Head of Category

Join the Samworth Brothers Team and become part of our dynamic family!

At Samworth Brothers, we genuinely care about our colleagues and strive to create an engaging environment that values your unique contributions. We are committed to your success and offer a range of exceptional benefits that we believe supports your life and personal aspirations: -

• Enhanced pension scheme
• Private health scheme
• Employee discount scheme
• Experience annual pay reviews
• Profit related pay
• Unlock your potential through training and growth opportunities
  
  
  

The Opportunity

We’re looking for a commercially astute, consumer-led Head of Category - to lead the charge in one of our most exciting growth channels: Food To Go (FTG) retail.

This is a senior leadership role at Category Controller level, designed for someone ready to shape the future of FTG in retail across major multiple customers. You’ll lead a team of direct and indirect reports, fostering a culture of insight-led thinking and commercial excellence.

You’ll partner closely with Commercial, Innovation, Insight and Customer teams to bring our retail category strategy to life, unearthing white space opportunities, developing new propositions, and creating compelling customer stories rooted in data and shopper behaviour.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and drive the FTG retail category strategy, delivering customer-centric plans that reflect both short- and long-term ambitions.
• Inspire and lead a high-performing team of category specialists , coaching them to deliver best-in-class insight & activation.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to translate consumer insight and data into tangible action, with a laser focus on ROI and differentiation.
• Lead the creation of compelling category stories, ranging from optimal ranging & merchandising plans to stores of the future and first to market proposition development.
• Provide strategic leadership and market foresight, contributing to f long-term business and customer strategy planning.
  
  
  

This is a hybrid role, offering a balance of remote working and on-site presence at our Bradgate Bakery site in Leicester, with additional flexibility to travel as business needs require.

The Ideal Candidate

We believe that success is built upon collaboration and diverse perspectives. At Samworth Brothers, we welcome candidates who are passionate about working together to achieve greatness. As a valued member of our team, you will bring the following skills and experience: -

• Significant FMCG category management experience at Controller or advanced Senior Manager level.
• Strong background in retail supplier-side category roles, with a deep understanding of major grocery retailers.
• A proven ability to lead and develop teams, with excellent mentoring and coaching skills.
• Commercial savvy combined with data-driven decision-making and storytelling.
• A knack for spotting growth opportunities and translating insight into customer action.
• Experience in proposition development and bringing innovation to market is highly desirable.
  
  
  

We also want you to thrive in an engaging and inclusive work culture where you will have the opportunity to take on personal accountability and take pride in your work. We encourage positive communication, and the building of strong collaborative relationships is essential to every role.

Join us at Samworth Brothers, where you'll be more than just a team member - you'll be an integral part of our thriving family. Apply today and embark on an exciting journey with us!

We are a fourth-generation family business producing high quality own-label products for many of the UK’s best-known retailers along with our own brands including Ginsters, Soreen, Higgidy, Dickinson & Morris, Urban Eat, West Cornwall Pasty Company and Walker & Son. We employ over 10,000 people in well-invested modern food manufacturing sites around the country.

At Samworth Brothers we take pride in our family feel within our businesses and work together to make things happen. We can offer you the stability of a wider group as well as the opportunities that that offers if you wish to progress your career with us. We are family and we would like to invite you to be part of that and support our teams in delivering great products to all of our customers.

Samworth Brothers do not engage with unlicensed gangmasters or third parties. Samworth Brothers will NEVER ask you for money in order to provide you with employment. If you are in any doubt, please contact an official Samworth Brothers representative.