Halfords

Job Purpose

Halfords Autocentres are on a strong growth trajectory, with ambitions to be a £1bn business in 3 years. 

The Head of Category will be responsible for maximising sales, profit, utilisation and market share within the defined group of products or categories, alongside strategic development of the area to drive future competitive advantage and growth.

The individual will be expected to become the expert and thought leader for their area, working closely with key stakeholders to identify what good looks like for customers and lead to deliver that vision. 

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure that the customer is at the centre of the decision-making process, working closely with the marketing, customer, digital and field teams
• Fully understand each sub product group at a strategic level in terms of market size, share and trends, competitor offer and supply dynamics
• Produce a strategic category plan which addresses opportunities that will increase sales, profit and market share
• Create internal and external networks to ensure that category plans have full 360 feedback
• Identify new products and services relevant to the category and bring to market effectively
• Monitor and manage ongoing trading performance of the categories
• Navigate key digital metrics across multiple websites with an understanding of how various levers affect them and work collaboratively with the Digital team to optimize each of these profitably
• Update the business of any risks to targets and present comprehensive recovery plans
• Develop an in-depth understanding of all business levers to ensure fast and effective decision-making is in place to optimise trading performance
• Design and implement a compelling category promotional and price plan by working closely with the commercial planning team and all channel owners
• Seek regular competitive benchmarking of price position to optimise price elasticity
• Ensure all plans are driving customer numbers that match capacity. Understand the relationship between capacity and demand and pull all levers available to maximise utilization
• Fully understand end to end process across all categories, identifying areas of opportunity and putting in place activity, development, training or communication to address these
• Define supplier selection policy within the category; rationalize supplier base where appropriate to secure additional value. Measure and drive compliance within our network.
• Implement supplier trading agreements, ensuring suppliers conform to our procurement policies such as ESG, CSR and Ethical Trading
• Conduct regular price benchmarking or tenders to ensure that the business is securing best cost prices

Key Skills/Experience

• Customer at the core with a natural ability to connect with and deliver for customers
• High commercial acumen, analytical and financially robust. A keen eye for cash flow and working capital management
• Able to understand, interpret, challenge and build actionable insight from complex data sets
• Dynamic and results-driven individual with high levels of energy and commitment to delivering business objectives
• Hands-on, entrepreneurial approach; able to respond to fast-moving market conditions, fail fast and learn quickly
• Positive attitude with a can-do spirit and ability to make things happen
• Previous experience of Category Management
• Cross-channel/multi-channel thinking
• Execution expert with strong planning rigor
• Pragmatic and grounded, ability to drive delivery
• Ability to manage direct reports and inspire all colleagues around them
• Stakeholder management with high collaboration /cross-functional expertise. Able to interact and influence effectively with the Leadership Team and Exec
• An effective communicator with outstanding presentation skills and gravitas; articulate and persuasive, able to build strong relationships across the business at all levels
• Previous knowledge of automotive aftermarket preferable, but not compulsory