Business Area: Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages

Strategic Category Lead: 9 mth fixed term contract

Location: 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 temporary 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 Strategic Category Lead to join our Commercial Development Team (CDT) on a 12 month fixed term contract to be the beacon of forward-looking category insight, shaping the long-term choices, portfolio and growth platforms that build sustainable competitive advantage.

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 Commercial Development Team, you will be a forward-looking voice for the category, bringing together insight, commercial judgement and external perspective to influence decisions across strategy, innovation and investment. Working closely with Marketing, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Innovation and Strategic Revenue Management, you will connect long-term opportunity with measurable growth and profitability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Category foresight: Identify emerging trends, shopper and consumer missions, value pools and capability needs, turning them into clear opportunities and risks for the category.
• Strategic choices: Shape category, channel, portfolio and brand or pack priorities, helping the business make focused choices about where to play and how to win.
• Innovation rationale: Lead the category evidence and commercial rationale for new product development, renovation and portfolio optimisation, ensuring choices are rooted in consumer, shopper, customer and category growth opportunities.
• Thought leadership: Build the insight, stories and external perspective that raise ambition, strengthen category leadership and shape senior business, customer and industry conversations.
• Category Performance visibility: Define and track the external and internal measures that show whether the strategy is working, including market share, ROS, distribution, Net Net Sales (NNS) and profitability, and use the learning to sharpen future choices.
• Connected execution: Partner as one Shaping Team with other Strategic Commercial Category Leads to turn category opportunities into aligned Market Business Strategy (MBS), OMP and Integrated Commercial Planning (ICP) choices across portfolio, channel and investment, connecting long-term strategy to executable growth plans. 
• Lead the ICP process, and collaborate on all events within the ICP process 

Your ingredients for success

You will combine broad FMCG category knowledge with the ability to turn complex insight into actionable strategies. Comfortable working across functions and influencing senior leaders, you will help shape decisions that drive sustainable growth, profitability and competitive advantage.

Key skills and attributes will include:

Essential:

• FMCG experience, with strong experience in category, insights, marketing, commercial strategy or a closely related discipline
• Proven ability to turn consumer, shopper, customer and market insight into strategic choices and measurable growth
• Experience shaping MBS, category strategy, portfolio, channel and innovation priorities
• Track record of influencing senior stakeholders and leading cross-functional teams without relying on formal authority
• Strong commercial and financial judgement, connecting category opportunity to NNS, growth and profitability
• Evidence of forward-looking, creative thinking and the ability to simplify complexity into a compelling story
• High resilience, sound judgement and the ability to make clear choices under pressure
• Strong coaching, communication and thought-leadership capability 

Desirable:

• Commercial and category insight experience ideally within beverages

• Knowledge of Customers - Traditional Retailer, Digital & Out of Home operations within beverages

What you need to know

Advert posting date: 12/11/2026
Advert closing date: 26/11/2026

We will be considering candidates as they apply and may close the advert early should sufficient applications be received. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Our Commitment to Inclusive Hiring

At Nestlé, our values are rooted in respect. We believe that embracing diversity and creating an inclusive environment enables everyone to reach their full potential and drives innovation. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

We know that not everyone will meet every requirement listed in this advert. If you're excited about the opportunity and can demonstrate relevant skills, experience or potential, we'd encourage you to apply.

Accessibility & Adjustments

At Nestlé, we're committed to creating an inclusive and supportive recruitment experience where everyone can perform at their best.

If you require any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know. We'll work with you to understand your needs and make appropriate arrangements. Any information you share with us will be treated in the strictest confidence and used only to support you throughout the recruitment process.

To find out more about Nestlé’s commitment to DE&I: Nestlé's Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace

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