Head of Category Management
| Posting date: | 02 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | Competitive |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 01 April 2026 |
| Location: | Equity House, Irthlingborough Road, Wellingborough,, NN8 1LT |
| Company: | Booker Group |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 29439 |
Summary
We’re hiring a proven commercial leader to take full accountability for one of our most strategic and commercially significant categories. This role demands someone who can set a clear direction, lead a high‑performing team, and deliver ambitious results across a complex and fast‑moving business.
You will own the category end-to-end — shaping strategy, driving performance, influencing senior stakeholders, and representing the category at the highest levels. If you’re an experienced category expert with a strong leadership track record and the confidence to operate at scale, this is a major opportunity to make a business-wide impact.
Set the strategic direction for the category, defining the long‑term vision, commercial priorities and investment focus, and ensuring execution delivers meaningful business impact.
Lead a senior, high‑performing team, setting standards for performance, capability, pace and decision‑making, while developing future leaders and shaping the overall culture of the function.
Define and evolve the category proposition across all channels, ensuring it delivers competitive advantage, meets diverse customer needs, and positions the business for future growth.
Own senior supplier relationships at a strategic level, negotiating complex commercial agreements, shaping joint business plans, and ensuring the business secures a market‑leading position.
Drive transformation and innovation, challenging current ways of working, unlocking efficiencies, and ensuring the category stays ahead of market trends, customer behaviour and commercial risk.
Act as a key senior leader within the commercial organisation, influencing cross‑functional decision‑making, shaping enterprise‑wide priorities, and driving alignment across multiple business units.
- Significant senior experience leading a complex commercial or category function.
- A proven track record of delivering commercial results and leading teams to high performance.
- Strong negotiation and supplier management experience, with the ability to build long-term, strategic partnerships.
- Exceptional communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with influence at all levels.
- Strategic thinking, sound judgement, and the ability to simplify complexity and deliver at pace.
- Collaborative leadership style, with a commitment to developing people and building inclusive, high-performing teams.
- Flexibility, resilience and a solutions-focused mindset in a fast-moving environment.