional experiences for our customers.

Key Responsibilities

As a Category Planner in the Grocery Food team, you will coordinate and optimise the promotional strategy across all secondary space, key events and channels. You will work alongside a range of stakeholders—from buyers to marketing and space teams—as well as external partners in our supply base. Day‑to‑day, you will own and oversee the promotional plan across in‑aisle, online and other promotional spaces, ensuring messages land effectively with customers to drive incremental sales and volume. You will activate plans within required timelines, collaborate with cross‑functional teams and use insight and data to inform decisions and lead performance reviews.

Qualifications & Skills

You should be highly organised, thrive on planning and prioritising, and demonstrate initiative to solve problems and improve processes. To succeed in this role, you will need excellent project management and strong communication skills to build relationships and influence stakeholders. You should be confident using Excel and PowerPoint, and able to manage projects effectively to deliver results.

• Project management, organisational and stakeholder management skills, with strong abilities to influence
• Demonstrable commitment to compliance, simplicity and continuous improvement to processes
• Proven customer‑centricity, with experience using qualitative and quantitative insights
• Basic Excel skills (VLookups) and understanding of com­ericals; advanced analysis not required

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you will be welcomed regardless of who you are and wherever you work.

Benefits

Here are some of the benefits we offer:

• Colleague discount: 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks; increases to 15% off at Sainsbury's every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day.
• Pension scheme and life cover
• Performance‑related bonus up to 20% of salary, depending on performance
• Annual holiday allowance, with option to purchase additional holiday
• Season ticket loans
• Interest‑free car loan up to £10k
• Cycle to work scheme
• Health cash plans
• Pay advance
• Access to a range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Private healthcare
• Maternity or adoption leave up to 26 weeks’ pay and paternity leave up to 4 weeks’ pay

Other Information

Your wellbeing is important to us; we also offer flexible working where possible and recognise colleagues who go the extra mile.

Legal and Equality Statement

We are a truly inclusive retailer and we welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities. Sainsbury’s is an EEO employer.