What is your role?

The Category Manager is responsible for the Tech category and takes ownership of their strategy, development, and performance. You play a key role in driving category growth, innovation, and profitability while collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.

What are your responsibilities?

• Ensure a 95%+ on-time delivery performance for product launches.
• Develop and execute category strategies that align with company objectives.
• Drive category growth through strategic product introductions and product lifecycle management.
• Lead trend spotting and brand identification to capitalize on market opportunities and create win-win partnerships.
• Optimize category performance by analyzing key metrics such as sales, margins, and pricing.
• Cooperate with/be in continuous contact with a large number of stakeholders to maintain everything on the right track.
• Oversee competitive research with detailed analysis of at least 3-5 competitors and physical samples of top 10 competing items.
• Provide insights into competitive landscapes, ensuring market-relevant positioning.
• Manage a broad portfolio of products that continues to appeal to our customers within a short period of time.
• Assist in creating and implementing a clear 3-year category strategy plan.
• Management of category assistant(s)
• Full ownership of the decoration / printing (AR, Drive to digital)
• Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with marketing, supply chain, operations, and finance to deliver category plans
• Align with sales to understand the customers needs and expectations.

What are your qualifications?

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in category management, product development, purchasing, or a related field.
• Passionate about the required product(categories)
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.
• Excellent listening, communication and presentation skills.
• Experience in online and offline marketing strategies.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and external partners.
• Proficiency in competitive analysis and market research.
• Excellent understanding of English in word and writing; Dutch is an advantage.
• Open to occasional domestic and international business trips.
• Customer supportive, stress resistance, and a team player.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and listening skills.
• Strong relationship management skills.

Our offer to you

In addition to a pleasant working atmosphere where you can develop your talents, we provide a flat organisation with an open culture that values individual input and initiative. 

We offer:

• A competitive salary that reflects your knowledge and experience;
• An annual bonus to celebrate our success when we achieve our goals;
• A laptop and the option to work partially from home, fully equipped, with an additional budget for creating an optimal workspace;
• 25 (or more) days of leave per calendar year based on a 40-hour work week, a premium-free pension, a birthday allowance, travel compensation for every kilometre travelled, and more;
• Extensive learning and personal development opportunities, including a wide range of online courses through Goodhabitz;
• Allowances to promote your health and wellbeing, free fruit, and a variety of lunch options available at affordable prices;
• A dynamic and inspiring world of product media products and gifts that you can buy in our own shop;
• Never a dull moment!

Who we are?

We bring people a smile every day! Ever received a Moleskine notebook with your employer's logo on it, bought a T-Shirt or worn a bracelet at famous pop or dance festivals, received a coffee mug with an inspirational text or other printed gift? Big chance it came from us. In fact. Every day you probably come across something from us and that makes people happy.

We are the European market leader with a revenue of >€ 250M in the dynamic and inspiring world of product media with top brands such as: Camelbak, Case Logic, Mepal, K’arst, Moleskine, Parker, Thule, Waterman and own labels such as Tekio and Elevate. A world that is changing rapidly and where developments such as speed, innovation, digitization and sustainability are extremely important. We are at the forefront of these developments.

Our European headquarter is in the Netherlands (near Leiden central station), operates industrial printing, production and warehouse facilities in the UK and Poland, and we offer an extensive and unparalleled range of more than 10.000 different product media products.
We operate business to business, so finished products find their way to end customers via one of our 15,000 resellers across Europe.

We are part of a bigger group, the global market leader of product media products operating on five continents and selling to over 100 countries with a revenue up to $ 1 bln.