Category Manager Food to Go

United Petroleum is an independent, Australian owned petrol and convenience company which offers customers premium quality fuels and competitive pricing Australia wide.  Established in 1993 the United retail network contains over 400 locations across every state in Australia and is one of the largest private owned groups in Australia.

Based full time in Melbourne, this key category manager position is part of a larger merchandise and marketing team, and is accountable for overseeing a number of key categories associated with the expansive coffee and food service program at United Petroleum, across our Quickstop convenience stores and Pie Face QSR. This role also calls for someone with strength in managing proprietary stock lines with our food service partner, demand planning to ensure correct stock holdings and negotiating key terms.

About the Role

• Lead food service, Pie Face and roadhouse menu innovation to ensure we have menus that remain refresh, relevant and provide a unique selling proposition to new and existing customer bases

• Tightly manage the SKUs held exclusively for United including forecasting for DCs in our food service distribution partners, ensuring exposure is minimized and sufficient stock is held

• Maintain healthy supplier relationships, lead product and pricing negotiations and the sourcing of lines within your categories

• Manage the coffee program at United and Pie Face, including review of and evolution of the menu offer, and associated pricing and promotional activity in collaboration with the marketing team

• Review cost pricing, set and adjust retail pricing to optimize profitability and competitiveness, ensuring margins for our operators are maximized

• With the wider category team, develop periodic promotional offers as part of the campaign calendar- both in store and as app exclusives

• Work collaboratively with the Master Data/POS Programming and Data analytics team to ensure our databases are up to date, and that reports provide insights to manage category performance effectively, ensuring the right decisions can be made on ranging, planograms, margin management and promotional programs  

• With respect to Pie Face and Roadhouse, ensure quality, safety and compliance with company policies, food safety regulations and legislative requirements are adhered to, and systems in place for our sites to execute.

About You

Ideally the successful candidate will possess:

• Demonstrated experience as a Category Manager/Buyer, with exposure to managing and forecasting stock in food service/distribution and harnessing healthy relationships with suppliers and other key stakeholders

• Experience working in the coffee, QSR or convenience store space, with a willingness and need to spend time in market visiting sites, capturing learnings and improving how we do business

• The ability to navigate and effectively work in an agile, fast paced and ever evolving environment with an emphasis on accountability and execution

• Sound financial and commercial acumen, including the ability to analyse data and to make informed pricing, ranging, merchandising and marketing decisions

• Strong leadership, exceptional communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills

• A ‘hands on’ team player who knows how to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

If you believe you have the relevant skills and experience to take ownership of this exciting opportunity, we would love to hear from you.  Please submit an updated copy of your resume and a brief cover letter detailing why you are the perfect fit for this role.