CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Who we are? 

We serve the world by making food people love. As one of the world’s leading food companies, General Mills believes that food should make us better. Food brings us joy and nourishes our lives, connecting us to each other and the earth. General Mills operates in more than 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Yoplait and more. 

We seek out the best of the best and give them development, support and the chance to lead something big. Choosing a career with us means joining a company that makes a difference for others. There is tremendous opportunity here for people who want to advance in the industry, through innovation and nourish the world with quality.

Overview: 

Our Category Team is growing in Dublin and we are currently recruiting an additional Category Development Manager; who can lead insight into action with our Market Leading brands. This is a great opportunity for an experienced Category Manager to join the team.  

This role is primarily aligned to a defined suite of categories &/or customers/channels leading and developing a customer engagement & category development programme tailored for that customer. This is a key role in achieving Trusted Category Advisor status with our key customers.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Analyse and interpret trends from Category, Shopper and Commercial data to identify category growth, brand and distribution opportunities and risks.
• Create the necessary Category input to 3 year plans, brand plans (including NPD), account plans, Joint Business plans and promotional plans. 
• Build on-going close relationships with key retail contacts in GMI to establish as the key Category Contributor Captain/Partner/Advisor). 
• In conjunction with Sales and Marketing, develop, sell-in and then implement  customer –specific plans and tactics : range management and reviews, NPD, new listings/distribution, de-list defences etc. 
• Ongoing monitoring of all relevant Commercial, Marketing, customer, shopper, competitor and other research data to keep business appraised of performance, developments and risks, initiating corrective/opportunistic proposals as appropriate. 
• Evaluate the effectiveness of promotional activity to establish key leanings and future opportunities. 
• Liaise effectively with Managers across the organization (especially Marketing, Commercial and Finance) to ensure alignment of plans and actions.
• Undertake/lead Company-wide or category-wide projects (e.g Systems development, cross-functional initiatives).

The Candidate  

Qualifications / Work Experience / Technical Skills 

Candidates will possess the following attributes:

• Educated to degree level.
• 3-4 years FMCG Category Management experience.
• Proven record of making a difference to customer performance through personal Category 
• Management initiatives    
• Vision and breadth of understanding to appreciate the overall business/commercial context and the role of Category within it – not merely a technocrat 
• Financially astute     
• Strong numerate and analytic skills with ability to probe numbers for trends, insights and opportunities, and translate into logical, concise and clear recommendations
• Excellent IT skills – able to prepare interest-grabbing ‘to-the-point’ presentations
• Use of IRI/Nielsen, Kantar and retailer analytic databases
• Confident verbal presenter with strong influencing skills 
• Team player           

What will you get from us?

• We pay competitive salaries and annual bonus
• We have a flexible, employee-focussed culture with a great work environment
• Benefits such as Healthcare, Dental and early finishes at 3pm on Fridays
• We will look for ways to help you grow your skill set through cross-functional career opportunities and stretch assignments
• We invest in both your professional and personal development

At General Mills, our mission and our values are our strategy for success and our people are the key ingredients in bringing them to life.  If you are ready to fulfil your potential and share your talents with the outstanding people of General Mills please apply now to find out more.