Category Merchandising Manager (hybrid) 12 months FTC

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At Britvic, we make, market and sell great-tasting soft drinks, offering refreshments to billions of consumers worldwide. We're constantly refreshing and reimagining our business, ensuring it's innovative and evolving while staying true to our vision - to be the most dynamic soft drinks company, creating a better tomorrow. We've been home to iconic brands for over 100 years, and our relevance is anchored in an authentic heritage. Delivering our vision is down to the passion of our people, and we create conditions for everyone to thrive and grow. From our international supply chain and network of partners, we export to over 100 countries, offering opportunities for our people and businesses to grow.

Job Overview

At Britvic, we are seeking a dynamic and driven Category Merchandising Manager to join our Category & Shopper Strategy team. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in developing and deploying best-in-class point of purchase principles, ensuring our brands have a competitive edge in the market. You will collaborate closely with customer-facing teams to align plans with key principles, maximizing category and Britvic sales. This role is to cover 12 months maternity leave.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and continuously enhance generic merchandising principles, ensuring their seamless integration within customer category teams and toolkits for bronze customers.
• Support the creation and deployment of Range & Merchandising Guidelines to customer category teams, delivering maximum benefit to Britvic and our customers.
• Leverage space planning tools to lead the category agenda during range reviews across all sub-categories, including immediate consumption, deferred retail, and hospitality.
• Serve as the expert on JDA, training and upskilling Customer Category teams to create customer-specific planograms efficiently and effectively, in line with best practices.
• Bring Britvic's Shopper and Category strategic focuses to life through engaging, insight-led virtual outlet videos, inspiring stakeholders internally and tailoring capabilities for different needs.
• Deliver insights into changing retail environments across all channels and drivers of change, continuously improving our category and shopper strategy execution.
• Lead annual agency negotiations and day-to-day relationship management to maximize service benefits and adapt to evolving business needs.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Previous experience in FMCG, preferably across different channels, building recommendations for various shopper missions (e.g., On The Go and Take Home).
• Practical experience in category merchandising, including using space planning software such as JDA.
• Demonstrable experience conducting or supporting category managers with ranging recommendations. Experience with live range builds at customer centres is an advantage.
• Familiarity using shopper insights and/or range review analysis to inform point of purchase recommendations (e.g., fixture layout, shopper marketing activities).
• Experience using in-house software or briefing agencies to create videos. Familiarity with Kantar 'VO' is an advantage.
• Strong communication skills (written & presented).
• Creative thinking with a flair for design.
• Technology-savvy, particularly with design-led tools.
• Excellent project management skills, including time management.
• Ability to influence and strong attention to detail.
• Action-oriented, turning observations into recommendations for improvement.

Education

A relevant degree or equivalent experience is required for this role.

Certifications

• L1 and L2 JDA accreditation (preferred but not essential).