Junior Category Manager

Mayborn Group Limited; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Tommee Tippee in the UK is seeking a Junior Category Manager to support growth across assigned categories, using market, consumer, shopper, customer and business insights to drive actionable category plans.

You will work with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing and RGM to translate data into category and commercial actions, including pricing, promotion, NPD input, and customer development.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics or a related discipline.
• Successful completion of a relevant placement year or internship, ideally within FMCG, consumer goods, retail, category, commercial, marketing, finance or business analysis.
• Demonstrable experience working with commercial data and turning analysis into recommendations.
• Evidence of taking ownership of projects and delivering against objectives.
• Experience working cross-functionally or with different stakeholders.
• Previous exposure to customer, category or commercial environments is desirable but not essential.
• Strong commercial curiosity and interest in understanding what drives business performance.
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable engaging with stakeholders across different functions and levels.
• Able to challenge constructively using evidence and insight.
• Self-starter who takes accountability for delivering agreed objectives.
• Strong organisation and project management skills.
• High attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Develop a strong understanding of assigned categories, including market, consumer, shopper, customer and competitor dynamics.
• Analyse market and business performance to identify opportunities, risks and areas for growth.
• Develop clear category insights and recommendations from multiple data sources.
• Monitor changes in the market, consumer behaviour and competitor activity and identify implications for Tommee Tippee.
• Support the development of annual category strategies and progressively take ownership of defined strategic workstreams.
• Identify category opportunities and Must Win Battles and translate these into clear actions.
• Act as a strong voice for the consumer, shopper and customer within the commercial team.
• Support and progressively take ownership of the annual 5P category plan across Product, Price, Promotion, Place and Presentation.
• Translate category strategy into clear annual and quarterly priorities.
• Maintain category action plans and track delivery against agreed objectives.
• Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing and RGM to ensure plans are aligned and executable.
• Support monthly and quarterly category performance reviews.
• Identify performance gaps and recommend actions to improve results.
• Analyse SKU, range and portfolio performance to identify growth and profitability opportunities.
• Support range and assortment recommendations by customer and channel.
• Identify opportunities for channel differentiation and portfolio optimisation.
• Support analysis of premiumisation, trade-up and mix opportunities.
• Monitor product lifecycle performance and support launch, growth and discontinuation plans.
• Work with relevant teams to ensure effective product ramp-up and run-down.
• Identify product and category opportunities using market, consumer, shopper and customer insight.
• Support the development of UK requirements for Global Category teams.
• Take ownership of defined commercial workstreams within NPD projects.
• Provide category and commercial input into NPD business cases.
• Support customer range and listing plans for new products.
• Track NPD performance against agreed business case expectations.
• Support effective launch execution across customers and channels.
• Work closely with the RGM Analyst to understand pricing, promotional and mix performance.
• Translate RGM analysis into clear category and customer recommendations.
• Support the development of category pricing and promotional strategies.
• Monitor competitor pricing and promotional activity.
• Support CPI analysis and implementation where required.
• Evaluate promotional performance and identify key learnings.
• Work with Sales to ensure agreed pricing and promotional strategies are effectively implemented.

Skills

Degree in Business/Marketing/Finance/E

Excel and data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication skills

Placement/internship in FMCG

Education

Degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics or related

Tools

Excel

Job description

Our Junior Category Manager opportunity is an early-career commercial role responsible for supporting the growth and development of assigned Tommee Tippee categories across the UK.

You will use market, consumer, shopper, customer and business performance insight to identify opportunities, develop recommendations and support the delivery of category and commercial strategies. You will also work with different internal departments to translate data and insight into clear commercial actions across portfolio, pricing, promotion, innovation and customer development.

The role is an opportunity for an ambitious candidate with relevant placement experience who is ready to take ownership of defined categories and commercial workstreams.

