Category Management - Future Leaders Graduate Program

Picnic Technologies; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fresh Lunch, coffee, and snacks

Health insurance via CZ discount

Lease a Bike discountable program

Job summary

Picnic is seeking high-potential graduates for its Category Management - Future Leaders Graduate Program in Amsterdam. You’ll start in Buying, Category Management, or Private Label based on strengths, with real ownership from day one instead of a fixed rotation.

You’ll build on data insights, negotiate with suppliers, and contribute to private label development while growing across multiple focus areas and taking ownership of your career path.

Qualifications

• MSc degree in a relevant field with up to 1 year of work experience.
• Internships or student activities in Start up/FMCG/retail preferred.
• Strong data-to-action mindset and stakeholder communication.

Responsibilities

• Dive into customer data, market trends, and supplier insights.
• Negotiate with suppliers and support private label development.
• Help optimize assortment, pricing, and product range.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align goals.
• Own projects end-to-end and shape your growth path.

Skills

MSc degree

Internship experience

Analytical mindset

Multitasking

English fluency

Dutch bonus

Education

MSc in Business, Economics, Analytics, Food Retail, or related field

Job description

Category Management - Future Leaders Graduate Program

We’re looking for driven and curious future commercial leaders to join Picnic as part of our Category Management - Future Leaders Graduate Program. You'll work in the beating heart of our assortment strategy - diving deep into data, negotiating with suppliers, and creating the next product that makes customers smile.

You’ll start in one of our Commercial positions (Buying, Category Management, or Private Label) based on your strengths and interests, and shape your role from there. No fixed rotation. No waiting. Just real ownership from day one!

Tricks of the trade

Depending on your focus area, here’s what you could be doing:

• Category management: Dive into customer data, market trends, and supplier insights to build a razor-sharp understanding of your category. Use this to guide commercial strategy and product choices.
• Data-first buying decisions: Use customer behavior, sales trends, and pricing data to identify winning products and smart category innovations.
• Supplier negotiations: Prepare and lead negotiations that secure the best terms. From initial outreach to signed contracts, you'll own the process end-to-end.
• Private Label development: Collaborate on the creation of Picnic’s own products - from sustainable packaging and pricing to quality checks and market positioning.
• Product & range optimization: Evaluate product performance and identify gaps or overlaps. Spot opportunities to improve assortment, margin, or availability.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Partner with supply chain, design, and analytics teams to align commercial goals with operational excellence.
• Category improvement plans: Build and execute clear improvement roadmaps, always balancing customer experience, commercial impact, and long-term category health.
• And the best part? You can pivot between focus areas over time. Your growth is not linear, it’s yours to shape.

Your superpowers

• Finishing (or recently completed) an MSc in Business, Economics, Analytics, Food Retail, or a related field with up to 1 year of (full time) work experience.
• Practical experience gained via internships, student organizations, or extracurricular activities are mandatory - ideally within a Start up/FMCG/retail
• A sharp analytical mindset with a commercial instinct; able to connect the dots between data and action
• Able to juggle multiple projects without losing focus - structured, persistent, and calm under pressure
• Known for building strong relationships and communicating clearly across diverse teams and stakeholders
• Always scanning for opportunities - whether it’s a smarter way to negotiate, a better price, or a product with untapped potential
• Naturally curious and quick to take ownership; not afraid to get stuck into the details
• Fluent in English; Dutch is a bonus, not a must
• You love food, retail, tech - or all three!

This is the start of a real career - not just a job or a rotation. You’ll build, learn, and grow with a team that thrives on doing things differently.

Excited? So are we.

Note: This is not a one-time hire. We’re hiring for this role throughout the year as part of our ongoing growth and expansion.

Picnic perks

• Fresh Lunch, coffee, and snacks
• Our offices are equipped with fully-fledged coffee bars and a kitchen and chefs. They prepare delicious fresh and warm lunches every day so you can keep your energy up.
• We have a partnership with CZ (a health insurance provider). Picnic employees get a discount on CZ insurance packages between 5% and 15%. Furthermore, through our partnership with Lease a Bike, you can rent-to-own a new (e)bike at a discounted rate
• You’ll get ample opportunity to work on yourself at Picnic. We offer personal development through Lepaya courses, Academy trainings, and more. Interested in improving your mental wellbeing? Through OpenUp you get free access to trained psychologists and many courses.
• All the rest
• At Picnic you get 25 holidays, we cover your travel expenses and offer a pension plan. And your phone and laptop are on us, as well.

A bit about us

When you join Picnic, you’re joining the shopping revolution, delivering groceries to millions of people across Europe, and we’re growing fast. Think super fresh products and personal service, but in a modern, sustainable way. And we’re the only ones in the world doing it all by ourselves. From our fully automated fulfillment centre to delivery algorithms and marketing campaigns: we do it all in-house. Our team consists of 85+ nationalities and we’re always looking for new talent. Ready for the ride?

Recruitment Process

1. CV screening
2. Phone screening
3. Online assessment
4. Interviews
5. Assessment day
6. Closing interview
7. Offer

Commitment to equal opportunities

Picnic is an equal opportunity employer—this means that all decisions regarding applications will be based on qualifications and merit. Applicants will be regarded independently of age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, skin color, civil status, religious beliefs, physical or mental disability, or any other factors protected by law.
At Picnic, we celebrate and value our differences and are committed to building a safe and inclusive working environment where everyone can be themselves.

Our Mentality

At Picnic, we build from scratch with an owner’s mindset. We dive into the unknown, taking end-to-end responsibility for every outcome, going the extra mile to tackle complex challenges. We turn insights into action, working as a team to get things done. We move fast, never compromising on quality or long-term impact. With grit and commitment we build what has never been built before!