Category Manager

Location: Remote working with regular visits to Head Office in Okehampton, Devon.

Hours: 37.5 hours Monday to Friday
(Flexibility outside of these hours may be required to meet business demands)

Reporting to: Sales Director

Forthglade has been making award winning natural dog food for over 50 years and we’re on a mission to ensure we continue to nourish the relationship between dogs and their owners. We operate from a modern, purpose built, state of the art facility on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon and our brand encompasses wet, dry and treats ranges. We’ve gone from strength to strength over recent years driven by significant increases in distribution coupled with strong and unique marketing support meaning Forthglade is available to purchase across all trading channels and major UK retailers.  To top that off we’re currently the fastest growing wet dog food brand in major multiples in the latest 52 weeks and we have huge ambition to continue that momentum. 

Role Summary:

We are seeking a highly skilled Category Manager who will be responsible for the category management function. Working directly with retail customers the
category manager is responsible for advising them with insight that influences ranging decisions to maximise category and ultimately Forthglade sales. With responsibility for all data providers, the category manager is accountable for all data reporting, turning that data into actionable insight and presenting it in a compelling way both with customers to support the sales team in driving new distribution and internally to guide strategic brand planning, price positioning and the NPD pipeline.

Main duties & Responsibilities:

• Ownership of all category and shopper insights materials with responsibility for building and delivering powerful category led presentations to retailers to support category and growth.
• Aligned with Forthglade commercial objectives, regular in person retailer dialogue to share on an ongoing basis latest category performance and actionable insights.
• Ownership of data budget and the relationship with all data providers, negotiating annual contracts and holding suppliers to account.
• A leading early contributor to all internal NPD and brand planning using a shopper and category lens.
• Line management of 1 x Category Analyst.

Person Specification:
• Proven track record and career progression within category management function.
• Demonstrable commercial understanding.
• Ability to think and act strategically and develop strong recommendations both internally and with customers.
• Able to quickly build relationships with customers and become their trusted advisor
• High levels of planning and prioritisation skills to accommodate changes with objectives.
• High level of numeric and IT competency.