Category Manager - Halfords Autocentres

As a Category Manager you'll be responsible for maximising Gross Margin £’s within the defined group of products or categories they are responsible for, using all levers available to increase sales and /or margin.

The role will report to the Commercial Director and be a key member of the management team.

As Category Manager you'll become our expert and thought leader for their area, clearly identifying what ‘good looks like’ from a customer point of view; then making sure that we deliver that vision with profitable growth.

Responsibilities 

• Ensure that the customer requirement is at the centre of the decision making process, working closely with the marketing department to understand what customers want
• Fully understand each product group at a strategic level in terms of market size, competition offer, supply side dynamics, market shares, growth and trends within the market place
• Produce a Category Trading Plan that captures all aspects of the market, our position within it and identifies opportunities that will increase sales, profit and/or market share
• Pro-actively seek customer feedback on our offer; take action where appropriate
• Create internal and external networks to ensure that category plans have full 360 feedback
• Engage with the wider business to ensure that plans are understood and executed
• Define the brand selection strategy within the category, ensuring that we give our customers a consistent brand offering in line with our ‘quality products’ strategy
• Identify if ‘good, better, best’ product tiering is required within the category to offer the customer differing price points or quality of product / service
• Design and implement compelling category promotional campaigns by working closely with the marketing department to ensure all channels are optimised
• Develop the pricing strategy in the category and ensure that gross margin is maximized
• Take positive action in terms of managing product mix to positively impact on company profit
• Identify new products and services relevant to the category and bring to market effectively
• Define supplier selection policy within the category; rationalize supplier base where appropriate to secure additional value. Measure and drive compliance within our network.
• Ensure that existing supplier agreements are suitable and competitive at all times by utilizing procurement and supplier management techniques
• Implement supplier trading agreements, ensuring suppliers conform to our procurement policies such as CSR and Ethical Trading
• Conduct regular price benchmarking or tender activities to ensure that the business is securing best possible cost prices
• Agree and track service levels from suppliers; manage poor performance
• Negotiate and optimize all rebate agreements within the category. Pro-actively manage any growth rebates and move spend to maximize returns
• Ensure suppliers processes are robust in terms of the whole supply chain, from placement of orders through to invoicing and payments
• Take positive action with the supplier base to ‘reverse engineer’ our price and margin expectations to set target cost prices where appropriate

What we're looking for:

• High level of commercial acumen
• Previous experience of either Category Management, Procurement or Product Marketing
• Customer focused; skilled at identifying customer needs
• Strong negotiator, along with personal gravitas, to ensure credibility amongst supplier base
• Ability to manage direct reports and inspire all colleagues around them
• Able to interact effectively with Leadership Team
• Accomplished presenter
• A self starter, with the ability to act on own initiative and identify best way forward
• Positive attitude with a can-do spirit and ability to make things happen
• Able to analyse and interpret large amounts of data and make fact based decisions
• Strong engagement skills, with ability to bring key stakeholders along with them
• Previous knowledge of automotive aftermarket