Category Manager

Company Overview:

Lotus Natural Foods, the healthy snacking division of Lotus Bakeries and a portfolio of 5 incredible brands; BEAR, TREK, nakd. Kiddylicious and Peter’s Yard, all having their own distinct proposition and role within our business.

We have great ambitions for all our brands, ensuring that as a business we deliver sustainable growth over the long-term. We believe that taste and quality are 100% of what underpins us as brand leaders within our categories, and what pulls us apart from our competitors. All of our brands started right here in the UK, as the first market for distribution, but over the years we can now be found across the globe, our ranges have got bigger, along with us as a business.

To date we have achieved so much, but there is still plenty of room to grow further and that means we need more brilliant people, those that share an ambition for making a difference and want to join us in delivering the next chapter of growth. Fancy getting involved, then read on…

Job purpose:

This role will be working on our BEAR brand. We are looking for a talented Category Manger who can turn our category and shopper data into actionable insights, both internally, and with our retailer customers. This is a great opportunity for someone who is a couple of years’ into their career in Category Management and ready for their next step. If you think you would enjoy discovering valuable insights to unlock growth opportunities for BEAR and our retailers, then this could be the role for you!

The Category Development team sits within the wider commercial function of the business and it is a vital part of the business. As the largest brand within the kids food snacking sector, we have huge opportunity to influence and drive growth. Reporting into the Head of Category, you’ll work closely with the relevant commercial manager for your customer accounts, and also cross-functionally with the brand and shopper marketing teams to help the wider business understand us and our competitors.

Key Responsibilities:

• As a business expert in the continuous Nielson/Circana, Dunnhumby and Nectar 360 category data used, you will provide ongoing understanding to the wider business of what is driving both our brands and the competition.
• Making recommendations to both the business and our key retail customers on range, fixture, price and promotion to help unlock future sales growth.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with key buyers and merchandising contacts in order for them to trust and implement your recommendations.
• Providing analysis and insight for the commercial teams to take directly to retailers.
• Sharing monthly reporting to ensure everyone internally understands the category and to enable the business to make strategic decisions based on the data.

Alongside living our values, here are the most important things we’re looking for from you:

• Is experienced at data analysis – not just churning the numbers, but telling the story behind them too.
• We’d love someone who can help coach the rest of the business to make the best possible use of the data and insights available, so being self-sufficient when it comes to data will be key.
• Excellent communication skills, in particular presentation skills and story-telling.
• Ability to build and develop great relationships as a trusted expert, both internally at BEAR snacks and with our buyers and merchandising contacts at retail customers.
• Outcome focused, and results driven.
• Able to prioritise quickly in a fast moving, entrepreneurial environment.
• Happy to roll up sleeves and get stuck in – at BEAR we are a team who all help each other, from everything such as data insights to developing the best way to do things to set ourselves up for future growth.
• You will need to have experience using data providers such as Iri, Kantar, Dunnhumby Shop and / or Nectar 360 SIP.
• Ideally have a background in FMCG Category Management or Insights either supplier or agency side.