Category Manager
Posted 1 day 8 hours ago by Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS)
IVC Evidensia is the UK and Europe's leading veterinary care group, made up of over 900 practices and referral hospitals, united by a shared purpose of happier animals, happier owners. Pet Drugs Online is one of the UK's leading online pet pharmacies and retailers, part of the IVC Evidensia Group. Our teams support to make pet healthcare more accessible through innovation, operational excellence, and outstanding customer experience. If you love owning a category end-to-end and want the freedom to shape how millions of pet owners shop, this is a role where you'll genuinely move the needle. Our Pet Food team is growing in impact and ambition and you'll be right at the centre of it.
We're looking for someone who knows how to build ranges people care about, negotiate hard but fairly, and turn commercial insight into decisions that actually matter. This is a chance to take full accountability for a category with huge visibility, strong business support, and plenty of space to make your mark.
Responsibilities- Lead the full commercial performance of the Pet Food category - from strategy and range to pricing, promotions and supplier terms.
- Build a category plan that blends customer insight, market trends and hard commercial logic into ranges that convert and perform.
- Own supplier relationships, negotiating costs, trade terms, funding and long-term partnerships that drive growth and innovation.
- Keep a close pulse on trading performance, spotting issues early and driving actions that improve availability, margin and customer experience.
- Shape clear price architecture and promotional plans, collaborating with digital, supply chain, marketing and finance to bring them to life.
- You bring experience in category management, buying or commercial trading, ideally within pet food, grocery, pharma, FMCG or multi-SKU retail.
- You have strong negotiation experience and know how to secure, manage and deliver vendor income.
- You're confident owning a P&L, using data to guide decisions, and influencing senior stakeholders with clarity and credibility.
- You've built and refined ranges before - understanding good/better/best structures, pricing logic and how to drive performance.
- You're comfortable working cross-functionally and leading plans that require tight coordination and commercial judgment.
At Pet Drugs Online, we're committed to supporting your development and wellbeing. When you join us, you'll benefit from:
- A role with real impact in a growing ecommerce and pet healthcare business
- Clear career pathways with progression opportunities within Pet Drugs Online and the wider IVC Evidensia Group
- Ongoing learning and development supported by experienced colleagues and teams
- A collaborative, values-led culture focused on care, innovation, and continuous improvement
- Healthcare Cash Plan
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Green Cars salary sacrifice scheme
- Hybrid working (3 days per week in office)
- Discounted staff pet care
- Access to discounts/cashback with hundreds of participating retailers
We are committed to Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging. We are keen to hear from candidates from all minority and diverse groups. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are happy to discuss reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process. We may use AI tools to support parts of the hiring process; tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. For information about data processing, contact us.