About the Organisation
Maldon Salt is a fourth-generation family-owned business with almost 145 years of craftsmanship at its heart. Our unique pyramid shaped sea salt flakes have been hand-harvested using the same traditional methods since 1882 and are recognised globally as the finest of sea salts, exporting to over 60 countries worldwide. Trusted by chefs and cooks around the world and recognised by the Royal Household, we have proudly held the Royal Warrant as official purveyors of sea salt since 2012.

Today, Maldon Salt combines this unique heritage with innovation—remaining true to our roots whilst inspiring new generations of food lovers with an expanding portfolio of salts and seasonings..

As a business, we take our corporate social responsibility to our customers, partners, and our ourselves seriously, continually seeking ways to reduce our environmental impact. This includes initiatives such as lowering carbon emissions and using carbon-balanced packaging. In partnership with the World Land Trust, Maldon Salt supports global conservation efforts, helping protect threatened habitats and wildlife with every box produced. This ongoing commitment reflects our dedication to global environmental sustainability and responsible business practices.

Job Summary

We are seeking a commercially focused Category Analyst to support UK Retail, HORECA/Foodservice, and international markets. The role involves analysing category and customer data, generating actionable insights, and delivering recommendations that support growth, strengthen customer relationships, and inform business decisions across key markets including Australia, Spain, the Nordics, and Canada.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyse category, channel and customer performance using NielsenIQ, Kantar, retailer sales data, wholesaler EPOS and market reports.

• Identify key drivers of performance (distribution, rate of sale, pricing, promotions, NPD impact, seasonality).

• Identify and elevating emerging consumer and category trends providing recommendations for the wider team. Provide the business with clear, actionable recommendations grounded in data.

• Supporting Customer Marketing Manager in preparing regular performance updates for internal teams, including dashboards, scorecards and commentary.

• Monitor competitor performance, innovation pipelines and range changes, providing timely implications and guidance.

• Assist in creating compelling retailer-facing category stories to support sell-in discussions.

• Support National Account Managers with customer briefs, category decks and promotional evaluations.

• Evaluate the performance of trade activations and customer marketing initiatives.

• Lead ad-hoc data analysis to support business cases and commercial strategy.

• Assist in the creation of JBPs and activating plans

• International Category Support

• Produce quarterly category and competitor updates for priority international markets.

• Consolidate available data from international partners (EPOS, market reports, qualitative insights).

• Identify emerging global trends relevant to Maldon Salt (culinary, format, premiumisation, sustainability).

• Support distributor partners with data-driven decks and category storytelling tools.

• Build simple, scalable templates for partners to report performance and opportunities.

• Provide insight inputs into annual international market plans.

• Management of Maldon Salt’s CMS for international partners

• Commercial Planning & Forecasting Support

• Track and analyse brand and SKU performance across channels.

• Assist in building volume, share and value forecasts for planning cycles.

• Provide scenario modelling (price, promo, distribution) to inform decision-making.

• Internal Collaboration

Work closely with:

• Customer Marketing Manager/line manager (trade activation and evaluation)
• Brand Manager (campaign impact, shopper insights)
• Digital Marketing (consumer behaviour trends, channel reporting)
• Head of Sales and National Account Managers (sales insights and customer rationale)
• International Sales Manager (market reporting and partner support)
• Act as a centre of excellence for insight and data literacy within the organisation.

Skills & Experience Required

• Experience in category management, insights or commercial analysis within FMCG (min. 2–3 years).
• Strong analytical skills with experience using NielsenIQ, Kantar and/or retailer data (Dunnhumby, Nectar360, Retail Link etc.).
• Understanding of UK Retail and HORECA environments (Brakes, Bidfood, Booker, Costco etc.).
• Experience consolidating and interpreting EPOS datasets.
• Exposure to international markets (via distributors) preferred.
• Ability to simplify data and present compelling narratives.
• Excellent Excel and PowerPoint capability; experience with dashboard tools an advantage (Power BI).
• Strong communication skills to influence internal stakeholders and customers.
• Commercial acumen with ability to support business cases.
• Passion for food, brands and consumer behaviour.
• Comfortable working independently and as part of a team.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to juggle multiple priorities

Key Behaviours & Attributes
In line with Maldon Salt’s values of Integrity, Teamwork and Innovation, the role requires someone who is:

• Collaborative, curious and commercially minded.
• Comfortable with data and able to translate complexity into clarity.
• Accurate, detail-driven and conscientious.
• Cross-functional in mindset with the ability to influence without authority.
• Humble and hungry – no ego, open to learning.
• Discreet, with the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Creative in problem-solving, with an entrepreneurial and practical approach.
• Able to communicate insights clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Respectful of different cultures and international ways of working
  Qualifications
• Degree or equivalent experience in Business, Marketing, Economics, Data/Analytics or related fields.
• Category management or insight training beneficial (e.g., NielsenIQ/Kantar accredited courses).
• Additional languages beneficial due to international partner interaction