Relevant degree in Business, Marketing, Foodservice, or equivalent experience.
Demonstrated category management or buying experience in convenience retail or foodservice, especially with prepared meals and refrigerated products.
Strong commercial and analytical skills in assortment, pricing, promotions, and supplier negotiations.
Practical understanding of perishability, cold-chain distribution, and food safety constraints.
Ability to translate insights into actionable category plans and influence cross-functional teams.
Responsibilities
Own annual category plans, sales and profit budgets, and corrective actions based on market benchmarks.
Set and optimize assortment, pricing, promotions, and merchandising strategies to enhance customer value.
Manage productivity across various food categories, balancing core and seasonal offerings with local demand.
Lead supplier business reviews and negotiate commercial terms, documenting costs and promotional funding.
Collaborate with Supply Chain and Operations to optimize ordering parameters and reduce waste.
Partner with Innovation and Private Label teams on product briefs and launch decisions, ensuring commercial viability.
Translate category plans into execution requirements for Operations and confirm store readiness before activation.
Conduct category and post-promotion reviews to recommend range changes and corrective actions.
Benefits
Office-based role with opportunities for store visits and supplier meetings.
Engagement in product trials and innovation initiatives.
Collaboration with cross-functional teams to enhance professional development.
Full Job Description
Position Summary
The Category Manager - Food Categories will be responsible for leading the commercial performance of prepared foods, packaged meals, commissary products, and dairy and deli categories by developing a relevant, profitable convenience food offering. Drive category strategy through assortment optimization, pricing, promotions, supplier management, and category reviews. Partner cross-functionally with Operations to ensure effective execution and collaborate with Innovation and Private Label teams to introduce validated products, enhance assortment performance, and continuously improve the customer experience.
Key Responsibilities
Own annual category plans, sales and profit budgets, forecasts and corrective actions; use customer missions, dayparts, store segmentation and market benchmarks to set priorities.
Set assortment, pricing, promotions and merchandising strategy; use sales mix, customer insights and item economics to improve value, availability and profitable basket growth.
Manage menu and assortment productivity across hot food, grab-and-go meals, sandwiches, salads, bakery, dairy and deli; balance core ranges and seasonal offers with shelf life, preparation capacity and local demand.
Lead supplier business reviews and negotiate commercial terms within delegated authority, partnering with Procurement; document costs, rebates and promotional funding for Price Book and Supplier Income teams to administer.
Work with Supply Chain, commissary partners and Operations on ordering parameters, delivery frequency, cold-chain requirements and shelf availability; reduce spoilage and waste without compromising freshness or service.
Partner with the Innovation and Private Label Development Manager on product briefs, pilots and launch decisions; own category business cases, assortment adoption and commercial results while that role owns product development and specifications.
Translate category plans into clear execution requirements for Operations and Space Planning; coordinate item and price setup with Price Book, and confirm supply, communication and store readiness before activation.
Lead category and post-promotion reviews using sales, units, margin after waste, availability and customer response; recommend range changes and agree corrective actions with Operations and suppliers.
Require complete commercial terms and launch readiness; escalate supply, margin, execution and quality risks to the accountable functions.
Operations owns store execution and operating compliance; specialist teams approve food safety and quality requirements. The Category Manager coordinates commercial corrective actions.
Qualifications
Relevant degree in Business, Marketing, Foodservice or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Demonstrated category management or buying experience in convenience retail, foodservice or another multi-site fresh food business; experience with prepared meals, commissary and refrigerated ranges preferred.
Strong commercial and analytical capability in assortment, pricing, promotions, forecasting, supplier negotiations and category profitability.
Practical understanding of perishability, cold-chain distribution, food safety and store preparation constraints, working with specialist teams.
Ability to turn insights into executable category plans and influence Operations, suppliers and cross-functional partners.
Work environment and physical requirements
Office-based role with store visits, supplier meetings and trials. Travel and any physical requirements to be confirmed by Human Resources.
