Head of Category and Insight Permanent

Working for a market leading food supplier, this position will require you to be the driving force for engagement and influence the retail trade by leveraging key shopper and category insights to deliver sustainable business and category growth.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS
You will be a thought leader both internally and externally, be the voice of the shopper and consumer and drive shopper centric action plans focused on creating Category growth for the soft fruit categories.
This is a Leadership role reporting to the Commercial Director. There is scope to make a significant impact on the businesses and we are therefore looking for someone who is a strategic thinker, action oriented, able to make decisions and has a proven track record of delivering results.

Role Headlines:

Build strong relationships with customers across all relevant functions from Buyer to Category Director level.
Use this influence to leverage wins for the company for distribution / space / range in selected retailers.
Develop and embed a multi Chanel category vision within the business and our customers, identifying key strategic partnerships to accelerate.
Deliver the triple win by partnering with internal functions to ensure commercial plans are relevant to the trade and are category/shopper focussed.
Strengthen the Category and Insight function through the development of 2 x Category Managers.
Drive decision making through the provision of timely, to the point and credible insight that shapes business and customer strategies.
Demonstrate ability to network and build relationships
Strong understanding of the Commercial landscape and goals of the business
Key Accountabilities:

Category & Retailer expert integrating retailer’s own strategy into the company category vision and brand strategy.
Achieve Customer influence through the building and developing of relationships and ensuring company takes a proactive role in range reviews
Provide customers with a trusted resource to help guide ranging and category decisions
Participation and support to projects and collaborating with marketing to shape brand strategy and manage the SKU portfolio and future product development.
Management of the Insight budget and data agencies, identifying the right sources and data.
Leadership & Development of the Category and Insight function and team members
Partnering with Marketing to implement a research and learning plan to drive greater understanding of our shoppers and consumers
Guide management team strategic planning
Support the achievement of the businesses commercial goals and provide the commercial team with clarity on the opportunities and threats in the short and long term
Guide Growers and the Board on a profitable and sustainable direction for their farms.
Key KPIs:

Distribution, space, category thought leadership, quality of insight & recommendations, return on relationships, level of influence internally & externally
Key Functional competencies:

Understanding of internal / external context for business opportunity identification
Shopper understanding
Category action and Sales growth plan definition
Category growth levers management
Customer partnership development
In-store execution & control
Experience of working with multiple sources of data (i.e. ACNielsen, Account Specific EPOS, Panel Data, Qual / quant research) and space planning software
Strong Excel & Powerpoint skills
Analytical ability, able to interpret data / research, and quickly get to the ‘So what’.
Excellent understanding of Category Management principles & experience of applying Category Management techniques
Solid commercial understanding, ability to recognize the impact of initiatives and decisions made
Ability to work on own initiative and to pro-actively strive to improve ways of working & shape the way the category team works
Proven track record with excellent influencing skills
Additional Requirements:

Graduate Calibre
5 years FMCG experience
Strong Category Management background, some sales experience is preferred.

An excellent salary and package awaits at this market leader.

KPI Recruitment Ltd is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

All candidates registering with KPI Recruitment Ltd. will need to provide proof of identity, and evidence of any experience, training and qualifications our client considers necessary for their position.