Category Manager

Category Manager – Wholesale Food Industry

Category Manager

About the Role

Working closely with suppliers, sales, marketing, procurement, and operations, you will identify market trends, optimise product ranges, negotiate commercial opportunities, and ensure our categories remain competitive in a fast-paced wholesale environment.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced category professional who enjoys combining strategic thinking with hands-on commercial decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement category strategies that support business growth and profitability.
• Analyse sales data, market trends, customer insights, and competitor activity to identify opportunities.
• Manage product assortment, pricing, promotions, and lifecycle planning.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, negotiating commercial agreements and promotional plans.
• Identify opportunities to improve margins while delivering value to customers.
• Stay informed on industry trends, legislation, and consumer behaviour within the food sector.

About You

You’ll be commercially focused, data-driven, and confident influencing stakeholders across the business.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Previous experience in a Category Manager, Category Executive, Buying, or Commercial role within the wholesale, foodservice, FMCG, or food manufacturing sector.
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills.
• Excellent analytical skills with experience interpreting sales and market data.
• Strong knowledge of category management principles.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience using reporting tools.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Desirable

• Experience working within the wholesale food industry.
• Knowledge of retail or foodservice market trends.
• Experience with category insight tools such as Nielsen, Circana, or similar.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary.
• Discretionary annual bonus of up to 10%.
• 22 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase additional holiday.
• Private medical insurance.
• 3x annual salary life insurance.
• Flexible working hours to support work-life balance.
• Hybrid working with 1–2 days per week working from home.
• Free on-site parking.
• Opportunities for career development and professional growth.
• A collaborative, supportive, and ambitious working environment.

Apply

If you’re passionate about category management, enjoy working with data to drive commercial decisions, and want to make a real impact within a successful wholesale food business, we’d love to hear from you.