Category Manager – Beverages

Kia ora.  We’re Foodies.  You know New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square right? That’s us!  With 300+ stores and over 24,000 Foodies across Te Ika-a-Maui, our North Island Co-op has the privilege of helping New Zealanders get more out of life.  Locally owned, we reflect the communities we serve, and we celebrate our people - our taonga, every day for being uniquely them.   

Our Merchandise team works with supplier partners and store teams on category ranging, buying, pricing and promotions so we can get the right products on the right shelves at the right time for our customers.

We’re looking for a Category Manager – Beverages to take ownership of our largest and one of the most strategically important categories, spanning non-alcoholic beverages to carbonated soft drinks across our retail banners. This is a highly visible, complex role requiring a confident and resilient leader who can operate effectively at pace, balance competing priorities, and navigate a broad and diverse stakeholder landscape. You’ll work closely with key suppliers, store teams and senior internal leaders, building trusted, high‑impact relationships that support strong commercial outcomes.

·       End-to-end ownership of the Beverages category, aligned to Co-op and banner strategies

·       Leading category planning, execution and performance across multiple banners

·       Building and maintaining strong relationships with major suppliers, stores and senior internal stakeholders

·       Developing, negotiating and managing joint business plans with key supplier partners

·       Reviewing and optimising pricing, promotions and ranging to maximise customer value and commercial outcomes

·       Confidently navigating complex and challenging stakeholder conversations

·       Managing high volumes of work through strong prioritisation, time management and resilience

·       Leading, coaching and developing a team to foster a high‑performance, inclusive and engaged culture

We’re committed to providing awesome experiences for our people, including offering a range of benefits 

·       Free carparking - we’ve got over 1,000 carparks including free EV plugs 

·       Southern cross health insurance

·       Onsite café with subsidised meals, mini mart, 5% discount at our retail stores 

·       Flexible working options, a day off on your birthday, long service leave  

·       Inhouse learning and development programmes and courses, flu vaccinations, and social network groups (we call them Tribes). 

You’ll bring strong commercial experience and the credibility to lead at scale. You’re confident managing complexity, comfortable influencing at senior levels, and known for your ability to remain calm, organised and solution-focused under pressure.

You demonstrate excellent resilience, time management and prioritisation skills, and can flex your leadership style to suit different audiences and situations.

·       Experience in grocery retail, FMCG and/or B2B environments is advantageous

·       Proven experience managing large, complex or high-value categories (or equivalent commercial leadership experience)

·       A track record of influencing multiple stakeholders and navigating challenging conversations

·       Strong commercial capability across pricing, promotions, supplier negotiations and performance management

·       Demonstrated leadership experience, including coaching and developing others

·       Excellent planning, communication and problem-solving skills

Experience awesome. Achieve awesome. Be awesomely you. 

We’re proud to have a focus on Diversity & Inclusion here at Foodies and welcome courageous behaviour, encourage togetherness, inspire our people to be their best selves in our Foodies whānau. 

If you require accessibility support to ensure you can fairly access our recruitment process, please reach out to  Recruitment.Foodstuffs@foodstuffs.co.nz.  Accessibility support could include, interview location, sign language interpreter, assistive technology. 

Don’t ‘cart’ around – apply now!