Senior Category Development Manager

Senior Category Development  Manager 

Leading at team of 10 across our GB grocery category 

No2 Advantage Survey ranked

The role is a hiybrid role, with time spent between our Uxbridge HQ, home and travel.

What you become part of:

In an increasingly competitive and challenging market place, at Coca-Cola we see the role of the Category Development as pivotal to delivering our business performance. The team's primary objective is to deliver an inspiring and insightful vision for the Soft Drinks category, today and in the future. In order to unlock growth we need our team to be strategic, long term focused, analytical and great influencers to work in partnership with our customers and key internal stakeholders. Reporting in to the Director for Category Management you will responsible for the development and implementation of a category strategy to unlock growth potential across the Home customers. Our Category Development is ranked #2 in the Advantage Group Survey by Home customers, you will lead a team of 10 category managers and executives to develop collaborative plans with our customers which unlock long term Soft Drinks category growth.

What to expect:

• Support in the development of a clear vision for the Soft Drinks category, creating a framework for growth with a clear and relevant category strategy for all Home environments and key customers
• Develop strategic plans with key accounts that identify opportunities to drive performance
• Drive our strategic thinking and value creation story with retailers by engaging with Buyers, Merchandisers and Category Directors 
• Support the team to roll out range relays, macro space resets, future thinking around channel strategies and Customer Business Planning Days
• Establish and maintain a mutually beneficial customer contact strategy and help broaden our engagement with our Home customers
• Work in collaboration with key internal stakeholders (including National Accounts, R&MGM and Insights) to ensure alignment and execution against the category and brand strategies
• Manage and support the category managers and executives to develop their capability
• Ensure delivery of quality category analysis reports, delivering insight to our customers on a regular basis
• Manage relationships with external providers (category and customer specific) to ensure we have access to the highest quality data available for our customers and environments.
• Drive change by automating range reviews, launch strategic projects such as channel strategy and Platinum store across key customers

Skills & Experience:

• We are encouraging applications from candidates who have previous experience of collaborating with large customers, are highly numerate, analytical
• Previous Category Management experience and strong knowledge of the Home channel is desirable, but we would welcome applications from those from Away-From-Home channels.
• In-depth knowledge of Nielsen, GfK and other data providers
• Drive for innovation & change: always seek and try to achieve the next level of Category Development
• Demonstrate passion, ownership and resilience for growing the category
• Ability to influence diverse stakeholder groups
• Strong listening and influencing skills at various levels within the organisation and with customers
• Resilience, determination, and drive are key

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