Category Manager

Overview of role

📍 Location: Maidenhead – Hybrid working (average 2 days per week in the office)
💼 Department: Marketing – Category Strategy
📄 Contract: Permanent
💰 Salary: Competitive

Turn insights into opportunities. Influence decisions. Drive growth.

Love uncovering insights that make a real difference?

At Hovis Bakeries, we're looking for a commercially minded and analytical Category Manager to join our Category Strategy team, helping shape customer decisions and identify opportunities to grow our branded and own-label products.

Working with key customers across Morrisons, Convenience, Discounters and Freezer Centres, you'll use shopper, category and market insights to influence decisions, strengthen customer relationships and support category growth.

This is an exciting opportunity to work with some of the UK's best-loved bakery brands, turning data into meaningful recommendations that help our customers and business succeed.

With hybrid working offering an average of 2 days per week at our Maidenhead office, you'll enjoy a balance of collaboration and flexibility while working closely with colleagues across Sales, Marketing and Category Strategy.

If you enjoy exploring data, understanding what drives shoppers and using insights to make an impact, we'd love to hear from you!

What you'll be doing

As our Category Manager, you'll play an important role in understanding category performance, identifying growth opportunities and helping customers make informed commercial decisions.

Your responsibilities will include:

• • Building strong customer relationships – providing category insights, recommendations and opportunities that support shared growth.

  • Turning data into action – analysing shopper, market and category information to identify trends, risks and opportunities.

  • Influencing range decisions – leading category input into customer range reviews, helping improve distribution and brand share.

  • Making reporting meaningful – owning monthly category reporting, simplifying insights and identifying opportunities to improve automation.

  • Supporting commercial plans – providing insights to inform customer planning, promotional activity and shopper-marketing decisions.

  • Working with insight partners – collaborating with external data and research providers to develop relevant, actionable recommendations.

  • Connecting teams and ideas – partnering with Sales, Marketing, Brand and New Product Development teams to turn category insights into opportunities for growth.

👋 What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who enjoys working with data, understands the importance of shopper behaviour and can turn complex information into clear recommendations that influence decisions.

Ideally, you'll bring:

• Experience in FMCG Category Management or a related commercial role.

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data and translate findings into practical recommendations.

• An understanding of shopper behaviour, market trends and commercial performance.

• The confidence to communicate insights, influence decisions and build effective relationships with customers and colleagues.

• Experience using Excel and category reporting tools.

• Familiarity with category data sources such as Nielsen, Circana, Kantar or similar platforms.

• Good organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.

• A collaborative, proactive approach and a willingness to share ideas and challenge thinking constructively.

Experience in market research or working with loyalty data platforms such as dunnhumby would be beneficial, but isn't essential.

We value relevant practical experience alongside formal qualifications and welcome candidates who can demonstrate transferable skills.

🌱 Why this role?

This is an opportunity to do more than analyse data. You'll help influence customer decisions, shape category strategy and identify opportunities that contribute to the future growth of Hovis Bakeries.

You'll benefit from:

• Real commercial influence – using your insights to help shape customer range decisions, promotional activity and category growth.

• Exposure to key customers – building relationships and developing your understanding of different retail channels.

• Cross-functional collaboration – working closely with Sales, Marketing, Brand and NPD teams to bring opportunities to life.

• Professional development – strengthening your analytical, commercial and influencing skills within a major UK food manufacturing business.

• Hybrid working – balancing time with colleagues at our Maidenhead office and working remotely.

🎁 What we offer

We're proud to offer a competitive reward package and a culture that supports growth, wellbeing and development.

Our benefits include:

• Competitive salary.

• 6.6 weeks holiday entitlement.

• Career development and progression opportunities.

• Employee Recognition Programme celebrating safety and living our values.

• Pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 10%.

• Life Assurance.

• Bupa Private Healthcare, supporting your health and wellbeing.

• Simplyhealth cash plan, helping you cover the cost of everyday healthcare expenses, including dental, optical and physiotherapy treatments.

• Salary Finance, providing access to financial wellbeing tools, savings options and responsible borrowing solutions.

• Employee Assistance Programme, with 24/7 support, legal and financial advice, and access to the My Healthy Advantage wellbeing app.

• Electric Car Scheme.

• Cycle to Work Scheme.

• Extra Slice employee discount platform, offering savings at over 500 retailers.

🍞 Why join Hovis Bakeries?

At Hovis Bakeries, we're proud to bring together some of the UK's best-known bakery brands, including Hovis, Kingsmill, Allinson's and Sunblest.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. From creating great products to building strong customer partnerships, we work together to deliver quality, service and innovation every day.

We're committed to creating a workplace where people feel valued, supported and encouraged to grow.

Our values guide how we work:

Aim High | Work Together | I Do What I Say | Everybody Matters

Ready to make an impact?

If you're passionate about understanding shoppers, uncovering opportunities and turning insights into commercial success, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today and help shape the future of category growth at Hovis Bakeries!

Our Commitment to Inclusion

At Hovis Bakeries, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, respected and able to be themselves.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives and are dedicated to creating an environment where everyone can succeed.