Head of Category - New Zealand

Head of CSP – NewZealand
Reports to : Head of Sales – New Zealand
Location : Auckland
Terms & Conditions : Full‑time

YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership

➢ The Head of CSP for New Zealand is responsible for leading the Category Growth Strategy and Category Operations and Planning for the New Zealand business, spanning all categories and channels.

➢ Full accountability for building and shaping winning category and commercial plans for both customers and Unilever New Zealand, whilst delivering the category forecast and objectives through effective operations and planning.

➢ Owns Customer Category Growth Strategies by building fully integrated shopper, customer and channel insights and strong validated Category Value Drivers.

➢ Expert in category management and builds strong customer partnerships via deep category expertise to help grow customer categories and Unilever performance.

Channel, Customer & Category Excellence

➢ Define and deploy customer and channel strategies to deliver targets with operational rigour.

➢ Key input on P&L performance and manage Trade Terms effectively in partnership with Customer Development and Finance.

➢ Own category inputs into the S&OP process and Integrated Business Planning

➢ Drive the efficacy of pricing governance and Net Revenue Management.

➢ Lead in‑market execution by localising category growth strategy and deploying agreed commercial plans across customers.

➢ Voice of the customer, category and shopper, connecting IBP and Joint Business Planning (JBP).

➢ Deliver current and future shelf / e‑shelf, aisle and department design enabled by shopper insights, analytics and future‑fit category tools.

Functional Leadership

➢ Key leader of the New Zealand CSP function, working closely with Customer Development, Marketing, Finance and Supply Chain, including talent management, career development, capability building and culture.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

➢ 7+ years of business experience, cross‑functional experience preferred, with a proven track record of delivery in Category Management / CD roles.

➢ Strong commercial acumen and experience working in cross‑functional teams.

➢ Proven experience in Net Revenue Management / Revenue Growth Management (RGM), including shaping and deploying pricing, pack‑price architecture, promotional strategy, trade terms and mix optimisation to drive profitable, sustainable growth. Demonstrated ability to embed RGM principles into category strategy, IBP and customer plans, balancing volume, value and margin outcomes in partnership with Customer Development and Finance.

➢ Experience managing and developing a team of managers and assistant managers, and/or fulfilling coaching and mentoring roles for others.

Skills

➢ Category Growth Management – Provides Unilever with deep, objective knowledge of customer strategies and needs, acting as a consultant internally and externally. Generates unique category and shopper insights that allow Unilever to identify superior growth opportunities at category and cross‑category level, with implications for innovation and activation.

➢ Channel Mastery – Deep understanding of the customer, their strategic plan, operating environment, structure, existing capabilities, challenges and competitive threats. Designs and executes long‑range strategic plans that create new demand and opportunities for both the customer and Unilever.

➢ Digital Commerce – Understands the digital landscape (business models and modalities), shopper fundamentals (e.g. ROPA) and their implications to win in digital commerce. Designs commercial plans to maximise outcomes across the channel mix.

➢ Commercial Strategy – Partners CSP and Customer Development teams to develop and sell‑in optimal customer plans across Price/Promo, Innovation, Mix and Investment. Leads end‑to‑end initiatives, category and brand strategy deployment and quarterly customer reviews.

➢ Data Literacy – Examines and interprets a wide variety of data and information and makes recommendations or decisions. Uses analytics to form narratives and tell compelling stories.

➢ Executional Excellence – Defines and deploys executional standards at category, brand and customer level. Measures results, identifies opportunities and provides solutions to close executional gaps. Drives ruthless prioritisation of actions and dynamically adjusts resources to deliver results.

Leadership

➢ You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team delivers with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.

➢ You remain accountable for your own results and motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate. You balance challenge with support and coaching, understand the wider business context and demonstrate strong emotional intelligence.

Unilever Behaviours

• TALENT CATALYST – We inspire people to grow with support and honesty
• PERSONAL MASTERY – We bring our best, whatever the challenge
• AGILITY – We are curious, courageous and adaptable to change
• CONSUMER & CUSTOMER LOVE – We delight our consumers and partner our customers better than anyone else
• PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE – We are hungry to win together, prioritise ruthlessly and own the outcome
• PURPOSEFUL IMPACT – We care deeply about delivering positive impact for business, people and planet

What awaits you at Unilever?

The core of Unilever’s culture is captured as Human, Purposeful, Accountable. You will be joining a dynamic, flexible, and inspiring work environment that truly cares about your wellbeing, values what you do and celebrates your success.

This is your opportunity to be part of a purpose-led business and a global community where you can progress your career both locally and internationally. You will also benefit from amazing discounts on external company products, attractive employee referral reward program amongst other benefits.

This is a great opportunity to work within an iconic and global organization. We have gained our reputation as one of the world's most admired employers by providing an environment where individuals can achieve their goals, both professionally and personally.

Make no mistake we expect a lot from our people as they do of us. So, if you can rise to the challenge, don't waste any time - apply now!

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a positive, barrier-free recruitment journey.

Unilever is an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities.

This means we encourage people with all backgrounds to apply, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Māori and Pacific Peoples, and people with disabilities. Interested in learning more, check out our Reconciliation Action Plan and Workplace Adjustment Policy on the Unilever webpage.

At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! We encourage you to advise us at the time of your application if you require any reasonable adjustment so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.

Unilever is an organization committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities.

This means we encourage people with all backgrounds to apply, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Māori and Pacific Peoples, and people with disabilities.

At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! We encourage you to advise us at the time of your application if you require any reasonable adjustment so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.