Head of Category

We're on the hunt for a Head of Category to partner with some of the UK's biggest electrical brands. You'll take the lead on building and maintaining a winning product range, managing key relationships, and working hand-in-hand with our supply chain, marketing, and e-commerce teams to create the best shopping experience in the UK Our people are our superpower, and we're unstoppable when we're together! We want your ideas to flow, and what better way to make that happen than being based onsite, 5 days a week, where our culture fuels creativity, collaboration and growth. If a £1 bet in the pub between two friends can become the UKs most trusted electrical retailer, imagine what else can be achieved when we're together!Here's What You Can Expect To Be Doing

• Set the Strategy: Take full ownership of planning and range decisions for your category. You'll define the vision, set ambitious availability targets across all channels, and make sure our customers always have the best choice at their fingertips.
• Keep Things Moving: Lead the way on major space and seasonal changes, ensuring smooth stock flow and efficient supplier management. You'll spot opportunities to improve processes and keep everything running like clockwork.
• Lead the Team: Inspire and guide a talented buying and demand planning team. You'll develop their skills, nurture future leaders, and create a high-performance culture where everyone strives for excellence.
• Drive Sales: Be accountable for all sales and promotional planning within your category. From seasonal campaigns to everyday pricing strategies, you'll make sure we hit targets and deliver results.
• Own Supplier Relationships: Build strong partnerships with key suppliers, secure the best trading terms, and manage quarterly planning cycles to maximise commercial performance.
• Work as One AO: Collaborate with supply chain, marketing, service, and commercial teams to deliver a seamless experience for our customers and keep AO ahead of the competition.
• Stay on Budget: Keep a close eye on stock and waste, ensuring compliance with budgets and driving efficiency across the board.
  
  Experience leading and developing a high performing team is essential
• Strong , negotiation skills, ability to learn quickly, and confidence to respectfully challenge received wisdom
• Highly numerate, with great attention to detail, and a natural ability to use data to identify opportunities
• Self-motivated, strong collaboration skills, and a willingness to go above and beyond for the team
• Highly tenacious, an ability to work well under pressure, prioritise and work within tight timescales
  
  We're big on appliances and electricals, REALLY big. Washing machines, fridge freezers and TVs? They're our bread and butter. Mobiles, Airwraps and Ring doorbells? Yep, those too. If it plugs in, powers up or makes life easier, AO probably has it.
But we're more than that… For over 25 years, trust has been at the heart of everything we do, helping us become the UK's most trusted electrical retailer. Our customers rate us 4.9 on Trustpilot from nearly ONE MILLION reviews and more 5-star ratings than any other UK electrical retailer, because they know they can rely on us and it's the exact same for our AOers too. We truly believe it's more than just a job, we genuinely care about each other and our impact on making our customers lives easier, by helping them brilliantly. Everyone here knows how their role makes a difference. Our people are our superpower, so, when it comes to finding new AOers, we know it's about more than just a CV, it's about what makes you, YOU.

Our benefits are designed to cover the moments that matter to AOers. From health and wellness to giving back - you'll be rewarded inside and outside of work.
• Holidays; 25 days, plus bank holidays (increasing to 27 days after 2 years with us!)
• Pension; Contribute 5% of your annual salary and we'll do the same, giving you a little extra support for the future.
• Be a VIP at the AO Arena; we have loads of opportunities to win free tickets and pre-sale access!
• Health & wellbeing; discounted gym membership, an onsite spa and our Help @ Hand scheme giving you access to virtual GP's, Mental Health support and much more.
• Discounts; exclusive discounts across our product range.
• Family leave; Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption leave.
• Making a difference; 2 fully paid days a year to donate your time to any charity of your choice.
• On site perks; start your day with free on site parking, grabbing a complimentary breakfast and a coffee at our subsidised in house coffee shop!, Surname
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That's great! We'd love to know more about you! How do you describe your gender identity? How do you describe your ethnic background? How do you like to describe your sexual identity or sexual orientation? Do you identify as a person with a disability or are you a person with accessibility needs? How would you describe your Neurodiversity?Great! Do you require any reasonable adjustments if we were to invite you to an interview? Reasonable adjustmentsWhat are reasonable adjustments? We want to make sure you have the best possible experience throughout our recruitment journey. If there's anything we can do to make the process more comfortable or accessible, like arranging a ground floor meeting room for an interview or having a sign language interpreter join you, please let us know below. We're here to support you every step of the way. If this role was recommended to you by someone already working at AO, please tick the box and let us know their name. Referrer First Name Referrer Last Name By ticking, this means you are giving us your permission to keep in touch with you over the next 12 months using the information you have submitted. We will share content with you every now and then about AO and update you on relevant job opportunities. To opt out at any point, please email careers@ao.comYour applications in! One of our recruitment team will be in touch soon with an update as soon as they can. In the meantime, why not check out what life at AO is all about! Explore Now Please tell us your salary expectations
• This role is based onsite, 5 days a week at our Horwich office. Please confirm this is ok for you
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• Takes just 2 minutes to complete!AO is for everyone! We should all feel that we belong. That's why we are creating a welcoming and inclusive place to work. We're proud to be different. From how we look to the way we talk to our customers, we skip to the beat of our very own drum. We know that being different together is our superpower and we celebrate it because it makes us stronger, more creative, and better at what we do. We believe the people we employ should reflect the diversity of our customer base; that way, we can communicate in a way that recognises all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, abilities, and sexual orientations. And that's why we're asking these questions. Making sure our recruitment process is inclusive is a key part of what we're doing at AO to encourage diversity as an employer. Read more How will we use the data? After we've collated the data, we'll look at the patterns to assess if we are inclusive at each stage. If it turns out that we aren't, then the data may help us identify where we can improve. The data collated won't have any impact on your application and is not shared with hiring managers or the recruitment team.