Category Development Manager

Suntory Holdings Limited; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Suntory Holdings Limited in Amsterdam (NL) is seeking a Category Development Manager Benelux to define where we play and how we win in the soft drinks category. You will translate shopper and market insights into clear growth priorities that guide portfolio and investment decisions.

You will lead cross‑functional projects with Commercial Excellence, Marketing, Sales and BI, shaping long‑term strategy and day‑to‑day plans across Belgium and the Netherlands.

Qualifications

• Significant experience within Category Development, Shopper Strategy, Trade Marketing or Commercial Excellence.
• Fluent English. Dutch and/or French would be beneficial.
• Strong analytical judgement with ability to turn insights into recommendations.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Shape the Benelux category vision and identify whitespace opportunities across the soft drinks category.
• Build a deep understanding of shopper needs, occasions and paths to purchase.
• Translate opportunities into clear priorities for longer term strategy and annual plans.
• Lead Benelux In & Out agenda and develop business cases for new introductions or removals.
• Influence portfolio, innovation and investments based on category and shopper insights.
• Lead cross functional projects from opportunity identification to recommendation and implementation.
• Collaborate with Commercial Excellence, Marketing, Brand, Customer Category Management, BI, RGM and senior leadership.

Skills

Category Development

Shopper Strategy

Trade Marketing

Commercial Excellence

Project Management

Stakeholder Influence

Job description

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Category Development Manager

Requisition ID: 13044

Who We Are

Suntory Group is a global leader in consumer-packaged goods, renowned for producing and distributing a uniquely diverse portfolio of beverages, premium spirits, beer, wine, and wellness products throughout the world. Founded as a family-owned business in 1899 in Osaka, Japan, Suntory has grown into a company operating throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. We are driven by a profound purpose: To inspire the brilliance of life, by creating rich experiences for people, in harmony with nature.

At Suntory Beverage and Food, we boldly move forward together to realize the dreams of becoming a world-leading next-generation global beverage company – you are an important part of this and here’s how your role helps us win.
Here, you have the opportunity to work with talented and inspiring leaders, the freedom to dream big and think differently. We commit to creating a work environment where you can bring your true self and Unleash your Spirit.

The Category Development Manager Benelux defines where to play and how to win for priority categories. The role turns shopper, occasion, category and market understanding into clear growth choices and strategic recommendations. As the senior category authority within Commercial Excellence and a strategic right hand to Brand Managers, the role shapes category and portfolio choices, leads the Benelux In & Out agenda across channels, and connects category opportunities with customer, channel, RGM and activation expertise.

About your role

Do you naturally look beyond individual brands and see the bigger category opportunity? Are you curious about why shoppers make the choices they do, where future growth will come from, and how those insights can shape commercial strategy?

As Category Development Manager Benelux, you will help define where we play and how we win across the soft drinks category. You’ll take a broad, forward-looking view of the market, identifying the segments, shopper opportunities and growth spaces that could shape our future portfolio across Belgium and the Netherlands. Your recommendations will influence our longer-term category strategy and priorities within MTP and AOP.

This is a highly influential role within Commercial Excellence. You’ll combine shopper and market understanding with strong commercial judgement to turn insight into clear choices, helping the business decide where to invest, what to prioritise and which opportunities have the greatest potential for sustainable growth.

This role can be based out of Amsterdam (NL) or Hoeilaart (BE).

What You'll Do

• Shape our Benelux category vision: Develop a holistic view of the soft drinks category, looking beyond our existing brands to identify attractive segments, whitespace opportunities and future growth spaces.
• Bring the shopper to the heart of our decisions: Build a deep understanding of shopper needs, occasions, missions and path to purchase, helping us understand not just what people buy, but why they buy it and how they behave at the point of purchase.
• Turn strategy into action: Translate category opportunities into clear priorities for MTP and AOP, ensuring longer-term strategy becomes actionable commercial plans.
• Shape our portfolio: Lead the Benelux In & Out agenda and develop commercial business cases for where products should be introduced, expanded or potentially removed across retail and out-of-home channels.
• Influence innovation and investment choices: Bring the category and shopper perspective into portfolio and innovation decisions, helping assess the size of the prize, market fit, customer relevance and potential return.
• Lead our shopper insight agenda: Work with external insight, data and research partners, decide where we need deeper shopper understanding and turn those learnings into practical recommendations for the business.
• Influence across the business: Partner closely with Commercial Excellence, Marketing, Brand, Customer Category Management, BI, RGM and senior leadership, using insight and expertise to align stakeholders around the opportunities that matter most.
• Lead cross-functional category projects: Bring structure to complex commercial questions and lead multiple strategic projects from opportunity identification through to recommendation and implementation.

What's in it for you

This is an opportunity to step beyond traditional category management and help shape the future of our soft drinks business in the Benelux. You won’t simply analyse the category as it exists today. You’ll help determine where we should play tomorrow.

You’ll have genuine strategic influence, helping shape portfolio, innovation and investment choices and contributing to decisions made at Benelux leadership level. At the same time, you’ll remain close enough to the market and shopper to see your thinking translate into tangible commercial action.

You’ll join a collaborative Commercial Excellence environment where expertise and influence matter more than hierarchy, with exposure across Sales, Marketing, Brand, Insights and other commercial disciplines. The role also provides a strong platform for future opportunities in Category Strategy, Shopper/Customer Strategy, Commercial Strategy, RGM or broader Commercial Excellence leadership.

What You need to be successful

We’re looking for someone who can comfortably move between big-picture thinking and commercial execution. You can take a complex category, shopper or market question, find the opportunity within it, and turn that into a clear recommendation that others can act on.

You’ll ideally bring:

• Significant experience within Category Development, Shopper Strategy, Trade Marketing or Commercial Excellence, ideally within FMCG.
• A strong understanding of category strategy and shopper behaviour, including shopper needs, missions, occasions, path to purchase and identifying whitespace opportunities.
• The ability to take a helicopter view, balancing immediate commercial opportunities with a longer-term vision for category and portfolio growth.
• Strong commercial and analytical judgement, with the ability to combine both quantitative and qualitative insights and translate them into a compelling story and clear recommendations.
• The confidence to influence senior stakeholders without direct authority, challenge existing priorities constructively and build alignment around where to focus.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to lead multiple cross-functional initiatives and external partners simultaneously.
• Familiarity with sources such as NielsenIQ, Circana, GfK, retailer data or shopper research platforms would be beneficial.
• Fluent English. Dutch and/or French would be beneficial
• Most importantly, you’ll be curious. Curious about shoppers, categories, competitors and what is changing in the market, with the confidence to turn that curiosity into choices that can shape our future growth.

Our DEI Commitment

At Suntory, we recognize that diverse knowledge, perspectives, and backgrounds contribute to our collective success. We are committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace where all individuals can bring their whole selves to work every day, regardless of race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, neurodiversity, or differing abilities, age, or any other protected characteristic.

Our recruitment and selection processes are designed to highlight what Suntory offers as an employer while allowing candidates to share their unique skills and experiences. We understand that career trajectories vary, and if you believe your experience/background can benefit our team, we encourage you to apply. We endeavor to make our interview process as inclusive as possible and offer reasonable accommodations as needed. Together, we can cultivate a workplace where everyone can thrive and propel our mission of Growing for Good.