Category Strategy Controller

Glanbia; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff discounts

Generous family leave

Health & dental plan

Competitive salary

Job summary

Glanbia is seeking a senior Category Strategy Controller based in London with hybrid working to lead Europe’s category growth agenda across markets, channels and customers. You will translate insight into a clear category vision and practical plans that connect long-range strategy with local execution.

You will own the category strategy, partner with Sales, Brand & Portfolio, Innovation, Revenue Growth Management and Insights, and build senior relationships with retailers and distributors to

Qualifications

• Significant senior-level FMCG experience across category strategy and development.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into actionable customer and market outcomes.
• Experience leading matrixed teams across multiple markets.

Responsibilities

• Own the European category vision and strategy with multi-year growth agenda.
• Identify growth drivers and strategic plays shaping portfolio and commercial plans.
• Translate strategy into market and channel frameworks for local teams.
• Embed category thinking into annual and long-range planning.
• CoT_job_summary_short

Skills

FMCG experience

Category strategy

Category development

Consumer/Shopper insight

Commercial strategy

Customer marketing

Leadership

Cross-functional leadership

European retail/omnichannel

Customer relationships with retailers

Strategic thinking

Storytelling/communication

Stakeholder management

Fluent English

Continental European languages (desire

Job description

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Join this dynamic team focused on delivering better nutrition for every step of life's journey

The Opportunity

The Category Strategy Controller is a role within the Europe Customer, Strategy & Operations team, accountable for setting and commercialising the category growth agenda across the region. The role places the customer, shopper and consumer at the heart of business planning, translating insight and foresight into a clear category vision, strategic choices and market-level growth plans.

This role will connect long-range category strategy with practical commercial execution. They will shape where and how GPN and the sports nutrition category can grow across markets, channels, customers and formats; create compelling category narratives; and equip local teams to influence retailer and distributor plans

The role will partner closely with Sales, Brand & Portfolio, Innovation, Revenue Growth Management, Trade Marketing, Insights, Finance and Customer Operations.

The role requires an enterprise‑minded individual who can move confidently between European strategy and local market realities, build senior internal and external relationships, lead through influence, and raise category capability across a matrix organisation. Success will be measured through the quality and adoption of the category strategy, stronger customer partnerships, improved commercial choices, and delivery of sustainable category and brand growth.

Responsibilities

• Own the European category vision and strategy, defining a clear multi-year growth agenda rooted in consumer, shopper, customer, channel and market insight.
• Identify and prioritise the major category growth drivers, future demand spaces and strategic plays that will shape portfolio, innovation, channel, customer and commercial plans.
• Translate the European strategy into practical market and channel frameworks, enabling local teams to build relevant, insight-led category plans while maintaining strategic coherence across Europe.
• Embed category thinking into annual business planning and long-range planning, ensuring external market and customer perspectives inform business choices, investment priorities and growth plans.

Category Commercialisation & Customer Leadership:

• Create inspiring, evidence-led category narratives and customer-facing stories that establish GPN as a valued growth partner and strengthen thought leadership in sports nutrition.
• Partner with market commercial teams to tailor category strategy for priority retailers and distributors, converting the European vision into actionable recommendations on range, space, merchandising, channel, format, promotion and activation.
• Support and lead strategic customer engagements, including category vision sessions, joint business planning, category reviews and senior customer workshops.
• Build approaches that strengthen long-term customer relationships and create opportunities for category leadership, collaborative growth initiatives and breakthrough execution.
• Define principles and toolkits that help teams sell brand plans through a category lens and demonstrate the value of GPN's portfolio to customers and shoppers.

Insight, Foresight & Strategic Planning:

• Set the strategic learning agenda for category growth, identifying the critical questions and evidence required to guide business decisions across Europe.
• Synthesize consumer, shopper, customer, market, cultural and competitive insight into clear strategic implications, moving beyond reporting to identify what the business should do differently.
• Partner with Market Intelligence and Insights teams to ensure data, research and foresight are integrated into category strategy, customer propositions and commercial decision making.
• Develop forward-looking perspectives on emerging needs, occasions, channels, formats and retail models, connecting these to portfolio and innovation opportunities.
• Establish a clear performance and learning framework for the category strategy, tracking adoption, outcomes and evolving market dynamics to refresh choices over time.
• Act as the category strategy partner to Brand & Portfolio and Innovation teams, ensuring consumer and category opportunities shape portfolio choices, innovation platforms and market sequencing.
• Provide an external and customer lens to range architecture, pack-price, channel and format decisions, working with Revenue Growth Management and commercial teams to balance category, shopper and business value.
• Shape the category case for priority launches and strategic initiatives, defining the customer and shopper rationale and supporting effective sell-in and execution.
• Identify gaps and white-space opportunities across markets and channels, developing high-quality recommendations that connect insight to growth action.

Leadership, Capability & Ways of Working:

• Lead, coach and develop category strategy capability across Europe, creating a connected community with clear standards, shared tools and strong career development.
• Build a high-performance, inclusive culture that combines strategic ambition, curiosity, commercial pragmatism and accountability for outcomes.
• Create effective governance and planning rhythms that focus resources on the highest-value opportunities and enable clear, timely decision making.
• Share and reapply best practice across markets, accelerating learning while encouraging local experimentation and adaptation.
• Influence senior stakeholders across functions and geographies, constructively challenging assumptions and aligning teams behind a common category and customer agenda.

The Skills you will bring to the team

• Significant senior-level FMCG experience across category strategy, category development, consumer or shopper insight, commercial strategy, customer marketing or related disciplines.
• A strong track record of creating and commercialising category visions and translating strategy into tangible customer, market and business outcomes.
• Demonstrated success leading and developing high-performing teams, including leadership through matrix or dotted-line structures across multiple markets.
• Deep understanding of European retail, distributor and omnichannel environments, with the ability to adapt strategic frameworks to different market conditions and customer needs.
• Strong customer orientation and experience building trusted, senior relationships with retailers, distributors and internal commercial leaders.
• Exceptional strategic thinking, insight synthesis and commercial judgement, with the ability to identify the few choices that matter and convert ambiguity into a clear path forward.
• Compelling communication and storytelling skills, able to make complex evidence simple, inspire action and influence audiences from working teams to senior leadership.
• Proven cross-functional leadership across Sales, Marketing, Innovation, RGM, Insights, Finance and Operations, with the confidence to challenge and align senior stakeholders.
• Strong programme and change leadership, able to manage multiple priorities, establish disciplined ways of working and move from strategy to execution at pace.
• Comfort with category, consumer, shopper and customer data sources, and the ability to direct analysis and evaluate evidence without losing sight of the commercial decision.
• Fluent English required. Additional Continental European languages are highly desirable.

Where and how you will work

The opportunity will be based in London with hybrid working arrangements available which offer you a greater choice in how you work and live, giving you a better work-life balance.

What we would like to offer you!

The opportunity to develop your career on a global stage, continuous learning through an on-demand learning platform, and a competitive compensation package including staff discounts, generous family leave policy, health & dental plan and competitive salary.

About Glanbia

Glanbia is a better nutrition company with three divisions: Performance Nutrition, Health & Nutrition and Dairy Nutrition. Collectively and with our partners we offer an incredible breadth of expertise in nutrition. We employ a team of 5800 people, work with global food and beverage companies, and sell our award-winning and market-leading brands and ingredients in more than 100 countries worldwide

At Glanbia, we celebrate diversity, because we know that our individual strengths make us stronger together. We welcome and encourage interest from a variety of candidates, we will give your application consideration, without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

At Glanbia, our culture celebrates individuality, knowing that together we are more.