Position Overview
The Category Manager for Spirits & Minerals owns the strategic commercial roadmap for these two key categories; buying responsibilities; portfolio lifecycle, and supplier relationships for Libra Drinks. The role is agile and requires working directly with the sales team delivering a market-leading product proposition that creates USP’s for Libra Drinks in a challenging marketplace.
The role is hybrid. Working on the East Midlands patch (Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire), from home and the Nottingham office when required. The chosen candidate must live within one of these regions.
The successful candidate will blend rigorous data analysis with commercial creativity, translating consumer trends into actionable joint business plans (JBPs) with suppliers
and executing high-impact promotional strategies in collaboration with sales the team.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Category Management & Portfolio Optimisation:
- Portfolio Strategy: Define and execute the end-to-end category strategy for spirits and minerals, ensuring the range is commercially optimal, trend-led, and differentiated within the on-trade sector against competitor set.
- Lifecycle Management: Conduct rigorous category reviews using rate-of-sale data to identify underperforming SKUs and execute structured delisting processes.
- NPD Pipeline: Source, evaluate, and launch New Product Development (NPD) that aligns with macroeconomic trends, premiumisation, and evolving consumer preferences.
- Data-Driven Insights: Utilise market intelligence (e.g., CGA, Nielsen, internal sales data etc) to identify distribution gaps and capitalise on emerging category opportunities.
Supplier Relationship Management & Commercial Negotiations
- Strategic Partnerships: Act as the primary point of contact for brand owners and suppliers building robust, mutually beneficial relationships.
- Commercial Agreements: Negotiate comprehensive Joint Business Plans (JBPs), securing competitive cost prices, retrospective rebates, overriders, and optimal payment terms.
- Investment Acquisition: Secure supplier funding, activation budgets, and commercial backing to support corporate growth targets and margin enhancement.
Trade Marketing, Activation & Promotional Strategy
- Promotional Calendar: Design and deliver a high-impact, bi-monthly activation calendar through the Libra Drinks promotional brochures, balancing supplier-funded mechanics with clear return-on-investment (ROI) metrics.
- Publication Management: Oversee the curation, pricing, and supplier funding for physical and digital category brochures, menus, and stand-alone promotions.
- Digital & Socials Integration: Partner with Libra Drinks digital marketing creator to help produce high-performing online assets, content and social media campaigns.
Commercial Pricing & Financial Governance
- Margin Architecture: Implement disciplined pricing frameworks that protect and enhance gross profit margins while maintaining market competitiveness.
- Benchmarking: Lead ongoing competitor benchmarking exercises across pricing, promotional mechanics, and range depth to safeguard market share.
- P&L Accountability: Monitor category financial performance against volume, revenue, and gross profit targets, implementing corrective actions where necessary.
Sales Team Support & Training
- Sales Collaboration: Partner closely with the Libra Drinks sales teams to identify key account opportunities, design bespoke drink menus, and drive pouring-deal conversions.
- Category Training – Sales Team: Design and deliver category immersive sessions, brand masterclasses, and trend toolkits to elevate the sales team’s commercial confidence and knowledge.
- Category Training – Customer: Deliver category immersive sessions, brand and cocktail masterclasses for the appropriate customers when required to maximise buy-in and tie-in supply.
- Customer Insights: Provide the sales field with tailored market data and create materials to secure listings driven by the insight at the point of sale.
Knowledge, Skills, and Experience
- On-Trade Expertise: Minimum of 3–5 years of progressive experience in category management, buying, or commercial brand management within the UK on-trade drinks sector.
- Commercial Acumen: Proven track record of successfully negotiating complex JBPs and managing multi-million-pound category P&Ls.
- Network: Established relationships with major spirits brand owners, agency brands, and mineral/mixer manufacturers.
- Analytical Capability: Advanced proficiency in data manipulation (Excel) with the ability to turn complex sales metrics into clear commercial strategies.
- Influence & Negotiation: Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, capable of influencing cross-functional teams and external partners.
- Project Management: Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple marketing deadlines, product launches, and promotional cycles simultaneously.
Pay: £40,000.00-£48,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company car
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Private medical insurance
- Sick pay
- Work from home
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Nottingham NG7 2NN
