Category Manager – Marketing Procurement

The Boots Company PLC; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company in Nottingham is seeking a full-time Category Manager to oversee marketing procurement strategies. This role aims to manage a significant budget while collaborating with various teams to optimize supplier relationships. Candidates should possess strong negotiation skills and a knack for project management, with additional experience in performance media being beneficial. The company offers a range of competitive benefits.

Benefits

Boots Retirement Savings Plan

Discretionary annual bonus

Generous employee discounts

Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay

Flexible benefits scheme

Access to free, 24/7 counselling and support

Qualifications

• Experience in strategy development for marketing categories.
• Strong negotiation skills to secure advantageous terms.
• Project management experience to lead procurement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage category strategy for marketing procurement.
• Promote procurement-led change across companies.
• Manage key supplier relationships and risks.

Skills

Strategy Development

Commercial Knowledge

Negotiation

Contracting

Project Management

Stakeholder Experience

Communication Skills

Risk Management

Category Management

Job description

About the role

Full-time Category Manager, reporting into the Category Director for Marketing Procurement, based in Nottingham, taking ownership of categories across the marketing portfolio such as insights, creative, production, media, PR and marketing technology. Partnering with partners and agencies across Boots, Opticians and No7 Beauty Company to lead value, innovation and compliance.

As a Category Manager in the Marketing Procurement team, you will report into the Category Director for Marketing responsible for ~£200m spend, work in collaboration with two other Marketing Category Managers, supported by a cross-function team of shared Procurement Associates. The Category Directors (Marketing, Property, Logistics, Professional Services and Technology) report to the Direct of Procurement who directly reports to the Chief Finance Office.

Key responsibilities

Category strategy

· Develop and manage category strategy(ies) for an assigned portfolio

· Work with team members up to and including CxO / Executives to develop strategies, testing requirements, through external insights, spend analysis and always challenging the balance between value and service.

Procurement led change and sourcing

· Promote procurement led change and sourcing activities across Boots, Opticians and No7 Beauty Company

· Project manage work-streams/programmes in the Category Strategy to ensure timely delivery of goals within the prescribed governance

· Collaborate with several areas of the business, such as; Finance Business Partners, Legal, InfoSec and Data Protection

· Provide professional procurement expertise to multiple stakeholders

· Undertake negotiations, selection and contracting to support the business and deliver objectives

· Report on savings, ROI and other procurement KPIs

Supplier and Risk Management

· Help manage key supplier relationships

· Develop strategic relationships ensuring mutual beneficial outcomes

What you'll need to have

• Strategy Development – understands the dynamics of the Marketing categories (insights, creative, production, media, PR and marketing technology), agencies and business; can develop strategies that maximise the return for the business
• Commercial Knowledge – uses knowledge to deliver the right balance between value and service, demonstrating commercial creativity
• Negotiation - explores positions and alternatives to reach outcomes that gain acceptance of all parties and maximises return
• Contracting - uses expertise in commercial contracts to negotiate contractual terms for local and regional arrangements
• Project Management – ability to shape and lead programmes to deliver initiatives on time in full
• Stakeholder Experience – Navigates multiple areas of the business to form a reasonable strategy, plans and actions
• Communication Skills - articulates direction and plans, commercial results and issues to a broad range of team members
• Risk Management – identifies risks and mitigation plans acting always within the risk appetite of the business
• Category Management – leads the category management process through all stages of its life cycle.

It would be great if you also have

These are desirable experience and are not essential, so we would welcome applications from candidates that don't match this additional criteria.

• Experience in arrangements for Performance Media e.g. PPC, Social and Affiliates. Performance Media technologies such as; CM/SA/DV360, Smartly, feed providers.
• Management of Media cost and quality metrics.

Our benefits

• Boots Retirement Savings Plan
• Discretionary annual bonus
• Generous employee discounts
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/adoption leave pay and gift card for anyone expecting or adopting a child
• Flexible benefits scheme including option to buy additional holiday, discounted gym membership, life assurance, activity passes and much more.
• Access to free, 24/7 counselling and support through TELUS Health, our Employee Assistance Programme.

We have a great range of benefits in addition to the above that offer flexibility to suit you - find out more at boots.jobs/rewards. Exclusions may apply, eligible roles only. Please note, any salary estimates given on third-party sites are not provided or endorsed by Boots and may not be accurate.

Why Boots

At Boots, we foster a working environment where consideration and inclusivity help everyone to be themselves and reach their full potential. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, passionate about embracing the diversity of our colleagues and providing a positive and inclusive working environment for all. As the heart of everything we do at Boots, with you, we change for the better.

What's next

Where a role is advertised as full-time, we are open to discussing part-time and job share options during the application process. If you require additional support as part of the application and interview process, we are happy to provide reasonable adjustments to help you to be at your best.

Boots is a Ban the Box employer and will consider the suitability of applicants with criminal convictions on a case-by-case basis.

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