Category Manager - Retail

We are looking for an entrepreneurial Category/Insights Manager to focus on our short and long-term vision for retail. In this role, you will work with our retail partners to drive category growth and identify future opportunities using insights and data.

Changing the world of pet food for good
We’re Tails.com, a dog food subscription company with a big difference. We create truly tailored food for each and every dog we serve. We start by asking people a few simple questions about their dog. Then we use that information to create their dog’s unique Tails.com recipe – so their dog gets exactly the nutrition they need, in the taste they love, delivered to their door every month. It’s clever stuff.

We’ve got bold plans. Having created an entirely new category in pet food, we’re now scaling fast in the UK and Europe – backed by Purina, one of the world’s largest pet food companies. You’ll join a bunch of smart people working towards the same goals – and a bunch of smart-ish dogs, all working on their own thing.

Together, we’ll change the world of pet food for good.

Retail Operations at Tails.com
Retail is a relatively new channel for us at Tails.com. From 2022 we expanded our proposition into retail to provide something different to customers. The retail team looks after everything from the great marketing campaigns we do in stores to working with existing/potential new exciting retailers.

We have some ambitious plans for retail at Tails.com. We are looking for people who have the right attitude and desire to get stuck in and shape the ambitious plans we have going forward.

Sound like a team you want to join? Here’s how you’ll make a difference:

The role
In a newly created role for Tails.com. This role will be a key role for our retail growth plans going forward. You will take full ownership of category, insights and data for retail. It will be your job to work closely with internal and external stakeholders as we grow our retail presence at Tails.com.

We have a wealth of data and insights here through internal and external systems. This role will lead discussions with our external partners at range reviews but also work with them on the longer term vision of retail.

You have a great can-do attitude to get stuck in and work with a wide range of internal and external partners to put the foundations in place for our growth plan over the coming years.

You will be responsible for:

Category

• Develop and Implement category strategies including the 4P’s (Pricing, Product, Promotion and Place).
• Relationship building. Build and maintain relationships across customers
• Lead customer range reviews with insight-led and actionable recommendations in regards to space, distribution and range
• Market Analysis. Identify new opportunities and stay ahead of market trends and competitor activities
• Creating the long-term category vision for retail
• NPD Launches. Lead the go-to-market strategy for new products and using insights to influence the future NPD pipeline
• Pricing Strategy. Develop and implement competitive pricing strategies

Insights/Data

• Creating a data/insights strategic plan for retail
• Ownership of total data/insights budget and how we use this with our partners
• Working with the internal insights team to link our data/insights together
• Turn data insights into actionable plans for both customers and internal teams
• Identifying market trends and future opportunities

The skills you’ll bring:

• FMCG Category/Insight experience
• Experience with working with retailers and range review recommendations.
  Working with data and insights (Kantar/Cicarna/retailer insights)
• Previous track record of success with retailers
• Experience in turning data and insights into tangible recommendations
• Willingness to get stuck in and work outside of the individual job title
• Adaptable and flexible in handling different work situations, tasks, and team roles, with the ability to anticipate and adjust to changes
• Good at planning, communicating, and presenting, with the ability to work on your own, interact well with all levels of management, and pay close attention to detail when finding solutions
• Strong skills in Excel, data analysis and the ability to quickly learn new reporting tools
• Commercial acumen - experience in managing budgets and building business cases for investment
• You know how to tailor communication for different audiences, ensuring clarity and alignment when interacting with both customers and internal teams

Bonus skills an incredible candidate would bring:

• Pet category business experience
• Digital Marketing/E-comm experience

What's in it for you?

• Competitive salary, reviewed annually
• Annual bonus, based on company performance
• Flexible core hours, giving you true work-life balance
• Hybrid role to ensure this role works for you
• 25 days of holiday (excluding bank holidays) which increases over time to a max of 27 days
• 9/10 day working week to enhance your well-being without a reduction in pay and leave allowance
• Optional 5 days unpaid leave and 1 paid volunteer day each year
• When you need a change of scenery, you can work from abroad 2 weeks every 6 months
• Health insurance for you, paid by Tails.com
  Extended maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay. 6 months at 70% pay
• Flexible paid care leave to support immediate dependants, people close to you and pets
• 50% discount on all Tails.com products
• Discounted gym membership

What’s next?
If this sounds like it matches your experience and what you’d love to do, we can’t wait to hear from you! If you’re unsure whether you fit our criteria exactly, please get in touch anyway. And because we believe that diverse teams perform better, we’d especially love to hear from you if you’re from an under-represented demographic.

Here’s a taster of how our recruitment process works:

1. Once you have applied your CV will be reviewed by the Hiring Manager
   If selected, you will then have a call with Talent Acquisition to learn more about your skills and experience (30 mins)
2. If selected, you will have a call with the Head of Retail to delve deeper into your experience and the chance for you to ask questions
3. If successful, you will be invited to present a task back to a panel of interviewers alongside some further time for questions for both sides (90 mins)

Our Commitment
We’re proud to be an active equal-opportunity employer. We want to give everyone a fair chance to join us in changing the world of pet food for good. We do this by conducting a structured recruitment process for all candidates, as well as actively promoting our roles to communities that are under-represented at Tails.com.

During your interview process you’ll meet some of our team with varying levels of responsibility and experience. We want to give every candidate a fair interview process and if you need any reasonable adjustments made, please let us know.