Senior Category Manager in Hampton Lovett - CV-Library

Müller UK & Ireland is wholly owned by the Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller which employs over 24,000 people throughout Europe. In the UK, Müller develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of branded and private label dairy products made with milk from more than 1,700 British farmers. The Müller brand is ranked at No.7 in The Grocer’s Top 100 list of Britain’s Biggest Brands, and is also the 7th most chosen brand in the UK.

Müller Milk & Ingredients (MMI) are looking to welcome an experienced Senior Category Manager to our team. As well as leading and developing 2 direct reports, you’ll become the expert for your customer, focusing on Milk, Cream, Butter & Milk Drinks. You will work effectively within internal and external cross functional teams, highlighting growth opportunities for both retailers and MMI. Leading category change, your ability to influence and drive strategy into action is key – we want ideas to come to life!

Agility, resilience and a pro-active can-do attitude are critical for success and in return you’ll be playing a fundamental role in helping to drive forward and shape one of the single largest categories in total FMCG.

Role in detail for the Senior Category Manager

Overview:

Account Category Strategy development and engagement
Leading strategy into action - key projects management & delivery
Regular internal and external stakeholder engagement
Category essentials – regular insights; range reviews; merchandising principles etc
Manage Category Manager and Category Executive and support wider team development  

Leadership, Vision & Strategy:

Utilises Muller strategy and acts as a guide for teams to influence their direction, based on contribution to the strategy
Creates an environment where team are empowered to challenge and take opportunities in line with Commercial strategy
Anticipates potential challenges to the achievement of customer plans and find solutions to them
Develops flexibility within the team to operate and achieve with pace  

Knowing our Market:

Knowledge, understanding and utilisation of current channel trends in order to anticipate future channel dynamics
Able to influence channel / retailer focus within MMI
Communicates Category Vision and Growth Drivers consistently with internal and external stakeholders with clear direction for impact on total category and MMI
Work with NWT to understand category and MMI performance by channel
Monitoring and reporting of channel and understanding of all current and potential customers performance
Knowledge of consumer diagnostics (penetration, frequency, avg weight of purchase etc) at a channel level (where insight allows)  

Commercial Excellence:

Provides the tools and appropriate development that enables effective influence
Influences at all levels internally and externally - seeking opportunities to broaden sphere of influence
Provides direction and resource management to facilitate best in class execution of activity / actions
Ensures learnings are adopted into future plans as well as sharing best practice
Able to influence financial performance (internal and external) via interpretation of data and industry knowledge, with consideration on the impact on MMI
Acts in the interest of the broader business rather than with a category only agenda
Creates an environment where new ideas are welcomed, even if they fail and adopts 'Test and Learn' principles
Influences the development of new and existing systems, processes, report and technology to drive improved business performance  

Effective Relationships:

Works effectively with business departments and key senior stakeholders to identify potential opportunities and improvement
Champions collaborative relationships, is able to resolve conflicts in a positive manner
Engages stakeholders with content and style of delivery to drive performance improvement and support joint objectives
Foresees potential stakeholder needs and aligns department plans to fulfil these need
Welcomes feedback and insight - always seen as an opportunity to develop relationships  

Experience Required and key skills: -

Extensive experience in a customer facing category role delivering activities and growth for customers
FMCG experience in category/commercial/strategy roles
Experience of key data sources: Kantar, Circana (IRI); retailer data systems
Experience of Private Label would be an advantage
Strategic thinker – creates insight and vision, knitting together pieces from different sources
Strategy into action – based on strategic alignment with customer, can create an actionable plan and see it through to delivery, making change happen
Curious – keen to dig deep to understand retail customers, shoppers and consumers -
Engaging – can build relationships and influence, both internally and externally
Team leader – manages, coaches and develops direct report and the wider team                                                

Müller pride ourselves on offering support to help develop your knowledge and skills. In return for your commitment, drive and enthusiasm, we offer our employees numerous benefits as part of your employment, including:

Competitive Salary
Car or Car allowance
Bonus scheme
Health Care Package
Contributory pension plan
Life Assurance
Employee Assistance Programme
Generous annual leave increasing with service
Flexible benefits programme
In addition, our employees have access to a Rewards Benefits Programme, giving you a range of discounts across 800 retailers online and in store  

The Process

If you have the skills and experience in the above areas and would like to be considered for this role, please apply at (url removed) #LI-MB1