UK Category Manager

We are seeking a passionate team player to bring joy to our customers every day as a UK Category Manager. You will own the sales, profit and promotional plans for a portfolio of products on our UK menu. Reporting to the UK Head of Calendar Planning within our Commercial and Marketing team, you will turn the national marketing calendar into clear category and product plans that bring customers back more often, grow transactions and strengthen commercial performance.

Key responsibilities:

• Own the growth plan for your product categories, keeping it aligned with the wider menu strategy and commercial objectives, and regularly reviewing category and menu performance to improve sales, profitability and product mix.
• Optimise product placement, pricing tiers and bundling across physical and digital menu boards, balancing customer appeal, commercial performance and operational simplicity.
• Partner with Commercial Finance to assess product profitability, identify underperforming items and manage product rationalisation and exit plans.
• Translate the national marketing calendar into clear category plans and promotions, write concise commercial briefs for Creative, Media and Digital teams, and work with Marketing Communications to deliver campaigns that grow guest frequency and transactions – then review results to make future promotions even more effective.
• Collaborate with Culinary Innovation to turn food trends and customer insight into commercially viable, scalable new products, managing development milestones so launches land on time against agreed calendar windows.
• Design, run and evaluate local product trials – assessing sales, customer response, operational feasibility and profitability – before recommending national rollout.
• Benchmark competitors across the UK quick-service restaurant market (menus, pricing, promotional mechanics and innovation) and work with Customer Insights to understand changing customer behaviour and food trends.
• Analyse weekly sales, guest counts, average transaction value and other key measures to monitor category health, turning data and market intelligence into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Coordinate multiple product launches, campaigns and calendar activities at once, keeping stakeholders aligned on objectives, timelines and deliverables, and proactively spotting risks and resolving issues to keep projects moving.

Experience and Skills required:

• Experience in Category Management, Brand Management, Commercial Buying or a similar commercial role within the UK quick-service restaurant, casual dining, retail or food-to-go sector.
• A strong understanding of menu management, product performance, promotional planning and the food retail environment.
• Strong commercial acumen and confidence working with retail maths, including gross margins and cost of goods sold (COGS).
• Confidence analysing sales data and market insight, and turning it into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Strong stakeholder management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage several launches and campaigns at the same time.

The perks:

• A Gold Card! That means when you’re in the office, your food and drinks are on us. And when you’re not, you get 5 free drinks a day and 50% off everything else
• 33-38 days of annual leave (increasing with service)
• Free private medical aid cover – with the option to add a loved one
• 4-5% pension contribution (increasing with service)
• Life assurance at 3x your annual salary
• Loyalty awards to celebrate every 5 years you’re with us
• And more – think: a flexible benefits platform, season ticket loans, a healthcare cash plan, mortgage services, financial wellbeing provisions, option to take a sabbatical after 3 years and opportunities to support our incredible charity, the Pret Foundation.