You’ve probably seen the job postings. A category executive job description usually looks like a dry list of chores involving spreadsheets, "stakeholder management," and something vague about market trends. It sounds corporate. It sounds safe. Honestly, it sounds a bit boring. But if you talk to anyone actually doing the work at a place like Tesco, Unilever, or Amazon, they’ll tell you it’s basically like being the mini-CEO of a very specific kingdom.
Whether that kingdom is "Organic Dairy" or "Men’s Grooming" doesn't matter. You’re the one holding the keys.
Most people think this is just a fancy name for a buyer or a merchandiser. It isn’t. A buyer wants the lowest price; a category executive wants the whole shelf to make sense. If you’ve ever walked into a store and wondered why the expensive chips are at eye level while the store brand is hidden at the bottom, you’re looking at a category executive's brain on display. They’re the architects of the aisle.
Why the category executive job description is often misleading
If you read a standard category executive job description, you’ll see words like "analytical support" and "promotional planning." It’s technically true but misses the vibe. You aren't just supporting; you’re obsessing over why people buy one thing over another.
Why do sales of charcoal grill accessories spike three days before a heatwave? Why did that specific brand of oat milk fail even though the packaging was beautiful? You’re the person who has to explain this to the higher-ups. It’s a mix of being a data nerd and a psychologist. You spend half your day in Excel and the other half trying to figure out if humans are actually as predictable as the numbers suggest. (Spoiler: they aren't).
The real-world split of your time
In reality, your Tuesday might look like this: three hours of staring at Nielsen or Kantar data until your eyes bleed, followed by a heated argument with a supplier who wants more shelf space for a product you know is a dud. Then, you might spend the afternoon physically walking a store, rearranging bottles of shampoo because the "planogram"—the blueprint for the shelf—doesn't actually work in real life.
It’s messy.
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The "executive" part of the title is a bit of a misnomer in some companies. Sometimes it's an entry-level or mid-level spot, but the responsibility feels heavy. You’re managing millions in revenue. If you mess up the pricing strategy for the Christmas period, the company feels it. Fast.
The core pillars of the role (without the corporate fluff)
Basically, your job exists to bridge the gap between what the supplier wants to sell and what the customer actually wants to buy.
Data is your only friend.
You’ll use tools like IRI, Dunnhumby, or internal SAP systems. You aren't just looking at what sold; you’re looking at "incrementality." If we put this chocolate bar on sale, did we actually sell more chocolate, or did people just buy this one instead of the more expensive one? If it’s the latter, you just lost the company money.
The art of the Planogram.
This is the visual part. You use software like JDA or Space Planning to map out exactly where every single "SKU" (Stock Keeping Unit) goes. It’s like Tetris but with real financial consequences. You have to balance "days of supply"—making sure the fast-movers don't run out—with "visual merchandising."
The Supplier Tussle.
Suppliers will tell you their new vegan snack is the next big thing. They’ll bring fancy PowerPoints and free samples. Your job is to be the skeptic. You look at the "Category Captain"—usually the biggest brand in the space—and decide if they’re helping the category grow or just bullying the smaller brands. It’s a constant negotiation.
What you actually need to get hired
If you’re looking at a category executive job description and wondering if you fit, don't just look at the degree requirements. Yeah, a business or marketing degree helps. But honestly? Curiosity is bigger.
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You need to be the kind of person who goes to a grocery store on vacation just to see how they stock the shelves. You need to be able to tell a story with numbers. If you just hand a manager a spreadsheet, you’ve failed. You need to say, "The data shows families are buying larger packs because of inflation, so we should cut the single-serve items and double down on the multipacks." That’s the "insight" part everyone talks about.
Essential Skills You’ll Actually Use:
- Excel Mastery: If you don't know VLOOKUPs and Pivot Tables, you'll struggle. If you know XLOOKUP and Power BI, you're a god.
- Commercial Awareness: Knowing that a strike in a port in South America will affect the price of bananas in Bristol three weeks from now.
- Persuasion: Convincing a buyer who has been in the industry for 30 years that your data-driven approach is better than their "gut feeling."
- Resilience: Categories get reset. Strategies fail. You have to be okay with being wrong and pivoting fast.
The career path: Where does this lead?
Nobody stays a category executive forever. It’s a high-burnout, high-reward starting point.
Usually, you move up to Category Manager, then maybe a Senior Category Manager or "Head of Category." From there, the path splits. You can go into Buying, where you’re the one signing the checks and negotiating the hard contracts. Or you can move over to the "Brand" side—working for the Coca-Colas or Nestlés of the world—as a Trade Marketer or Category Development Manager.
The pay is decent. In the UK, you’re looking at £30,000 to £45,000 for an executive role, depending on the city. In the US, it’s often between $65,000 and $90,000. It scales up quickly once you have a few "wins" under your belt—like growing a stagnant category by 10% in a year.
The stuff that sucks (Let’s be honest)
It’s not all strategy and snacks.
Administrative work is a huge chunk of the category executive job description that people ignore. You will spend hours fixing "barcode errors" or chasing down high-res images for the website. You will deal with "range reviews" which are essentially marathons of stress where you have to justify every single product’s existence on your shelf. If a product isn't "earning its space," you have to kill it. And sometimes, the person who made that product is a nice person who really tried.
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You also get blamed for things out of your control. If the logistics team messes up and the shelves are empty, the data looks bad, and you’re the one who has to explain the dip in "share of trade" to the directors. It can feel like you’re responsible for the engine but you aren't allowed to drive the car.
Actionable steps to land the role
If you want this job, don't just send a generic CV.
Audit a shelf. Go to a local store. Pick a category—say, laundry detergent. Write down three things that are working and three things that aren't. Is the signage confusing? Is there a gap in the price points? Mention this in your interview. It shows you have the "category eye."
Learn the lingo. Start using terms like "Rate of Sale," "Price Index," and "Share of Wallet." Understand the difference between "Internal Data" (what we sold) and "Market Data" (what everyone else sold).
Get comfortable with "Why?" The next time you buy something, ask yourself why you chose that specific brand. Was it the price? Was it the "shelf shout"? Was it because it was the only one you could reach without bending down? That self-awareness is the foundation of category management.
Master the tools.
If you haven't used Kantar or Nielsen, look up tutorials on YouTube. You won't get access to the software for free—it's expensive—but you can learn what the dashboards look like. Showing up and saying "I understand how to interpret a Nielsen Scantrack report" puts you ahead of 90% of other applicants.
The category executive job description is essentially a gateway. It’s where you learn how retail actually functions, far away from the flashy ads and the "brand purpose" slogans. It’s where the rubber meets the road—or rather, where the product meets the customer’s hand. If you can master that interaction, you can work anywhere in business.