Category Strategy Controller

Location: Greater London

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Join this dynamic team focused on delivering better nutrition for every step of life's journey The Opportunity

The Category Strategy Controller is a role within the Europe Customer, Strategy & Operations team, accountable for setting and commercialising the category growth agenda across the region. The role places the customer, shopper and consumer at the heart of business planning, translating insight and foresight into a clear category vision, strategic choices and market-level growth plans.

This role will connect long-range category strategy with practical commercial execution. They will shape where and how GPN and the sports nutrition category can grow across markets, channels, customers and formats; create compelling category narratives; and equip local teams to influence retailer and distributor plans

The role will partner closely with Sales, Brand & Portfolio, Innovation, Revenue Growth Management, Trade Marketing, Insights, Finance and Customer Operations.

The role requires an enterprise‑minded individual who can move confidently between European strategy and local market realities, build senior internal and external relationships, lead through influence, and raise category capability across a matrix organisation. Success will be measured through the quality and adoption of the category strategy, stronger customer partnerships, improved commercial choices, and delivery of sustainable category and brand growth.

Responsibilities

• Own the European category vision and strategy
  , defining a clear multi-year growth agenda rooted in consumer, shopper, customer, channel and market insight.
• Identify and prioritise the major category growth drivers, future demand spaces and strategic plays that will shape portfolio, innovation, channel, customer and commercial plans.
• Translate the European strategy into practical market and channel frameworks, enabling local teams to build relevant, insight-led category plans while maintaining strategic coherence across Europe.
• Embed category thinking into annual business planning and long-range planning, ensuring external market and customer perspectives inform business choices, investment priorities and growth plans.

Category Commercialisation & Customer Leadership:

• Create inspiring, evidence-led category narratives and customer-facing stories that establish GPN as a valued growth partner and strengthen thought leadership in sports nutrition.
• Partner with market commercial teams to tailor category strategy for priority retailers and distributors, converting the European vision into actionable recommendations on range, space, merchandising, channel, format, promotion and activation.
• Support and lead strategic customer engagements, including category vision sessions, joint business planning, category reviews and senior customer workshops.
• Build approaches that strengthen long-term customer relationships and create opportunities for category leadership, collaborative growth initiatives and breakthrough execution.
• Define principles and toolkits that help teams sell brand plans through a category lens and demonstrate the value of GPN's portfolio to customers and shoppers.

Insight, Foresight & Strategic Planning:

• Set the strategic learning agenda for category growth, identifying the critical questions and evidence required to guide business decisions across Europe.
• Synthesize consumer, shopper, customer, market, cultural and competitive insight into clear strategic implications, moving beyond reporting to identify what the business should do differently.
• Partner with Market Intelligence and Insights teams to ensure data, research and foresight are integrated into category strategy, customer propositions and commercial decision…