Category Strategy Manager
- Team
- Food
- Store
- London Support Office
- Location
- London, Greater London
- Contract type
- Permanent
- Position type
- Full Time
- Salary
- Competitive + Benefits
- Closing date: 22nd September 2025
How We Hire
Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.
About the role
This section tells you all you need to know about the position and its responsibilities, outlining everything we hope to see in a successful candidate.
To stay close to our customers and colleagues, our support teams are in the office for at least three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.
Summary
We’re reshaping our Food business to broaden its appeal, protecting the magic our customers love while modernising everything else. That means outstanding quality, high sourcing standards, and market-leading innovation remain at our core, while we transform our supply chains, improve our stores, and deliver better value.
We’re looking for motivated people ready to bring their whole self to work and thrive in a fast-paced, ambitious team. After all, this isn’t just food… this is M&S Food.
We’re looking for motivated people ready to bring their whole self to work and thrive in a fast-paced, ambitious team. After all, this isn’t just food… this is M&S Food.
All the details
This isn’t just any job… this is an M&S Category Strategy Manager job!
M&S Food is transforming—and fast. As Category Strategy Manager, you’ll be at the heart of this change, helping to reset and evolve our customer proposition across the food business. Reporting to the Head of Category Transformation, you’ll lead critical initiatives that shape the future of our categories, driving commercial impact and customer relevance.
This role is all about combining insight, analysis, and collaboration. You’ll manage transformation programmes end-to-end, from planning and governance to delivering clear, actionable recommendations. You’ll work across teams—from Trading and Product Development to Marketing and Finance—to build integrated category plans that deliver results.
You’ll dive deep into data, uncover opportunities, and present compelling strategies to senior partners. Whether it’s range architecture, pricing strategy, or promotional mechanics, you’ll be the go-to expert for driving clarity and direction.
What you’ll do
- Lead and handle category reset and transformation projects, ensuring timelines, risks, and communications are effectively handled
- Own all programme management activities, including planning, governance, risk/issue tracking, and important metric measurement
- Conduct range and price architecture analysis to identify gaps, ensure clear tiering, and support strategic pricing decisions
- Perform deep-dive data analysis using multiple sources (financial, customer, store, etc.) to uncover insights and inform strategy
- Collaborate cross-functionally with teams across Trading, Product Development, Marketing, Finance, and more to build and deliver integrated category plans
Who you are
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to structure and solve complex problems
- Clear and concise written communication across formats (PowerPoint, Word, Email)
- High attention to detail and a strong focus on accuracy and quality of output
- Ability to collaborate effectively with multiple partners across the business
- Experience working with financial, transactional, and customer data; proficiency in Excel and familiarity with tools like SQL, Python, PowerBI, or Tableau is a plus
What’s in it for You?
Working at M&S means being part of something bigger – delivering quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We’re inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.
- 20% colleague discount for you + 1 household member (after probation)
- Competitive holiday allowance + option to buy more
- Discretionary bonus schemes linked to performance
- Strong pension + life assurance
- Tailored induction + training from day one
- Perks and savings via M&S Choices portal
- Market-leading family policies (parental, adoption, neonatal leave)
- 24/7 wellbeing support (GP access + mental health services)
- 1 paid volunteer day a year
Everyone is Welcome
We are ambitious about the future of retail – disrupting, innovating and leading into a more inspiring digital era. We want diverse, representative teams where everyone can bring their whole selves to work.
If you need support or adjustments during recruitment, let us know in your application. Our team will make sure you have what you need to do your best.
#hybridrole #LI-Hybrid
Being an in-person business
We're at our best when we're close to customers, and for many of us at M&S, that means working in store every day.
To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. It also means we can solve problems as soon as they arise, learn and grow as a team, build trust, and get closer to our colleagues.
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Make Your Mark
Opportunities to be heard
Your voice matters here. You can share your ideas ‘Straight to Stuart’, our CEO, or get involved in our BIG (Business involvement Group). Our colleague networks are also great places to find support, listen to each other and encourage debate.
Experience the business
We’re passionate about our customers and colleagues. To get closer to our customers we work in our stores 7 days per year. That way we can see how operations run and look for ways to do better each day.
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Benefits
How to Apply
Here’s what to expect at each stage of the application process. This can change depending on the role you’ve applied to. If you need any reasonable adjustments made at any stage, let us know and we can help.
Send us your application
Fill in our short application form and hit submit.
Online assessment
We’ll invite you to take part in an online assessment. This could be before or after your interview.
In-person assessment centre
We’ll invite you to an in-person assessment centre for an interview. This process may differ depending on the role you’ve applied to.
Decision
After we’ve decided, we’ll be in touch. If you’ve been successful, we’ll officially invite you to join the team and let you know the next steps.
Category Strategy Manager
- Team
- Food
- Store
- London Support Office
- Location
- London, Greater London
- Contract type
- Permanent
- Position type
- Full Time
- Salary
- Competitive + Benefits
- Closing date: 22nd September 2025
- Reference: 95560