Category Controller

Do you have senior-level experience leading buying, trading or category teams within food retail, wholesale or FMCG?

Can you demonstrate success owning a significant P&L and delivering improvements across sales, margin and profitability?

Are you an influential people leader with a strong track record of negotiating strategic supplier agreements and developing high-performing teams?

Mac Gregor Black are partnering with a highly successful, multibillion-pound retail and wholesale group on the search for a Category Controller
. This is a permanent role based in Ealing.

Reporting into the senior leadership team, you will take ownership of the category function, leading a team of Category Managers and Category Assistants to deliver ambitious commercial and customer objectives.

This is a broad and influential leadership role encompassing category strategy, P&L ownership, supplier negotiations, ranging, pricing, profitability and operational performance. You will use market and customer insight to strengthen the category proposition while identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, margin and competitive positioning.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and execution of customer-led category and trading strategies.
• Take full ownership of category performance, including sales, margin, profitability, budgets and wider P&L delivery.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of Category Managers and Category Assistants, creating a supportive and high-performance culture.
• Build strategic relationships with key suppliers, leading complex negotiations across cost, margin, investment and commercial terms.
• Develop competitive, customer-centric ranges with strong price integrity, value and quality.
• Use customer insight, market data and NPS feedback to inform category decisions and identify growth opportunities.
• Work closely with Finance to improve commercial insight, forecasting and profitability.
• Collaborate across Supply Chain, Operations and Quality to improve availability, reduce waste and maintain food-safety compliance.
• Identify and deliver step-change improvements across the trading function.
• Influence senior stakeholders across a complex, multifunctional organisation.

What we're looking for?

• Significant experience in a senior category, buying, commercial or trading leadership role within food retail, wholesale or FMCG.
• A successful track record of leading and developing category or trading teams.
• Strong P&L ownership and experience delivering sales, margin and profitability targets.
• Advanced supplier-management and commercial-negotiation capability.
• A strong understanding of category strategy, merchandising, pricing, promotions and customer-led range development.
• The ability to interpret complex commercial data and translate insight into clear decisions.
• Experience working across supply chain, availability, wastage and operational performance.
• Demonstrable strategic thinking, including ownership of significant change or transformation within a trading environment.
• Excellent communication, influencing and senior stakeholder-management skills.

Competitive salary + benefits.