Product Category Director - Interconnect & Electromechanical

Avnet; Leeds; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic Product Category Director to lead a pivotal area of their business. This role involves managing a global team, driving innovative commercial strategies, and fostering strong relationships with suppliers and customers. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of the electronics sector and a proven track record in category management, particularly in an online B2B environment. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape the future direction of the sector and influence market performance while working in a collaborative and high-impact environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience with 5+ years in management roles.
• Strong background in category management, preferably in B2B.

Responsibilities

• Lead a global team of 20, driving sales and margin growth.
• Develop and implement creative commercial strategies.

Skills

Leadership

Category Management

Relationship Building

E-commerce Strategy

Change Management

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree (preferred)

Job description

Farnell

Farnell, an Avnet company, is a global high-service distributor of technology products, services and solutions for electronic system design, maintenance and repair.

Farnell Global are seeking a dynamic Product Category Director to lead a fast-paced and high-impact area of our business.

Experience in the electronics industry is essential, as we need someone who can bring a deep understanding of the sector, drive a bold commercial vision, introduce innovative ideas, and inspire teams through transformational leadership.

This role is pivotal in shaping the future direction of the sector, influencing market performance, and driving long-term success in the years ahead.

Job Summary
You will have full responsibility of managing a team of around 20 heads, consisting of Product Leads and Buyers on a global level. This role is all about creating and implementing creative commercial strategies to drive the product sector forward and stay at the top of the game when it comes to competition.

Each product business unit is empowered to design and execute a strategy that will drive financial results and enable above market rate growth. As a Product Category Director you’re responsible for enabling the success of these business units globally.

You will guide each business unit in creating the product, price and inventory strategy that will gain market share, increase our customer base and provide a stable and growing operating income % throughout all stages of the product and market lifecycle. You will focus on leading and developing the product proposition through digital channels first and support sales and marketing teams to create a multi-channel approach.

Success depends on strong leadership across the Farnell organisation, excellent collaboration, and outstanding relationships with suppliers and customers.

What You Will Be Doing

• Own sales, margin and working capital globally, take matrix leadership of cost to serve, customer base growth and OI%
• Lead and manage circa 20 individuals using a range of leadership styles and tools. Promote strong accountability and manage performance daily
• Own driving business online through delivering a compelling online product proposition – bringing together product range, inventory, service and price.
• Enable success within the sales organizations by providing direction and support across inside sales, outside sales and marketing through digital and offline channels
• Deliver a category product and supplier strategy in line with the overall Farnell business strategy
• Build strong relationships with suppliers to deliver mutual growth
• Identify suppliers and technologies that will diversify and enhance the category
• Collaborate beyond the Farnell organization with CPC and the greater Avnet organization
• Gather, interpret and share market intelligence and market share performance data to enable better decisions across Farnell and Avnet Inc.
• Understand and translate customer needs and market share gaining enhancements into business deliverables
• Other duties as assigned.

What We Are Looking For

• Proven ability to lead large global organizations, and execute through direct and indirect management
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with colleagues, suppliers and customers, and leverage these relationships to attain business goals and shape business strategy
• Experience in leading and developing multi-layer teams as well as managing optimal performance of individuals
• Understanding a category management, preferably in an online environment in a B2B sector
• Provides strong leadership and effectively drives change
• Drive a continuous improvement mindset to identify and implement efficiencies

Work Experience:

• Typically 10+ years including 5+ years of management experience
• Experience/Knowledge in electronics or other online category management would be advantageous but not essential
• Experience leading a global team where collaboration and relationship building are key to success
• Experience in an ecommerce and multichannel environment