Company: Nestlé
Experience: Minimum 7 years commercial experience.

Qualifications Required: Relevant BCom degree/equivalent commercial qualification, preference for majors in Accounting, Economics, Marketing

Closing date: 13 June 2025
 

Position Summary

With a history spanning over 150 years, Nestlé didn’t become the world’s leading food and beverages brand by chance. Perfection is at the heart of what we do, and our people are always looking for the next big idea to cement our status. We are now looking for a Category Development Manager to be based in Bryanston.

As the Category Development Manager, you will lead and develop the Category and Channel agenda within the market to deliver long term Category growth and profitably increased market share.

A day in the life of a Category Development Manager:

1. Develop and internally align commercial strategies & plans to win externally:

• Lead the commercial planning process (ICP) to ensure timely cross-functional input and alignment to the key Category, Brand, Channel, Shopper and Customer growth opportunities and activation platforms.
• Establish winning commercial propositions and support the development of customer and field sales plans.
• Utilize category analysis, shopper insights and other available analytics/tools to drive solutions for customers and channels.
• Partner with Brand and Sales Teams to develop actionable insights that will support Category driving initiatives.
• Track the execution of plans, identifying eventual gaps, proposing actions to close the gaps.                                           

2. Translate category drivers into actionable plans that deliver category growth and secure more support from customers for our brands:                                                                                                                                

• Define growth opportunities and main drivers for the category based on shopper data, customer needs and consumer demand moments.
• Deliver a strong category growth story reflecting consumer, shopper, channel & customer dynamics.
• Be the expert that is able to represent the Category to the Customer supporting Sales & Marketing to win in the market.
• Lead the omni-channel category strategy development process with key internal stakeholders and ensure clear linkage between the market business strategy (MBS), brand, channel and customer strategy.                                           

3. Gather and apply understanding of shopping missions, purchase behavior and motivation:                                                                                                           

• Ensure that shopper understanding is available to support category and customer strategic decisions.
• Develop the capability of commercial functions (Marketing, Sales, Field) to ensure shopper behavior is understood and applied to build stronger category stories and customers plans
• Lead the generation of shopper understanding and interpret relevant sources of information and translate them into actionable insight relevant to category, brand, channel and customer.
• Develop key initiatives in order to attract and convert more shoppers to the category.
• Monitor and report on micro and macro shopper trends, implications and opportunities, leveraging supplier, customer and Nestlé global network and tools to guide internal and external customers to future growth opportunities".                                   
• Understand the channel dynamics and prioritize them based on shopper centric insights and missions (relevant physical & digital store formats)
• Develop channel solutions and contribute to build commercially aligned business cases and key initiatives that address the opportunity for future channel growth leveraging our categories strategies
• Identify opportunities within all prioritized channels to execute the key category initiatives ensuring a frictionless on-line/off-line experience
• Define the picture of success for the category in each prioritized channel and enable its implementation, continuous review and optimization.
• Define business strategy to win in each priority channel.                                          

4. Deliver profitable value sales growth and optimize customer margin, through improved return on trade investment and active mix management:                                                                                                                                  

• Understands and uses the full range of revenue and profit levers (e.g. brand pricing & promotional strategy, customer & trade investment, mix management) to drive profitable growth for both Nestlé (NNS/kg, %MC) and the customer (% and $ trade margin).
• Contributes to aligned brand pricing & promotion strategies across the portfolio with marketing, sales & finance through robust consumer & shopper understanding, channel & customer dynamics and competitive landscape.
• Define & execute optimized Pack Price architecture (right pack at the right price in the right channel & ensuring profit expectations of both Nestlé & customer are satisfied) through fully understanding consumer, shopper & customer needs across prioritized channels
• Understands trade investment composition & structure across customers to ensure optimal counterparts are in place, to execute against aligned portfolio & brand pricing strategies & drive return on investment.
• Develop clear promotional guidelines/policies across our channels & customers based on agreed brand pricing strategies, infused with consumer & shopper insights. 
• Partner with marketing, sales & finance to optimize promotion plans based on systematic promotional evaluation, challenge effectiveness, funding & mechanics, consistently applying Keep/Modify/Drop mindset, balancing trade investment with customer tactics and needs, to improve return on investment.                                                 

5. Efficiently drive availability & visibility in physical and digital stores through perfect execution of Picture of Success.                                                                                                                           

• Provide consistent shopper messaging across all Picture of Success touch points
• Track the success of the overall execution of the category Picture of Success by channel, working cross-functionally to enhance the storytelling proposition"                                              

6. Build customer satisfaction, trust and mutual growth, through agreed business plans that meet customer’s needs:                                                                                                                                  

• Bring actionable insights which will inspire customers to implement aligned category strategy and initiatives.
• Support the customer teams to create a compelling story that establishes a connection between our customers and our initiatives to grow the category by addressing shopper needs.                                                 

7. People Development:

• Actively Develop People through coaching and professional skills training.
• Ensure career & succession planning, performance, development plans and talent management processes are in place.                   

What will make you successful?

• Minimum 7 years commercial experience.
• Experience in development and execution of category strategy; Strategic Revenue Management ; Pricing pack architecture development; customer knowledge (Retail and Distributor); category  strategy and channel development experience.
• Demonstrable record of success in delivering key commercial KPI's
• Understands key business functions i.e. Commercial, Finance, Technical, Supply Chain.
• Strong leadership skills  and people development experience.
• Customer Knowledge (Retail and Distributor)