Senior Category Manager in Ipswich

Head of Category / Business Unit Lead

Ipswich | Full-time | Hybrid

Salary £80,000 - £95,000

An established and growing SME (sub £30m), a B2B provider and distributor of specialist products used within manufacturing and other regulated environments is entering an exciting new phase of development and expanding it's divisional structure.

This is a critical appointment, with responsibility for the business’s largest product category and its most significant opportunities for future growth. The Business Unit Lead will take end-to-end commercial ownership of the category, with responsibility for developing the proposition, growing customer penetration and delivering revenue and gross profit growth.

The Business

The business has built a strong reputation for providing premium products and solutions to customers operating in highly regulated, operationally critical environments.

The Business Unit encompasses a mix of mid-value products alongside an increasingly important range of lower-value, high-volume products, reflecting growing customer demand and opportunities to increase penetration across the existing customer base.

The Role

The purpose of this role is to take an established and successful category and develop it significantly further, identifying gaps in the range, responding to customer demand and creating a clear strategy for future growth.

• Owning the Business Unit strategy, budget and commercial performance
• Driving revenue, gross profit and profitable volume growth
• Increasing customer penetration and recurring spend
• Developing the product portfolio, including range, pricing, positioning and competitiveness
• Managing existing supplier relationships and identifying new suppliers
• Leading supplier negotiations and improving commercial terms
• Working with customers, Sales and the wider business to identify new opportunities
• Coordinating activity across Sales, Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, Customer Support and Operations
• Using market and customer insight to identify opportunities capable of meaningful scale

The Person

This is a hands-on role requiring someone who can combine strategic thinking with commercial execution, challenge existing thinking and take ownership of delivering results.

Key requirements:

• A track record of success within a B2B product led retail / wholesale / distribution environment
• Strong commercial and growth-focused category, product or business unit background, with experience of developing an established category or product range.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including confidence around revenue, GP, margin, pricing, product mix, supplier costs, budgeting and forecasting.
• Experience of sourcing, supplier management and negotiation .
• Strong cross-functional leadership, with the Business Unit Lead coordinating and influencing colleagues across multiple functions rather than managing a large direct team.

Above all, the role requires a demonstrable track record of influencing growth - developing a category, increasing customer penetration, improving commercial performance and creating new opportunities.

The Opportunity

This is a chance to take ownership of a key part of an established business at an important point in its growth journey.

As the business continues to grow, there is potential for the structure to develop further, creating opportunities for broader multi unit leadership.

For someone with a proven track record of building categories, driving growth and delivering commercial results, this represents an opportunity to have significant influence over the future direction and performance of a major part of the business.

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