Category Manager

As a Category Manager at Peckwater Brands, your primary responsibilities include developing strategic supply chain plans, managing supplier relationships, ensuring operational excellence, and analyzing data to drive insights. You're responsible for deciding where and how restaurant partners purchase, negotiating prices, and maintaining high-performance partner compliance. Your role is pivotal in achieving KPIs and ensuring sustainable partnerships.

Candidates applying for the Category Manager role at Peckwater Brands should have previous experience in developing and implementing category plans, managing suppliers, and working with logistics partners. Strong negotiation skills and a proven record of cost savings are essential. Additionally, you should be comfortable in a high-growth startup environment and possess excellent people management skills.

The Category Manager position at Peckwater Brands follows a hybrid work model. Employees are required to be in the London office at least two days a week, offering the flexibility to work from home for the remaining days. This arrangement supports collaboration while allowing for a comfortable work-life balance.

Peckwater Brands offers an attractive array of benefits for the Category Manager role, including competitive pay, private healthcare, access to a free gym at the office, volunteering days, and limitless mental health support. The company prioritizes the well-being of its employees and fosters a great company culture where everyone can thrive.

In a Category Manager at Peckwater Brands, we seek individuals who are commercially aware, have strong negotiation skills, and enjoy managing and influencing people. A passion for working in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment is essential, along with a track record of identifying initiatives that generate cost savings and enhance overall operational efficiency.

When answering this question, highlight specific examples where you created effective category plans that drove significant results. Discuss the methodology you used, how you collaborated with other teams, and the impact it had on the overall business objectives.

Your response should emphasize your negotiation strategies, focusing on building strong relationships while ensuring cost-effectiveness. Mention specific techniques you employ to maintain supplier accountability and how you measure success in these partnerships.

Discuss the key performance indicators (KPIs) you monitor and how they relate to the overall goals of the category. Explain how you use this data to identify improvement opportunities and drive strategic decisions.

Provide an example illustrating your collaborative approach, mentioning specific departments you have coordinated with, the project's goal, and the successful outcomes resulting from this teamwork.

Discuss specific tactics you have employed to negotiate pricing and manage contracts effectively during inflationary periods. Highlight your analytical skills and how you leverage data to propose changes and maintain supplier relationships.

When addressing this question, describe your research methods for spotting trends, your approach to testing and validating product concepts, and how you analyze their potential impact on the business’s competitive advantage.

Provide a specific example of a challenge you encountered, explaining your thought process, the solutions you implemented, and the positive results achieved, showcasing your adaptability in dynamic settings.

Elaborate on your approach to operational excellence, detailing the processes and systems you've implemented to streamline operations while maintaining quality and meeting partner expectations.

Explain your data analysis skills, offering examples of how you have utilized data to inform business strategies, optimize supply chain operations, and present critical insights to stakeholders.

Share your methodology for establishing relevant KPIs that align with broader business goals. Discuss how you track these metrics over time and adjust strategies accordingly to ensure targets are met.