Category management
As a category manager, you'll take responsibility for the overall sales and profitability of a product category (our hair care category, for example, includes shampoos, conditioners and styling products). You'll need expertise in what consumers want and need, you’ll stimulate demand for our products in retail outlets and you’ll develop close relationships with brand managers, account managers and the consumers themselves.
We'll also need you to think strategically – optimising return and channelling your insights into our consumers and competitors to make key decisions on pricing, promotion, merchandising and growth.
Account management
Our account managers develop relationships with Unilever customers – the big retailers, for example. Your remit will be to improve turnover and to increase profit and market share. When launching new products, you'll be working hand in hand with Brand and Category management to get those products onto the shelves.
An essential part of your job is customer service – you'll ensure that the right stock appears at the right time, you'll plan and implement promotions and negotiate our prices and margins. And we'll expect you to be thinking ahead all the time – planning new initiatives to keep your customers excited, whilst dealing with practical challenges such as logistics planning.
For customer development you need:
- Very strong interpersonal and analytical skills.
- A strong customer focus and the ability to develop strategies to meet the needs of your customers and our business.
- A love of the pace and competitiveness of the retail market.
- Practical creativity that focuses on results.
