Senior Category Manager

Costa Coffee; St Albans; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Share Investment Plan (SIP)

Annual discretionary bonus

Smart pension

Costa Financial Support Fund

Store discounts (50% Costa, 25% others

Private medical cover

Job summary

Costa Coffee in the UK seeks a Global Category Manager - Portfolio to shape where we play across AFH machines, ecommerce, soluble and consumables. You will define a future-focused roadmap, drive investment decisions, and lead cross-functional teams to deliver innovative growth propositions.

You’ll partner with finance and markets to build robust business cases, influence senior stakeholders, and govern complex programmes while championing Costa’s values and community initiatives.

Qualifications

• Strategic acumen to interpret market trends and set direction.
• Strong business planning to prioritise delivery of strategic agendas.
• Proven project management skills for cross-functional programmes.
• Marketing ability to develop consumer and customer messaging.

Responsibilities

• Define and deliver the global AFH portfolio strategy and roadmap.
• Lead portfolio investments and market prioritisation.
• Develop commercial models and business cases with finance and markets.
• Influence senior stakeholders with data-driven recommendations.
• Drive governance across programmes and manage key partnerships.

Skills

Strategic acumen

Business planning

Project management

Marketing

Job description

At Costa Coffee, we are what we craft. We’re reimagining coffee experiences in over 50 countries and counting, as a key part of the Coca-Cola System. Whether you get your coffee in a store, from a machine, at home, or on the go – we’ve got you covered.

In this role you will lead Costa's global AFH portfolio strategy, shaping where we play and invest across machines, ecommerce, soluble and consumables. Define a future-focused roadmap, drive investment decisions, and work cross-functionally to deliver innovative propositions that accelerate growth across priority markets.

Our teams make a difference. Whether that’s working on new tech for the perfect pour, helping our teams grow, creating award-winning campaigns, crunching the numbers, or developing the latest exciting menu item; together, we stir up success.

We may be a global brand, but we haven’t forgotten our roots. That’s where the Costa Foundation and our fantastic community agenda come in. Whatever your role, you can help us change lives in coffee growing communities and help your local community too.

We also want to help you grow in your career through amazing experiences, our apprenticeship scheme, and development programmes. At Costa, you can go beyond the day-to-day.

And as a Global Category Manager - Portfolio, there’s never been a better time to join.

So, why Costa?

We didn’t become a global coffee brand by sitting back. When you work here, you join a community that values passion, progression and integrity, with some pretty brilliant perks to sweeten the deal:

• Own a piece of Costa’s success by becoming a share owner in Coca-Cola with our Share Investment Plan (SIP)
• An annual discretionary bonus scheme, based on business results and individual contribution.
• A smart pension that saves you money on tax and national insurance, and matches your contributions up to 10%
• The Costa Financial Support Fund, supporting team members who find themselves in unexpected financial pressure
• 50% discount in all Costa-owned stores, and 25% off in other participating stores
• Private medical cover thanks to our Private Healthcare scheme
• And that’s not all. Explore even more of our perks here: https://bit.ly/costaperks

We’re passionate about being a great place to work, where you can bring your unique self into our mix. We firmly support diversity, equity and inclusion, and continue to work with our teams to shape the future of our culture and values: Disciplined to Deliver, Passion for Progress, Win with Warmth, Courage to Challenge and Trusted Team Players.

What you’ll do:

Being a Global Category Manager - Portfolio is about so much more than bringing our coffee to the world. It’s your chance to stir up real success - which means you’ll be:

• Defining and delivering the global AFH portfolio strategy, vision and roadmap, driving long-term growth across machines, coffee and non‑coffee categories.
• Leading portfolio investment decisions, capability development and market prioritisation, ensuring resources are focused on the highest‑value opportunities.
• Developing robust commercial models and business cases, partnering with finance and market teams to evaluate opportunities and maximise returns.
• Influence and align senior stakeholders through clear strategic recommendations, market insight and data‑driven decision making.
• Drive pace, execution and governance across complex cross‑functional programmes, managing key partnerships and providing transparent progress updates.

Who you are:

It’s your unique ingredients we’re interested in:

• Strategic acumen – ability to understand insights, competitor/market trends and set direction.
• Business planning – ability to prioritise and plan delivery of complex strategic agendas.
• Project management – ability to structure delivery of cross functional projects/programmes.
• Marketing – ability to develop impactful consumer and customer messaging and activation plans.

Where you’ll work:

Right now, our Support Centre teams work flexibly, blending home working with in‑person time whenever it matters most – whether that’s a team moment, a creative session, or simply coming together to share ideas.

We’re excited to be moving into a new home for our brand in St Albans in January 2027 – an inspiring space from which our Support Centre teams will work three days a week to connect and collaborate in‑person to bring our bold ambition to life.

For any reasonable adjustments and general queries, please get in touch with [e-mail]