Strategic Category Development Lead

Description:

Our dedicated Strategic Category Development team is full of passionate individuals and we are seeking a leader with the same energy, drive and positivity who can help us lead change for our business. We are looking for an inspirational leader who can build the strategy for and deliver results against Colgate’s goals.

With a deep understanding of the UK retail environment and brand strategy the Strategic Category Development Lead is responsible for driving our overall category expertise to unlock category growth and solutions across all channels and categories.

You will elevate our Category Management service to that of a strategic, visionary category consultant, aligned with & leveraging our RGM initiatives, and driving engagement at multiple levels of our retail partners, on a multi-year horizon. You will set us apart from our competitors by offering a superior service and demonstrating the leadership to grow our categories.

You will be the national category and shopper behaviour expert for the Customer Development team and partner to the Retail Marketing Managers. You will be responsible for designing, facilitating, and implementing Oral Care and Personal Care category strategies, developing processes and tools for the Customer Development Team, and influencing corporate strategy for both Colgate Palmolive and our retailers.

Key Challenges

Inclusively lead the Category Management team, fostering a mindset, structure and processes for realising omnichannel category leadership
Transform our influence with key customers through strategic, comprehensive and reputable category value creation, driving growth in both the short & long term, leveraging insights and people centricity
Connect Category Visions, strategic RGM initiatives & growth narratives
Help create & implement a category selling platform across key strategic customers
Champion people and category insights. Integrate category & shopper expertise into the Customer Development team to deepen customer engagement and shopper understanding.
Proactively sell-in Colgate Palmolive’s Category Management expertise with the aim of establishing Colgate Palmolive as the first point of contact for Category Planning & shopper insight and maximising sales growth for the category

Who Are You

You are a leader: You take the lead by influencing the agenda through collaboration, negotiation and thought leadership. It is critical for you to be able to lead a group of diverse functions and ensure they are all working towards progressive initiatives. You will engage with senior leadership at our retail partners to elevate our category credentials from the day to day exchanges.
You have a strategic mindset: You will develop, articulate and sell our category vision & strategies. You will enable the broader strategy with our retailers in partnership with the Customer Development team. Leveraging insights and analytics to articulate the category, segment and societal trends will be important. You provide strategic direction, leading the development of best-in-class Category Management processes for the company.
You collaborate: Driving strong alignment and partnership with the Customer Development team, Retail Marketing team, Insights and Consumer Experience team will be key to your success.
You are customer focused: Our Retailers will rely on you to represent them and serve as their voice within CP. You will ensure that the voice of our Retailers and the Customer Development Team is represented within our strategies & plans by working in partnership with the Consumer Experience and Retail Marketing team.
You develop a high performing team: You build and maintain a strong culture within the team, with high standards, clear communication and ambitious objectives. You deploy team talent optimally to build strong capabilities and performance. You recruit, develop and retain a balanced and diverse team based on strengths and role fit supported by relevant knowledge, skills, and experience. You provide the foundation for team effectiveness by creating and maintaining appropriate team processes. You will partner with the Retail Marketing Team Leader on required tools, capabilities, and training for Category Leadership.
You are a storyteller: You have the strong ability to interpret, integrate and communicate shopper behaviour, insights & POS data. You can successfully tell fact-based stories to drive Colgate Palmolive & category solutions. You will provide selling teams with support and guidance by leveraging category management strategies, and providing category or customer-specific insights and recommendations.
You integrate multiple data sources: You will develop holistic category strategies by leveraging the tools, insights, and analytics from internal, industry, and retailer-specific sources. You have a track record of providing customer specific recommendations based on your ability to synthesise customer shopper data, insights & point of sale data.

What You’ll Need

Educated to degree level
At least 5 years' expertise in Category Management roles
Deep understanding of key Category Management methodologies and approaches and a clear understanding of the capabilities and limitations of various techniques
Experience leading a team or others in category management
Ability to face the customer, build relationships and create a partnership
Ideally Marketing experience, however not essential
Confidence to lead, coach and work effectively in a cross functional team
Experience working with customer Shopper Behavior Data
Experience working with Household Panel data
Experience working with syndicated EPOS data
Microsoft Office or Google Suite proficiency (i.e, Sheets, Slides, Docs) preferred