Category Development Specialist

We Go Places How about you?
Immediate Superior: Category Development Manager
Job Grade: 10
Location: Gauteng

Type of Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: Friday, 23 May 2025

Purpose of the Position

The purpose of the Category Development Specialist is to support and maintain the Space Management priorities for the business. Including merchandise principles, range assortment and planograming across all categories and channels to ensure Heineken Beverages brands are well represented in trade. They work closely Key Account and Sales Operations to develop and execute strategies and tactics against the category, brand, channel and account strategies.

KEY RESULT AREAS
- Support the development of Space Management principles aligned to business priorities and brand strategies.
- Supporting development of Shopper Insights by Category and Customer to feed CatMan process.
- Support in space planning discussions with Retailers. Prepare assortments and develop data driven planograms in line with business priorities.
- Ensure a fair and objective view is presented in the planograms that will drive category growth
- Ensure that any shopper research is taken into account when presenting and developing the planograms to ensure shopper satisfaction and ease to shop.
- Ensure that the sales force are kept informed on all planograms. Key Account signed off and generics are communicated timeously with the sales force. Assortment and planograms need to be updated at least twice a year or when new products are launched.
- Design generic planograms by region for accounts not involved with category management & ensure that these are in line with our strategy, both brand & share of shelf.
- Demonstrates proficiency with data analysis - brand shares, range assortment, space allocation
- Evaluate progress on planogram projects to ensure the objective of growing the category is being reached.
- Analysis of epos data by Category / brand / region / Key account to monitor performance & identify opportunities in line with company & customer strategies.
- Deliver monthly Space reports by account highlighting areas of progress. Work with the Key Account managers to assist in developing a plan to close the gaps
- Store share report to be send to the sales reps to assist in driving share of shelf and therefore enabling us to reaching our SOS objectives in all categories.
- Manage all products, store data and image databases in space planning tool
- Conduct regular store visits, spending time with sales reps in the field.
- Support with the training of sales reps and 3rd party merchandisers on category flows and category knowledge to assist in securing the correct space and share of shelf in store.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
- A Degree in Marketing, Business Management or related field.
- Certification in space planning is advantageous. (Knowledge of Dot Activ or JDA program)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
- Minimum 3+ years’ experience within a similar role/ FMCG environment.
- Proven capability in trade marketing, sales, and customer management.
- Ability to lead innovation by challenging conventional ways of working and thinking in all aspects of the business.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to interrogate data.
- Project management skills.
- Excellent skills in excel is essential
- Presentation skills
- Trade relationships, providing objective expertise for key customers

The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply. HEINEKEN Beverages is committed to an organisational culture that recognises, appreciates and values inclusion and diversity