Lead, Category (Grocery/Food categories)

This role is only open to Malaysian local/PR

 

The Role

As Category Lead, your #1 mission is to accelerate growth for your portfolio! You are the business owner of your categories, responsible for driving topline and increasing order penetration. You will lead a team to scale these categories rapidly while hitting margin targets and ensuring top-tier stock availability.

 

Key Responsibilities

• Growth & GMV: Take full accountability for your category portfolio’s sales. Drive category penetration and hit revenue targets, driving order penetration and basket value.

• Commercial Margins: Monitor & drive healthy margins for your categories. Grow retail media revenue.

• Assortment & Suppliers: Run constant range optimization. Onboard high-growth SKUs and delist slow-movers. Lead negotiations and Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with FMCG brands.

• Pricing & Campaigns: Execute the pricing strategy for your categories to stay competitive. Coordinate with suppliers to align their promo spend with our campaign calendar.

• Availability & Waste: Own Weighted Availability (In-stock) to ensure top SKUs are never missing. Manage inventory health to minimize shrinkage and wastage.

• Team Leadership: Lead and coach a team of Category Managers. Monitor KPIs and drive a culture of high performance and accountability.

 

Key Responsibilities in detail

Topline Growth & Penetration

• Own the GMV and order volume for your portfolio; drive category penetration and basket value to hit revenue targets.

• Monitor daily performance and execute swift course-corrections to maintain growth momentum.

Range & Market Strategy

• Curate a "winning" assortment by identifying market trends, competitor gaps, and high-growth SKUs.

• Run constant range optimization by onboarding local heroes and ruthlessly delisting slow-movers.

Sustainable Margin & Commercial Revenue

• Drive category profitability by optimizing cost structures and securing strategic supplier investments.

• Grow Retail Media revenue and scale high-visibility advertising opportunities for your key brand partners.

Strategic Partnerships & JBP

• Lead long-term Joint Business Plans (JBPs) with FMCG partners to build strong, collaborative roadmaps for growth.

• Collaborate with suppliers to secure support and exclusive deals to drive high-impact commercial campaigns

Category Operational Health

• Actively collaborate with Supply Chain for high Weighted Availability, to ensure products are always available for the customer.

• Manage inventory health & shrinkage

Team Leadership

• Lead and coach a team of Category Managers, fostering a culture of high performance and accountability.

• Own the delivery of team OKRs and KPI and drive data-driven decision-making 

• 6–8 years of experience in Category Management, Buying, or Merchandising within Retail or FMCG.

• Industry experience: Ideally you have grocery or food-related experience e.g. Fresh/Grocery/Ultra Fresh (Produce, Meat, Seafood etc.) 

• Commercial Drive: Proven ability to scale categories (GMV) while managing margins and commercial income.

• Negotiation Power: Experienced in managing large-scale supplier relationships and locking in JBPs.

• Operational Rigor: Strong understanding of in-stock management (Weighted Availability) and waste control.

• People Leadership: Experience leading a small team with a focus on coaching and talent development.

• Agility: Comfortable in a fast-paced, digital environment where speed of execution is key.

• A hybrid work model offering work-from-home days.
• Attractive benefits which include foodpanda vouchers, corporate perks, annual PandaFlex which can be spent on physical wellness, travel & relaxation etc.
• A competitive salary package including equity/RSUs. 
• A great working atmosphere with regular company and team events.
• A vibrant and international team committed to diversity and inclusion.
• Responsibility from day one in a fast growing and global company.