Title:  National Wholesale Category Buyer - FOS/OTC

About the team

You’ll be part of the National Wholesale Category and Direct Procurement team, working closely with Retail, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and Operations to manage and grow key wholesale categories. The team plays an important role in sourcing and managing products at scale, building strong supplier partnerships and ensuring customers have access to the right products at competitive prices. You’ll work collaboratively across the business to drive sales, improve profitability and deliver strong category outcomes.

About the role

As the National Wholesale Category Buyer, you’ll take ownership of developing and executing category strategies that support wholesale growth, sales and profitability. You’ll manage the product range and lifecycle, work closely with suppliers on commercial opportunities and ensure the right products, pricing and promotional activity are in place. The role will also have accountability for supplier income and co-op budgets, while partnering with Supply Chain, Retail, Marketing, Finance and Operations to deliver an optimised and commercially successful category.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies aligned to wholesale and commercial objectives, using market, competitor, customer and performance insights to identify growth opportunities and inform ranging and trading decisions.
• Manage the full product lifecycle, including range reviews, new product introductions, product transitions and discontinuations, ensuring the range balances core products, innovation and promotional opportunities.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships, negotiating commercial terms, promotional funding, supplier income and co-op contributions while identifying opportunities to maximise category value.
• Monitor category sales, margin, profitability, inventory, availability and stock performance, using insights to identify underperforming products and develop recovery or exit strategies.
• Work closely with Supply Chain and Planning on demand forecasting, inventory management, order phasing and stock decisions to improve availability, sell-through and working capital efficiency.
• Support category-level P&L management and deliver agreed financial targets through effective pricing, sourcing, supplier negotiations and commercial planning.
• Partner with Retail, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain and Operations to align promotional activity, product onboarding, marketing initiatives and category plans.
• Provide clear reporting, insights and recommendations to support category performance, commercial decision-making and ongoing improvements across the wholesale portfolio.

Selection criteria

• Tertiary qualification in Business, Retail, Supply Chain, Marketing or a related discipline, with 2+ years’ experience in a relevant buying, category or commercial role.
• Strong commercial and category management capability, with experience across product ranging, supplier management, negotiations, pricing, promotional activity and delivering sales and profitability outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse category performance, market trends, customer insights, sales, margin and inventory data and translate these insights into practical commercial decisions.
• Strong supplier relationship and negotiation skills, with the ability to identify and maximise commercial opportunities while building collaborative and productive supplier partnerships.
• Strong understanding of product lifecycle and range management, including new product introductions, range reviews, product transitions and end-of-life strategies.
• Highly organised with strong planning, time management and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver against key financial and commercial deadlines.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across Retail, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance and Operations and influence outcomes at different levels.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, with advanced Excel capability and sound financial acumen highly regarded.
• A proactive and adaptable team player who takes initiative, remains calm under pressure and is comfortable working in a fast-paced and commercially focused environment.