Category analyst

Category Analyst The Company SSP is a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, with c.42,000 colleagues in over 600 locations across 37 countries. We operate sit-down and quick service restaurants, cafes, lounges and food-led convenience stores, principally in airports and train stations, with a portfolio of around 550 international, national and local brands. These include our own brands Upper Crust, Millies Cookies etc. as well as franchise brands such as M S, Starbucks and Burger King. Our purpose is to be the best part of the journey, and this is underpinned by our aim to bring leading brands and innovative concepts to our clients and customers around the world, with an emphasis on great value, taste, quality and service. About the Role To work with the Commercial manager(s) / Head of Commercial to ensure EBITDA delivery to budget targets by; Weekly review of trading performance and recommend actions to improve performance Perform analysis to design and measure local pricing and commercial trials using a mix of controlled experiment techniques, market research and lsquo;ad hoc rsquo; analysis Post-trial analysis of impact The identification of key commercial opportunities and priorities for testing Develop analytical tools and templates The role holder will be expected to use a variety of levers to drive like-for-like sales growth, such as range improvement, optimisation of price and promotion, upselling and maximisation of the use of space, and will drive category performance e.g. hot drinks, as well as the performance of the brand or brands. What you #39;ll be Doing: The commercial performance of the brand or a small portfolio of brands (LFL sales and gross profit) ndash; deliver stretch EBITDA target Commercial / category plan ndash; support the Head of Commercial to create the commercial / category plan for each of the specified brand or brands ndash; Focused on ensure plans will drive sufficient value to deliver corporate stretch targets Work closely with finance to ensure budget and Quartey forecast capture planned impacts ensure budgets are realistic and deliverable based on pipeline commercial activity Sign off - submit proposed sales and gross margin improvement activities to weekly trade / monthly commercial activity meetings for approval (background, financial value and suggested next steps) Support Commercial manager / Head of commercial to ensure preparation analysis is completed to support marketing briefs to access marketing services - marketing services such as NPD, creative design, marketing planning and brand development are provided by the Group Marketing function. Ensure activities are modelled with clear assumptions and rational to support the assumptions Test and learn activity is designed with robust control groups and expectations of success are clear before activities are live New openings, modelling of forecast sales mix at product level working alongside Commercial managers Support Category manager (or) Commercial manager in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off Work with Commercial executive / manager to ensure consistent implementation of the agreed strategy at brand level. E.g. Tracking compliance of activities prior to detailed reviews Reviewing data pre to post or year on year, normalisation of data to ensure seasonal and external factors driving performance are mitigated within reason Post completion review of new openings Support Category manager (or) Commercial manager in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off Review - report results at weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings. Assess whether forecast has been achieved and EBITDA can be banked. (Course correct where necessary) Spend time in the field (c. 1 day/week) ndash; observing and supporting implementation in operational units To be successful in this role you will need: Knowledge, skills and experience required Track record of analysing commercial data to drive insights and change in businesses Good grasp of commercial issues in a consumer/retail environment Must be able to drive decision-making through analysis and based on evidence, rather than intuition Evidence of building effective working relationship with commercial teams Must be able to develop innovative ideas to drive top and bottom line, testing, learning and refining and then operationalising them