​Role: Category Manager

Salary: £35k plus 33 days holiday (including bank holidays), with an option of buying up to 5 days extra per year, company sick pay, Save as you Earn Sharesave Scheme, Free Life Assurance, Enhanced Maternity and Paternity pay, Quarterly and annual bonus schemes, Comprehensive Learning and Development package, Career development and advancement opportunities, Personal Pension Plan, Employee Assistance Programme, Complete range of personal benefits including discounted Gym membership, High Street discounts, Theme Park discounts, Cycle to work scheme, Cinema discounts etc., Long Service Award Scheme, One day’s paid time off per annum to undertake voluntary work

Job Status: Permanent/Full-Time

Location: Berkshire - office based with one day a week WFH

Vacancy Reference: VR/05015

Role Description:

Bridge Recruitment are currently networking for a Category Manager to join the Team of one of our clients, a leading supplier of cleaning, hygiene and janitorial products. As Category Manager, you will be responsible for managing and coordinating all activities with regards to the procurement of goods, pricing, marketing agreements. You will focus on the management of washrooms, janitorial supplies, equipment and PPE. The ideal Category Manager will be a proactive individual, with strong numeracy and IT skills and will ideally be CIPS qualified (or equivalent).

Responsibilities:

• Manage and agree product category strategies including buy in from key stakeholders, roll out across the business and maximise commercial levers available

• Develop and implement strategies for assigned product categories including identifying market opportunities, understanding customer needs and setting goals and objectives

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with suppliers and negotiating terms of engagement to ensure competitive pricing, quality of products and on time deliveries

• Negotiation of all pricing, rebates, marketing activities, discount structures and other commercial avenues

• Determine range of products to be offered within product category based on market trends, consumer demand and conducting competitive analysis

• Support promotion of Brand vs. Exclusive brand with awareness of Sustainable and Social Value propositions

• Analyse category performance using key metrics such as Sales, Margin, Sku turnover and Customer feedback thus helping to drive revenue growth and profitability

• Work closely the team and other business functions to align strategies, develop effective marketing campaigns, and ensure seamless execution of category plans

• Support with recruiting and retaining of staff

• Mentor and support team members providing guidance and training to assist with the achievement of set targets

• Develop and maintain collaborative working relationships with key internal stakeholders to ensure customer fulfilment and business revenues are maximised

Requirements:

• Champion the company values - live the values and seek to promote the expression of those values in others

• Build the team

• Demonstrate an ability to win through collaboration e.g. solicits and shares ideas, views and resources with positive and tangible results

• Strive to excel, setting high expectations for self and the team

• Recognise that customer satisfaction is the key to individual and collective success

• Drive outstanding customer care

• Identify opportunities for the organisation to expand or enhance its service

• Listen to others, seeking to understand different perspectives and shows respect for views different from own

• Express clearly, adapt language and communication style to take into account the audience, and the nature of the information

• Written Communication - present written information in a grammatically correct manner

• Take on additional tasks, projects or opportunities in order to gain new experiences and perspectives