Halfords

About Us

At Halfords, our mission is to inspire and support a lifetime of motoring and cycling. As a specialist retailer, we lead the market through customer-driven innovation and a distinct product range. We are dedicated to providing our customers with an integrated, unique, and convenient service experience—from e-bike and electric vehicle servicing to on-demand solutions. Our commitment is to foster customer loyalty by offering compelling reasons to keep coming back to our stores, ensuring a lifetime of motoring and cycling enjoyment.

The teams at our Redditch Support Centre work with every other area of our business, putting them at the heart of the action and playing a key role in our success and growth. Everyone brings their individual knowledge and experience to work every day, working as one team to keep things moving smoothly.

If you’re willing to  get stuck in, you’ll love it here too. So put yourself at the heart of a dynamic, fast-paced working environment where expertise and focus take people far.

About the role

As the Category Manager, you will be responsible for maximising Gross Margin within the defined group of products or categories you are responsible for. Using all levers and channels available, you will increase sales and margin, alongside supporting development of category strategy to drive future competitive advantage and growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure that the customer requirement is at the centre of the decision-making process, working closely with the marketing & customer departments to fully understand customer requirements in the defined area
• Fully understand the channels, Brands, Market size, Competition offer, Supply side dynamics, market shares, growth and trends within the market
• Contribute to building the category plan that captures all aspects of the market, our position within it and identifies opportunities that will increase sales, profit and/or market share
• Define the brand selection strategy within the category, ensuring that we give our customers a consistent brand offering in line with our ‘quality products’ strategy
• Define and manage the range review process, conduct regular analysis of range performance to ensure all products & services are performing in line with expectations
• Develop the pricing strategy in the category and ensure that gross margin is maximized

Skills & Experience

• Previous experience of either Category Management, Procurement or Buying
• Customer focused; skilled at identifying customer needs
• Worked both digitally and in traditional channels
• Skilled negotiator with experience managing large and complex supplier relationships
• Ability to manage direct reports and inspire all colleagues around them
• Able to interact effectively with Leadership Team
• Able to analyse and interpret large amounts of data and make fact based decisions
• Strong engagement skills, with ability to bring key stakeholders along with them

Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.