What you will be doing:

1. Category & Market Insight

• Develop a strong understanding of assigned categories, including market, consumer, shopper, customer and competitor dynamics.
• Analyse market and business performance to identify opportunities, risks and areas for growth.
• Develop clear category insights and recommendations from multiple data sources.
• Monitor changes in the market, consumer behaviour and competitor activity and identify implications for Tommee Tippee.
• Support the development of annual category strategies and progressively take ownership of defined strategic workstreams.
• Identify category opportunities and Must Win Battles and translate these into clear actions.
• Act as a strong voice for the consumer, shopper and customer within the commercial team.

2. Category & Commercial Planning

• Support and progressively take ownership of the annual 5P category plan across Product, Price, Promotion, Place and Presentation.
• Translate category strategy into clear annual and quarterly priorities.
• Maintain category action plans and track delivery against agreed objectives.
• Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing and RGM to ensure plans are aligned and executable.
• Support monthly and quarterly category performance reviews.
• Identify performance gaps and recommend actions to improve results.
• Analyse SKU, range and portfolio performance to identify growth and profitability opportunities.
• Support range and assortment recommendations by customer and channel.
• Identify opportunities for channel differentiation and portfolio optimisation.
• Support analysis of premiumisation, trade-up and mix opportunities.
• Monitor product lifecycle performance and support launch, growth and discontinuation plans.
• Work with relevant teams to ensure effective product ramp-up and run-down.
• Identify product and category opportunities using market, consumer, shopper and customer insight.
• Support the development of UK requirements for Global Category teams.
• Take ownership of defined commercial workstreams within NPD projects.
• Provide category and commercial input into NPD business cases.
• Support customer range and listing plans for new products.
• Track NPD performance against agreed business case expectations.
• Support effective launch execution across customers and channels.
• Work closely with the RGM Analyst to understand pricing, promotional and mix performance.
• Translate RGM analysis into clear category and customer recommendations.
• Support the development of category pricing and promotional strategies.
• Monitor competitor pricing and promotional activity.
• Support CPI analysis and implementation where required.
• Evaluate promotional performance and identify key learnings.
• Work with Sales to ensure agreed pricing and promotional strategies are effectively implemented.

6. Customer & Channel Development

• Partner with Sales to develop customer-specific category insights and recommendations.
• Prepare category presentations, customer sell-in materials and commercial stories.
• Support customer range reviews and joint business planning.
• Identify opportunities to improve distribution, assortment and category performance.
• Support the development of compelling category value stories for customers.
• Work with Retailer Category Management to incorporate customer and shopper insight into plans.
• Build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

7. Business Performance

• Own regular performance analysis for assigned categories.
• Monitor revenue, volume, market share, margin, distribution, mix and portfolio performance.
• Identify risks and opportunities and communicate these proactively.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly category performance reviews.
• Work with RGM and Finance to understand the key drivers of revenue and profitability.
• Track agreed actions and ensure follow-through.

8. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Build strong relationships across Sales, Marketing, RGM, Finance, Shopper Marketing, Trade Operations and Global Category teams.
• Participate actively in commercial and category meetings.
• Share relevant market and customer insight across the organisation.
• Influence stakeholders through clear analysis, recommendations and commercial thinking.
• Take ownership for delivering agreed projects and action.

What skills and experiences you'll need to ace this job:

• Degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics or a related discipline.
• Successful completion of a relevant placement year or internship, ideally within FMCG, consumer goods, retail, category, commercial, marketing, finance or business analysis.
• Demonstrable experience working with commercial data and turning analysis into recommendations.
• Evidence of taking ownership of projects and delivering against objectives.
• Experience working cross-functionally or with different stakeholders.
• Previous exposure to customer, category or commercial environments is desirable but not essential.
• Strong commercial curiosity and interest in understanding what drives business performance.
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable engaging with stakeholders across different functions and levels.
• Able to challenge constructively using evidence and insight.
• Self-starter who takes accountability for delivering agreed objectives.
• Strong organisation and project management skills.
• High attention to detail.