Category Controller

Category Controller

Competitive salary | Private Medical | Pension | Life Assurance | 30 days' holiday including bank holidays + option to buy more | Onsite parking

Are you an experienced Category Controller, Trading Manager or Senior Commercial professional ready to take ownership of a high-impact category function?

Join a large, successful, family-owned multinational business where you'll have the opportunity to shape category strategy, build powerful supplier partnerships and deliver meaningful commercial growth.

The opportunity

You'll lead and develop a talented team of Category Managers and Category Assistants, taking ownership of trading performance, profitability and category strategy. Working closely with senior stakeholders, Finance and suppliers, you'll identify opportunities to improve performance, maximise margin and create a genuine competitive advantage.

You'll be responsible for:

Owning P&L performance, budgets and commercial targets

Developing customer-focused category and sales strategies

Building and leveraging strong supplier relationships

Leading, coaching and developing a high-performing trading team

Driving margin, profitability and operational efficiency

Using data, customer insight and NPS to shape decisions

Overseeing supply chain performance, wastage, compliance and food safety

Working with Finance to turn commercial insight into action

Delivering strategic change and continuous improvement

What you'll bring

We're looking for a commercially astute leader with significant experience in food retail, FMCG, buying or trading. You'll have a strong track record of influencing senior stakeholders, negotiating commercially, interpreting data and delivering business improvement.

You'll also bring:

Proven leadership experience within a complex trading environment

Strong commercial and negotiation skills

Excellent understanding of merchandising, profitability and supply chain

Strategic thinking and a genuine appetite for driving change

Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills

A passion for developing people and building high-performing teams

Why join?

This is an opportunity to join a well-established, growing international organisation with a diverse portfolio of businesses and a significant presence across the UK and internationally.

You'll enjoy real commercial ownership, senior-level exposure, career d...