Category Manager

Job description:

 

Job title: Category Manager

 

Location: London office, hybrid

 

Type: full time, permanent

 

Our culture and values:

Our values — People First, Ownership, Passion for Excellence, and Consumer and Customer Centricity — shape how we work every day 🤝 We connect with care and respect, take responsibility for our contribution and keep finding better ways to deliver for our consumers and customers.

Bring your ideas and curiosity. You’ll learn through hands-on experience, share knowledge and work with colleagues who support one another. Together, we create an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute and take pride in what we build.

 

Your role:

We are looking for a commercially minded Category Manager to lead the category agenda several key grocery accounts. Working closely with the Head of Category & Shopper, Commercial and Marketing teams, you will leverage shopper, customer and market insights to identify growth opportunities, shape category strategy and influence decision-making.

As a trusted partner to our customers, you will develop compelling category recommendations, deliver impactful category reviews and help create joint plans that drive sustainable growth for both Lipton and our retail partners. Combining strong analytical capability with excellent storytelling skills, you will turn complex data into actionable insights that deliver measurable results.

Reporting to the Head of Category & Shopper, you will have significant exposure across the business, including opportunities to present to senior leadership and take ownership of high-impact projects from concept through to delivery.

This role offers the chance to work with some of the UK's largest retailers whilst helping shape the future of one of the country's most established and evolving categories.

 

Your key responsibilities:

Lead Category Strategy

• Act as the category expert for Tea, identifying growth opportunities and delivering insight-led recommendations to customers and internal stakeholders.
• Support the development and execution of customer category plans aligned to both retailer and Lipton objectives.

Influence Customers

• Develop and deliver compelling category reviews, range recommendations and category growth stories that influence customer decision-making.
• Build strong relationships with customer buying teams and become a trusted category partner.

Drive Category Performance

• Analyse shopper, consumer and market data to identify trends, opportunities and risks.
• Monitor category and business performance, recommending actions to maximise growth.

Generate Actionable Insights

• Translate data from multiple sources into clear, commercially relevant recommendations.
• Provide best-in-class shopper and customer insights to support strategic decision-making.

Build Internal Capability

• Partner closely with Commercial, & Marketing teams to ensure category thinking is embedded throughout the business.
• Develop reporting tools, dashboards and performance tracking that enable data-driven decision-making.

 

What we are looking for:

• Proven Category Management experience within FMCG, ideally working with Grocery Multiple retailers.
• Strong understanding of category management principles, shopper behaviour and retailer category processes.
• Advanced working knowledge of Kantar, Circana, and NielsenIQ, with Dunnhumby experience highly desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to build customer-facing category recommendations that influence retailer decision-making.
• Excellent communication, presentation and storytelling skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Strong analytical and commercial capability, with a natural curiosity to understand not only what is happening, but why.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills, with strong data analysis and visualisation capabilities.

 

🌱 What’s in it for you:

Shape the Category: Influence the future direction of the Tea category with several key grocery accounts.

Work with Iconic Brands: Help drive growth for brands including Lipton, PG Tips and Pukka.

Gain Visibility: Present directly to senior leadership and take ownership of projects with real business impact.

Make a Difference: Join a purpose-led organisation focused on wellbeing, sustainability and long-term growth.

Collaborative Culture: Work with talented colleagues in a supportive, entrepreneurial environment from our Southwark office, close to Waterloo.

 

What to expect from us:

We know recruitment can be stressful, so we keep it straightforward: usually 2–3 stages, including an online interview and an on-site conversation in London with a short data case. We aim to review every CV within 2 weeks.

 

We are an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. We are interested in every individual bringing their whole self to work and this includes you!