Head of Category (12849) bei Lotus Bakeries

Lotus Bakeries, founded in 1932, operates worldwide in the indulgent and natural snacking segment with brands including Lotus®, Biscoff®, nākd®, TREK®, BEAR®, Kiddylicious®, Peter’s Yard®, Dinosaurus®, Peijnenburg® and Annas®. Headquartered in Belgium, Lotus Bakeries is a dynamic and internationally oriented company with production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, South Africa and the United States. A third production facility is currently under construction in Thailand and will be fully operational by May 2026. It has 23 own sales organisations in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Lotus Bakeries also works with commercial partners in approximately fifty countries worldwide. Lotus Bakeries has around 3,360 employees and achieved a revenue of EUR 1,232.0 million in 2024. The shares of Lotus Bakeries are listed on Euronext Brussels. The majority of shares are owned by the Boone and Stevens family.

Leadership & Team Empowerment

• Lead the UK category team by setting clear direction, fostering a culture of high performance, and enabling team development through trusted leadership.
• Define objectives and establish development plans to support growth and capability building within the Category Team.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and deliver insights that inform and shape strategy for UK and Global Brand Marketing.

Customer Collaboration

• Maintain strong relationships with key customer contacts to ensure alignment with strategic direction and vision, despite not holding day-to-day account responsibility.
• Demonstrate deep understanding of retailer strategies and market dynamics to ensure customer and shopper-centric approaches.
• Leverage external networks to gain broader category and industry perspectives.

Strategic Insights

• Ensure data is leveraged to drive informed business decisions and strategic clarity.
• Provide key input to the MD’s leadership team, representing the category function and delivering objective insights.
• Develop the UK Category Vision and Strategy for Lotus Bakeries UK, translating it into actionable and retailer-relevant plans.
• Own and lead the strategy for Revenue Growth Management.
• Initiate the annual planning process through brand and category diagnostics to ensure insight-led brand plans.

Developing Best Practices

• Ensure availability and optimal use of data to support internal strategy, planning, and retailer engagement.

Manage continuous data streams and provide regular reporting on category performance across the business, including monthly KPI updates for MD leadership meetings.

Alongside living our TOP values of Team Spirit, Open Dialogue, and Passion, the most important things we’re looking for from you are: 

• Proven experience operating at a senior level within a fast-paced category management environment, preferably within the Food FMCG sector.
• A passion for data and anaylsis
• Excellent communication skills, in particular inspirational presentation skills
• Ability to build great relationships both internally and externally, finding collaborative simple solutions and being recognised as a trusted expert that unlocks opportunities
• Outcome focused, results driven
• Able to prioritise quickly in a fast moving, entrepreneurial environment
• Proven commercial acumen by being able to evaluate how category strategy will impact sales and profitability
• Well versed in tools of the trade (Nielsen, Circana, Kantar, Dunnhumby, SIP)

Education (degree):
Educated to degree level in a relavent field, from a top university.
Masters degree is desirable.