Category Executive - UFF

Verenigd Koninkrijk St Albans We are BEAR. We’re an ambitious company determined to take a big bite out of bad snacking habits. Grrr. We make pure fruit snacks with no added nonsense that make being healthy a little bit easier and a whole lot tastier. We started out making our tasty pure fruit yoyos, taking over the kids fruit snacking category. With the backing of our parent company Lotus Bakeries we have expanded into new categories including Baby Snacks, Cereal, Cereal Bars and Ice lollies. We also make Urban Fruit, gently baked fruit to eat on the go, for the 25-45 year olds who run around leading busy lives but who find eating a juicy mango on the bus home a bit of a challenge. Since we launched 13 years ago, we’ve grown quickly and we are currently sold in all the UK supermarkets. BEAR is also sold internationally and has 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: https://www.bearsnacks.co.uk/growing-a-better-tomorrow

Functiebeschrijving

About the Role

This role will report into and work closely with the Director of Category Development, Colleen.

As a business we have invested a considerable amount in understanding our shoppers and consumers in the last couple of years which has led to expanding our portfolio into new and exciting categories. You’ll work closely with the relevant Commercial Manager for your customer accounts, and also work cross-functionally with the Marketing team to help the wider business understand us and our competitors.

Customer Collaboration

• Cement position as a key independent advisor with your buyers, building and maintaining strong relationships
• Become and maintain our status as category captain by not only delivering monthly updates to your accounts, but by proactively analysing performance, consistently providing an insightful and challenging view on the category
• Flag opportunities for shifts in distribution/ RoS to account managers and ensure robust recommendations on future promotional strategy or ranging, including the support of NPD
• Input into development and evolution of top-line category vision for customer use

Integrating insights into business decisions

• Become the go-to person for insight into your allocated category, a real business expert in historic market data who stays ahead of bigger trends to make proactive recommendations that drive the business forward
• Lead analysis and drive insight for both the marketing and commercial teams on your category, focussing on; ranging, distribution, price and promotions, events and the NPD and EPD pipeline
• Deliver a first class annual presentation to the business, kicking off our brand planning process for the year

Best-in class team, toolkits and reporting

• Refresh monthly reports for your categories
• Develop full understanding of the excel sheets that sit behind the reports with the ability to edit, format and build
• Support the wider functions to ensure the report data is being used and understood by the business in the right way (e.g. through lunch and learns and category inductions)

Profiel

About you

We’re looking for a talented individual who can turn all of our category and shopper data into actionable insight with our retailers. This is a great opportunity for someone who is thinking of starting a career in Category Management or has a couple of years’ experience in the industry under their belt - If you think you would get a buzz from spotting that valuable insight that unlocks growth opportunities for both BEAR and our retailers, this could be the role for you.

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

• Experience at data analysis – not just churning the numbers but telling the story behind them too. We’d love someone who can help to train and coach the rest of the business to make the best possible use of our data and insights, so being self-sufficient when it comes to understanding the data will be key
• Excellent communication skills, in particular presentation skills
• Ability to build great relationships with our buyers and merchandising contacts as a trusted expert
• Outcome focused, results driven
• Able to prioritise quickly in a fast moving, entrepreneurial environment
• Happy to roll sleeves up and get stuck in – this team supports several functions
• Previous experience of working in FMCG or Insights either client or agency side

These things are useful but not essential:

• Previous experience of working in Category Management
• Experience using data providers like Nielsen, IRI, Kantar, Dunnhumby or Sainsbury’s Insight Platform

Aanbod

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 skills. In addition, you will be part of a culture where passion, team spirit and open dialogue are our main drivers.