Category Manager in London - Elevation Recruitment Group

Senior Category Manager — FMCG Wholesale
Location: London| Salary: £55,000 - £70,000

Elevation Recruitment Group is working with a major multinational wholesale business to appoint a Senior Category Manager. This is a pivotal commercial role, responsible for the delivery of Category Plans that drive sales and profit across both the business and its retail partners.

You'll take ownership of the full Category Management remit — ranging, pricing, strategy development, supplier negotiation, promotional planning and the negotiation of income for marketing and media support. You'll also mentor and oversee Category Assistants, helping to develop the next generation of category talent.

Key responsibilities:

• Drive delivery of budgeted sales, wholesale margin, retail POR and cash profit targets
• Maximise product availability through strong commercial reasoning and stakeholder influence
• Build and negotiate Joint Business Plans with key suppliers
• Own Category strategy and planning end-to-end, ensuring financial targets are met
• Negotiate supplier income for media, promotional support and initiatives
• Manage ranging and pricing in line with business strategy
• Plan and communicate seasonal promotional and corporate initiatives across the supply base
• Identify range gaps and manage price proposition through supplier collaboration
• Define Own Brand strategy to balance branded and own-label ranges
• Analyse promotional effectiveness and forecast category performance

What we're looking for:

• Significant senior commercial, buying or trading experience within FMCG Wholesale
• A confident, assertive negotiator with a track record of high-impact costing and margin deals
• Strong relationship-building and influencing skills, internally and externally
• Proven experience creating and delivering Category Strategy and promotional plans
• Numerate, with strong performance and market data analysis skills
• BWS category experience advantageous

On offer:

• Competitive salary and pension
• 22 days annual leave (plus option to buy more)
• Life Assurance and Private Medical cover
• Onsite parking

If you're an experienced Category leader ready to shape strategy at scale within a major FMCG wholesale business, we'd love to hear from you.