Business Area: Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages

Customer Category Lead – Wholesale & Convenience Channel

Gatwick: Hybrid working: 2 days per week in the office

Attractive Salary 

Some of our other fantastic benefits

• Car Allowance
• Potential, discretionary annual bonus
• Generous pension scheme
• 12 flexible days on top of 25 days annual holiday entitlement pro rata
• 2 paid volunteering days
• A focus on personal development and growth

Although this is a full-time permanent opportunity, please speak to us about what flexibility means to you as we are always open to discuss individual’s flexible working needs, don’t let this stop you from applying.

Position Summary

Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is a standalone, globally managed business within the Nestlé Group. 

The company serves consumers in more than 100 markets with a portfolio of more than 35 brands, including S.Pellegrino, Perrier, Acqua Panna, Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling Drinks, Maison Perrier, Buxton, Essentia, Levissima, La Vie and Nestlé Pure Life.  Building on its heritage and expertise in waters, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages (NW & PB) is focused on growth in premium and better-for-you beverages, creating value for consumers, customers and stakeholders. 

Water stewardship is central to the business. Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages is proud to be the only beverage company with all its bottling sites certified to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Working with local communities, experts and partners around the world, the company helps protect and restore water resources while supporting long-term environmental resilience.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Customer Category Lead to join our Commercial Development Team (CDT) to lead the future growth, transformation and brand-building agenda of our Out of Home (OOH) business, with accountability for building trusted category partnerships and developing a high-performing team.

As a Customer Category Lead - OOH, you will shape the future of our Out of Home business by developing and activating category and channel strategies that drive sustainable growth, create value for customers, and strengthen our brands across a wide range of consumption occasions. This is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact on the future of our business while helping our brands win in the moments that matter most.

Your impact

Reporting to the Head of CDT and leading a team of 3 direct reports, your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading the development and execution of 12 – 36 month Out of Home channel strategies that unlock growth opportunities across diverse customer environments
• Driving category growth, premiumisation and value creation through customer-focused insight and strategic planning
• Partnering with senior customer stakeholders to build trusted relationships and create sustainable category growth plans
• Delivering compelling category recommendations that transform insight into actionable commercial opportunities and winning execution.
• Leading cross-functional collaboration to align business priorities, optimise performance and bring strategic plans to life
• Leading the Integrated Commercial Planning (ICP) process from an OOH perspective, connecting Market Business Strategy (MBS) ambitions to annual priorities, Must Win Battles and executable customer plans
• Building and inspiring a high-performing Customer Category team with capability in shopper insight, OOH dynamics, commercial storytelling and strategic influence.

Your ingredients for success

The successful candidate will demonstrate breadth of OOH experience, transformational leadership, brand-building capability, customer influence and strategic vision required to unlock the next phase of growth for NW&PB.

Key skills and attributes will include:

Essential:

• Significant commercial, category development, customer management and channel strategy experience within FMCG
• Demonstrated experience shaping and activating customer or channel strategies, influencing senior stakeholders and turning insight into executable commercial plans
• Relevant experience of working in OOH channels, customers, occasions and routes to market
• Strong leadership capability, with a track record of developing high-performing teams and delivering results through others.

• Experience leading change within complex, matrix organisations and influencing senior stakeholders internally and externally
• Entrepreneurial mindset, exploring opportunities such as new routes to market, field sales and activation models, strategic partnerships, direct-to-consumer opportunities and premiumisation platforms

• Evidence of strategic thinking, customer partnership, commercial judgement and the agility to solve complex problems creatively and at pace
• Strong record of cross-functional leadership and delivery of exceptional results through collaboration, challenge and shared ownership

Desirable:

• Commercial and category development experience ideally within beverages, foodservice or a comparable environment

• Deep understanding of OOH channels, customers, occasions and routes to market
• Ability to challenge existing thinking and identify opportunities to fundamentally reshape the OOH business

What you need to know

Advert posting date: 04/09/2026
Advert closing date: 18/09/2026

We will be considering candidates as they apply and we will occasionally close job advertisements early in the event we receive sufficient applicants, so please don’t delay in submitting your application.

At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect and we believe that embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive environment allows everyone to reach their full potential and drives innovative thinking. We strongly encourage applications from individuals of all gender identities, ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities, parents, carers and members of the LGBT+ community. Please let us know if we can provide accommodations to ensure your full participation in the application process.

We take pride in championing inclusion and diversity. We proudly signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, are committed to Disability Confidence, and have been recognised as a Times Top 50 Employer for gender equality for three consecutive years. Additionally, we are a headline partner of Diversity and Inclusion in grocery.

To find out more about Nestle’s commitment to DEI: Nestlé's Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace

To find out more about your recruitment journey with Nestle: Recruitment Journey | Nestlé UK & Ireland