A little bit about us: We are BEAR and Peter’s Yard, two ambitious brands under the Lotus Bakeries Natural Foods umbrella. BEAR is determined to take a big bite out of bad snacking habits. We make pure fruit snacks with no added nonsense that make being healthy a little bit easier and a whole lot tastier. Since our launch 14 years ago, we’ve grown quickly and are currently sold in all the UK supermarkets. With the backing of our parent company Lotus Bakeries, BEAR has launched internationally and has a great presence in the US and across Europe. We share one amazing world, and BEAR is on a mission to help protect the planet and all the people and creatures that call it home. Read more about how BEAR is growing a better tomorrow here: Growing a Better Tomorrow. PETER’S YARD is a growing bakery business making award-winning sourdough crackers and snacks. Founded in 2008, it is now listed in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose, Ocado, Morrison’s, Booths, Wholefoods, Amazon, and 3,000 independent farm shops and delis. In July 2022, Peter’s Yard was acquired by Lotus Bakeries and is now part of their Natural Foods group.
We are looking for a passionate new Head of Category to join an ambitious and high-performing business that has driven continuous double-digit growth for the last 3 years. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will be responsible for leading a team of 3 to deliver outstanding category advice to our key customers while internally delivering the insight, reporting, and category strategy to unlock growth.
Key Responsibilities & Objectives
Leadership and Team Empowerment:
* You’ll lead the category team for BEAR and Peter’s Yard in the UK by setting clear direction, encouraging your team, and the wider business to always deliver exceptional results, empowering them through trusted leadership and personal development.
* Setting clear objectives and building development plans for 3 x Category Managers to support them in their personal growth.
* Work with our colleagues in the wider business to identify and deliver insights into the UK and Global Brand Marketing teams to inform and shape strategy.
* This is a customer-facing role – while you won’t necessarily be responsible for retailer accounts day-to-day, you will need to build and maintain strong relationships with key contacts so that our customers understand and buy into our strategy and vision.
* Strong understanding of retailer strategies and the wider environment to ensure we remain customer and shopper-centric.
* A strong external network is also helpful to give you an outside perspective from other categories and businesses.
Strategic Insights:
* All this data is only useful if it enables us to make better business decisions. You’ll be integral to the way that the business uses data.
* Key input as part of the MD’s leadership team, being the voice of category and source of objective truth.
* Development of the UK Category Vision and Strategy for both BEAR and Peter’s Yard and translating this into something that is both actionable, executable, and understandable within each retailer.
* You will lead and own the strategy for Revenue Growth Management.
* You will kick off our annual planning process with a brand and category diagnostics, meaning our brand plans are always insight-led.
* You’ll make sure that the right data is available to the business and is being used the right way - whether informing internal strategy and business planning or improving relationships with our retailers.
* Management of continuous data and regular reporting on category performance to the total BEAR and Peter’s Yard business, feeding in monthly KPIs to the MD leadership meetings.
* Management of the UK BEAR and Peter’s Yard category budget – ensuring we are getting the most value for our data.
Profile
You will likely be an existing Senior Category Development Manager or Head of Category within an FMCG environment. Alongside living our values, here are the most important things we’re looking for from you:
* A passion for data and well-versed in the tools of the trade (Nielsen, Circana, Kantar, Dunnhumby, SIP).
* This is a data-driven, strategic role, so you’ll be a great problem solver with experience of using complex insight data to create short and long-term strategies.
* Excellent communication skills, particularly inspirational presentation skills.
* Ability to build great relationships both internally and externally, finding collaborative simple solutions and being recognized as a trusted expert that unlocks opportunities.
* Able to prioritize quickly in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.
* Proven commercial acumen by being able to evaluate how category strategy will impact sales and profitability.
* This is a small team within the business, but it has a big impact – we need someone who will be an inspiring leader. We’d love someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously, who is passionate about contributing to the culture at BEAR, Peter’s Yard, and the wider Natural Foods business and who is as happy to get stuck in.
What Makes it Special
What makes it special to work at Lotus Bakeries is the great set of people you are privileged to work with on a daily basis. The shared sense of purpose, passion, and team spirit is really evident from everyone. Wherever you are in the business, there is a genuine willingness to see you succeed.
Offer
Grasp the opportunity to join an ambitious and driven team with a mix of talents! Being part of a fast-growing, international company, you will get tons of on-the-job learning and acquire new insights.
In addition, you will be part of a culture where passion, team spirit, and open dialogue are our main drivers.
And of course, on top of that, you can enjoy delicious branded snacks every day!
Do you want to be part of a terrific team with the ambition to create small moments of happiness every day? Meet our people, discover their unique skills, and get excited to join them in a great work environment.
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