Category Manager

Category Manager

Salary: £40,000 - £45,000

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 9:00am – 5:30pm, early finish Friday at 4:00pm

Bedfordshire
Permanent, Office Based

We are recruiting on behalf of a well-established and growing sports equipment company, designing and supplying a broad range of own-brand training equipment alongside officially licensed merchandise for major football clubs, national teams, and global entertainment brands. This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially astute Category Manager to take ownership of product strategy and performance across own-brand and licensed ranges, working closely with design, sourcing, marketing, and e-commerce teams to drive category growth and profitability.

The successful candidate will be commercially minded, highly organised, and confident managing licensing relationships alongside product development and category performance, within a fast-paced, growing consumer goods business.

Key Responsibilities for a Category Manager:

* Own the product roadmap and category strategy for allocated categories, from concept through to launch

* Manage relationships with licensing partners (sports clubs, leagues, and entertainment brands) to develop compliant, on-brand product ranges

* Work closely with design and sourcing teams to develop new products and improve existing ranges

* Analyse sales performance, margin and market trends to inform category strategy and identify growth opportunities

* Collaborate with the e-commerce team to ensure categories are effectively represented and merchandised online

* Manage product lifecycle across the category, including range reviews, discontinuations, and new product introductions

* Prepare and present concepts, mock-ups and category performance decks for internal sign-off, licensor approval and key retailer presentations

* Work directly with factories on product specifications, technical drawings, pre-production and gold seal samples, and packaging proofs

Key Skills for a Category Manager:

* Proven experience in a Category Manager, Product Manager, or similar commercial/product role, ideally within retail, e-commerce, or FMCG/consumer goods

* Experience managing licensed product ranges or brand partnerships is highly desirable

* Strong commercial acumen, including product costing, margin management and pricing, with confidence interpreting sales and performance data

* Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to work confidently with internal teams and external partners

* Comfortable working with e-commerce platforms (e.g. Shopify) and product data

* A genuine interest in sport and sports merchandise would be an advantage

If you feel you can be a good fit for this role and want to work for a company that can really add value to you, then please apply now
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed