Commercial Category Manager / Procurement Manager (Wholesale), East London

Minimum Requirements
Education & Experience
• Relevant tertiary qualification in Commerce, Procurement, Supply Chain, or related field
(advantageous).
• Minimum 8–10 years' experience in FMCG wholesale or retail buying.
• Proven experience managing Food and/or Liquor categories.
• Strong background in high-volume, low-margin trading environments.
• Experience managing multi-branch or regional category portfolios.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating trading terms, rebates, and promotional funding.
• Leadership experience managing or mentoring junior buyers (advantageous).

Key Responsibilities
Category Strategy & Performance
• Develop and execute category strategies aligned with wholesale trading objectives.
• Drive sales growth, margin achievement, and stock turn performance.
• Manage category budgets including sales, GP, and promotional participation.
• Monitor and analyse category performance, implementing corrective actions where necessary.
Supplier & Commercial Negotiation
• Negotiate pricing, rebates, settlement discounts, and trading terms.
• Secure supplier funding for promotions, advertising, and in-store campaigns.
• Build and maintain strong supplier partnerships.
• Monitor supplier performance and service levels.
Promotions & Pricing
• Develop and implement promotional calendars across branches.
• Oversee product listings, price positioning, and margin control.
• Ensure promotional execution delivers planned ROI.
• Align promotional activity with seasonal and bulk-buy trends.
Stock & Working Capital Management
• Manage stock levels to optimise availability and minimise out-of-stocks.
• Ensure healthy stock turns and controlled inventory holding.
• Collaborate with supply chain to maintain efficient replenishment cycles.
Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Provide leadership and guidance to buying team members.
• Work closely with operations, finance, and branch management.
• Present category performance reports to senior management.
• Act as support to senior commercial leadership when required