Retail Category Lead

SUMMARY:
Drive specialised category growth by leading brand onboarding, retailer engagement, and large-scale rollout execution across a high-volume retail environment.

POSITION INFO:

Location: Johannesburg
Type: Full-time
Start Date: Preferably 1 February
Remuneration: Market-related salary + performance-based incentives

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Retail Category Lead / Category Lead Retail to lead and drive category success across a large-scale national rollout of Brands and Stores. This role is central to our growth strategy and acts as the critical link between the Company, Retail Partners, and Brand partners.

You will be responsible for managing the full end-to-end lifecycle of onboarding and activation, from product listing and commercial setup through to in-store rollout, merchandising, promotional execution, and category optimisation at scale.

This is a senior, hands-on role suited to someone with deep retail experience, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to operate confidently in a fast-paced, high-volume, multi-stakeholder environment.

Key Responsibilities

Sales Management (Brands & Stores)

• Serve as the primary point of accountability for onboarding and managing thousands of SKUs across assigned categories.

• Work closely with retailer leadership, internal teams, and Brand partners to plan and execute category rollouts by region, store profile, and SKU priority.

• Secure new listings, educate Brands on the platform model, and drive category sales growth.

• Identify category expansion opportunities, new sub-categories, extended ranges, and new-to-market innovations.

• Ensure full alignment with retailer trading terms, guiding Brands through compliance and onboarding requirements.

• Oversee pricing, margins, DC preferences, commercial setup, and stock readiness.

• Monitor weekly category performance, identify gaps, and unlock quick wins using data-driven insights.

Client Relations & Category Partnerships

• Act as the key liaison between the Company, Retailers, and participating Brands.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with category managers, store leadership, and key decision-makers.

• Support stores with product selection, category optimisation, display strategies, and brand recommendations.

• Manage escalations and ensure seamless communication across all stakeholders.

• Conduct field visits where required to validate SKU performance and identify category opportunities.

Marketing, Merchandising & Visibility

• Collaborate with marketing teams to deliver category-specific campaigns, POS material, and display strategies.

• Ensure consistent implementation of in-store marketing aligned with CI and retailer standards.

• Support brand activations, product launches, promotions, and sampling initiatives.

• Conduct market and competitor analysis to inform pricing, positioning, and growth strategies.

• Identify new product lines, solutions, and channels based on market trends and customer demand.

Project Management & Rollout Execution

• Act as the operational lead for category rollouts across hundred''''s of stores nationally.

• Coordinate Brand onboarding, SKU uploads, system setup, and display board rollouts.

• Work closely with internal project and development teams to ensure smooth execution.

• Track rollout progress, sales performance, DC utilisation, and category engagement.

• Prepare regular reports, forecasts, and updates for internal and external stakeholders.

• Identify opportunities to improve efficiencies, automate processes, and scale execution.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

• Minimum 10 years’ working experience, with at least 5+ years in retail, key accounts, merchandising, or retail operations.

• Proven experience working with retailers or nationally distributed brands.

• Strong commercial understanding of margins, pricing structures, and category dynamics.

• Excellent presentation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

• Strong organisational ability with experience managing high-volume workloads.

• Data-driven mindset with the ability to convert insights into actionable strategies.

• Passion for retail innovation, digital commerce, and modern retail solutions.

• Own vehicle and cellphone are essential.