Category Manager - Beauty

Join our team and be part of a company that truly lives its values. With our expertise and commitment to innovation, we aim to build trust and make health and wellness accessible to all. By fostering inclusivity and care, we work collaboratively to improve the well-being of our colleagues, customers, and communities.

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our Beauty Buying Team here at Holland & Barrett International, ideal for someone who is highly driven and tenacious with experience in retail buying. As a Beauty Category Manager, you will own the product management process of a specialist, market-leading retailer – from the drawing board into our customers' hands. You will be responsible for developing the buying strategy for your growing product areas and will source brands and ranges which satisfy our customers' requirements while achieving our company objectives.

The Role:

The Purpose of the Role: By confidently using your influencing and negotiating skills, both with our supplier base and internally, you will work strategically to ensure we deliver customer-centric ranges and promotions that meet our financial targets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop a full category strategy, working with insights, data, and using your market knowledge to ensure you deliver profitable growth.
• Continuously review current Category performance and the market to ensure you understand how your area is currently trading, and how you can build on this to deliver your revenue and margin budgets.
• Lead supplier negotiations and joint business planning for our key strategic partners to maximize profitability, ensuring that suppliers meet requirements on margin, marketing support, and delivery performance.
• Lead the promotional trade planning process and master plan for the category, which is customer-led and drives profitable sales growth, and be the promotion champion/lead for the category.
• Deliver range reviews for your category focused on meeting the needs of our customers and delivering profitable growth.
• Work with the Trade Planning and marketing teams to maximize the success of promotional activity and NPD launches.
• Work with the Digital team to understand our customer behaviour online and tailor purchasing mechanics for trial, conversion & repeat.
• Provide information and analysis to assess levels of slow-moving & dormant stock and work with the team to clear. Maintain stock at agreed levels for planned activity and to reduce overstocks.
• Responsible for direct reports' performance and development through objective setting, coaching, and development.

Location: This role is based in Nuneaton and may occasionally require travel to our London Hub or to any other location of H&B. We support flexibility and productivity of our employees by hybrid working arrangements with a minimum of 2 days presence in the office.

The Person:

Key Requirements:

• Experience of Retail Buying or Category Management.
• Experience in Beauty is preferred.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
• Strong communication and time management skills.
• Track record of working independently.
• Ability to build relationships both with suppliers and internal teams.
• Strong numeracy and analytical ability.

Our Benefits for this role include, but are not limited to:

• H&B Employee Discount - 25%
• Bonus
• Pension company contribution
• 33 Days Holiday per year (Inclusive of bank holidays)
• Private Medical Care
• Exclusive benefits, free advice, and savings from a range of retailers and providers
• Electric Car Scheme

We are passionate about helping every colleague thrive across all dimensions of wellbeing, and we are committed to having a diverse and inclusive workplace. In line with our EPIC values (Expertise, Pioneering, Inclusive, Caring), we embrace and actively celebrate all our colleagues' unique and varying experiences, backgrounds, identities, and cultures.