Senior Category and Insights Manager

Company Description

We are FBC UK, Fox's Burton's Companies! ……And we bake the UK's most incredible biscuits (we might be slightly biased, but we will leave that for you to judge). 

FBC UK was a match made in heaven, with two of the top UK biscuits manufacturers (Burton's Biscuits and Fox's Biscuits) coming together to create one unique, integrated company.

We are home to famous iconic brands, including Maryland, Fox's, Jammie Dodger & Rocky, to name just a few. We are proud manufacturing partners to some of the biggest UK retailers and household names. We bake our incredible biscuits at eight bakeries across the UK, located at Isle of Arran, Livingston, Blackpool, Llantarnam, Edinburgh, Kirkham, Batley & Dorset and our HQ in St Albans. Together, we employ circa 4,000 amazing colleagues across all our locations.  

Whilst we know that we have delicious products we also know that that the key ingredient to our success is our people, and the passion we have for our brands. You could be the jammy to our dodger, party ring to our Fox’s or the choc-chip to our Maryland?!  We knead people with innovative ideas, an entrepreneurial spirit, and the commitment to drive FBC UK to success.

We are committed to building an inclusive workforce that feels empowered to build a fulfilling and successful career. By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) we create a supportive environment for people to thrive and strive to have more positive impact. 

We understand that having formal and on-the-job learning opportunities is key to our colleagues’ professional and personal growth. We are committed to providing an environment where everyone can learn from each other and grow through a variety of learning experiences. 

Our colleagues make our business special. With strong community values, we believe FBC UK is a more prosperous and fun place to work when people feel free to be themselves. We believe in the power of being authentic, entrepreneurial and supporting each other whilst meeting our business goals. 

About the Role

As the Category & Insights controller you will be the strategic lead for Category Management and Insight for your business unit within FBC.

This role will drive the partnership between FBC and our retail customers by delivering though leadership, unlocking shopper led opportunities and influencing brand strategies with data driven insight and recommendations.

You will lead a small team and work cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, NRM, Innovation and Shopper teams to ensure we are winning across all channels within your business unit through a channel level strategy.

Main Responsibilities

Category Leadership:

•    Own & Drive category strategies that lead the growth of total category with your channel /retailer(s), unlocking growth for FBC & our partners
•    Lead Category Reviews, Range recommendations and merchandising guidance for retailers within your BU
•    Act as the voice of the shopper, ensuring shopper behaviour and missions are embedded into brand and channel plans
Customer Engagement:
•    Build strategic partnerships with retailers through compelling, insight led category storytelling
•    Support commercial teams with Joint Business Planning and tailored customer sell-in stories
•    Partner with retailers to align category plans with customer priorities to deliver a tailored growth agenda

Insights & Analytics:

•    Lead the generation of market, shopper and consumer insights within areas of your BU responsibility to inform strategy across the business
•    Translate data from multiple sources (Nielsen/IRR/Kantar/Circana/retailer data) into clear actions and opportunities
•    Share insights with Marketing, Innovation, NRM and sales to guide Innovation pipeline and PPPA strategy

Team Leadership:

•    Manage & develop a high-performing team of Category & insight managers
Drive capability across the wider commercial team through training, tools and thought leadership

Who we are looking for

•    Proven experience in a category leadership or Insights role within and FMCG environment
•    Strong retailer engagement skills and experience delivering category plans to UK grocers
•    Highly analytical and commercially astute, with the ability to connect data to strategy
•    Experience in working cross-functionally to influence brand, innovation and commercial decisions
•    Confident communicator with strong storytelling skills

Diversity Statement

FBC UK is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all of our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at FBC UK. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative and highly rewarding.