Job Title: EMEA Category Manager (Kelo Cote, MacuShield & Ashton & Parsons)
Reporting to EMEA Commercial and Operations Director
Team EMEA Commercial and Marketing
Location: Chippenham, Wiltshire
The purpose of the EMEA Category Manager
The EMEA Category Manager is responsible for driving category growth, strategy and commercial performance across EMEA for key Alliance Consumer health brands, with a primary focus on Kelo Cote and MacuShield, and a strategic mandate to define and validate Alliance Pharma’s “right to win” in other categories such as baby with Ashton & Parsons.
Operating at a regional level, the role will act as the strategic conduit between Global Marketing and EMEA Commercial and Marketing teams, ensuring category strategies are insight led, scalable, and locally executable across diverse healthcare systems and retail environments with different European regions.
This role is pivotal in building Alliance’s EMEA category credibility with customers, strengthening our position as a trusted regional category partner, and embedding consistent, best in class category management capability across markets.
The key deliverables in the EMEA Category Manager
EMEA cross functional leadership & ways of working
- Act as the EMEA category lead, connecting Global Brand strategy with local EMEA market execution
- Be the central link between EMEA Brand Marketing, Sales, Trade Marketing, Medical Affairs, Global insight and Supply Chain
- Translate global brand strategies into regionally consistent, locally relevant category plans
- Develop and embed a best-in-class EMEA Category Management framework, scalable across markets with differing maturity levels
- Support Commercial teams with clear EMEA category narratives to strengthen influence in customer and wholesaler discussions
EMEA category strategy & growth leadership
- Own and drive the EMEA Category growth story for consumer health brands such as: Scars (Kelocote), Eye Health (MacuShield) and Baby Care (Ashton & Parsons)
- Build 1–3-year EMEA category visions, with clear strategic guardrails and market flexibility
- Develop annual EMEA category growth stories, identifying key growth levers adaptable by market and channel
- Lead 12month EMEA category priorities, aligned to regional commercial planning cycles
- Identify regional gaps, unmet needs and portfolio expansion opportunities
Category Management Excellence (EMEA Scope)
- Ensure Alliance achieves fair share or greater influence across EMEA on category, distribution and merchandising decisions
- Inform EMEA assortment and merchandising principles, allowing for local optimisation
- Lead or support EMEA led range review frameworks, providing: Central insight, Tools and templates and best practice guidance
- Consolidate and analyse regional performance, delivering: Monthly EMEA category and brand trackers and Cross market learnings and recommendations
- Monitor EMEA competitive activity, including launches, claims, pricing architecture and promotional intensity
Capability building across EMEA
- Act as a category management capability leader for EMEA, raising standards across markets
- Develop and share tools, playbooks and best practice
- Coach local Sales and Marketing teams on using category insights effectively with customers
What we are looking for
- Proven experience at Category Manager with regional or multimarket responsibility
- Background in Consumer Healthcare, FMCG or Pharmaceutical
- Experience working with multiple EMEA markets, balancing central direction and local execution
- Strong track record of customer facing category leadership
- Category Vision & Strategy experience
- Category management experience relating to range, space and insight:
- Planning & performance monitoring: experience
- Analytical & commercial skills
- Consumer and shopper insight application: proficient
- Communication & influencing skills
- Extensive stakeholder management experience
- Customer & brand P&L understanding:
- Strategic, curious and insight driven
- Comfortable influencing across countries, cultures and functions
- Pragmatic, action oriented and resilient
- Ability to balance scientific credibility with commercial ambition
- Confident operating with autonomy in a regional role