Senior Category Manager

Co-op; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 68,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail organization in Manchester is seeking a Senior Category Manager to join their Propositions team. The candidate will lead category strategies driven by customer insights while managing a team and collaborating cross-functionally. The role offers upto £80,000 and includes a hybrid work environment. Ideal candidates possess leadership skills and a background in retail or FMCG.

Benefits

Annual bonus based on performance

28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service)

Pension with up to 10% employer contributions

Private healthcare

Subsidised onsite gym access

Career development coaching and training

Wagestream app for pay access

Qualifications

• Strong people leadership and management experience.
• A background in retail, FMCG, or customer-focused category roles.
• Experience in category management, buying, or account management roles.
• Ability to manage complex partner relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategy and vision for a group of categories.
• Deliver customer-focused, commercially sound category plans.
• Own the financial delivery of your categories.
• Develop a team of Category Managers and Assistants.
• Collaborate with key partners across different teams.
• Ensure timely delivery of promotional/range events.

Skills

Strong people leadership

Category management

Retail or FMCG background

Understanding customer behaviour

Job description

Senior Category Manager
Up to £80,000 plus great benefits including car (Work Level 5)
Manchester city centre, in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and coming into the office at least two to three times a week

We’re looking for a Senior Category Manager to join our Propositions team and help shape the future of our customer offer. If you’re passionate about understanding customer needs, and ready to lead a team to deliver real impact, this could be the role for you.

Why this role matters

At Co-op, we’re on a mission to make things fairer, better, and more inclusive for our customers and communities. This role sits at the heart of that mission. You’ll lead the development of category strategies that are driven by customer insight, helping us build compelling propositions that meet evolving needs and deliver growth. Your work will directly influence our food business performance and help us stay ahead of the market.

This is a brilliant opportunity to take the next step in your career, working alongside Heads of Trading and Commercial in a role that offers real scope and influence.

What you’ll do

• Lead the strategy and vision for a group of categories, making sure there’s alignment across the wider Customer Development team
• Deliver category plans that are customer‑focused, commercially sound, and operationally achievable
• Own the financial delivery of your categories, contributing to the overall Food business P&L (profit and loss)
• Manage and develop a team of Category Managers and Assistants (around 5 to 6 colleagues)
• Work closely with key partners across Co-op Brand, Price & Promotions, Range & Format, and our Operations teams
• Make sure that critical paths are followed, and that promotional/range events are delivered on time
• Champion collaboration across functions to bring people together and drive change

What you’ll bring

• Strong people leadership and management experience
• A background in retail, FMCG, or customer‑focused category roles (supplier or sales side welcome)
• A broad commercial skillset and experience managing complex partner relationships
• A passion for understanding customer behaviour and translating insight into action
• Experience in category management, buying, or account management roles
• The ability to work in detail while keeping sight of the bigger picture

Why Co‑op?

• An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
• 28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays
• A pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• Private healthcare
• Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ)
• Coaching and training to support your career development
• Wagestream app – giving you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn

Building a diverse environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply.

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process.

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme at Disability Confident Scheme - Co-op Colleagues and more about our commitments to diversity and inclusion at Diversity and Inclusion.

Please note that we may close applications for this role early.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co‑op colleague, this does not need to be completed.