SSP UK are currently recruiting for a Category Analyst to join our Commercial team, following an internal move. The Category Analyst works with our Category Managers or Commercial Brand Managers to understand, analyze and create commercial plans for a brand or small portfolio of brands. The overall goal is to deliver profitable growth from like-for-like sales and gross margin improvement activity.As a critical member of the team the Category Analyst will be expected to identify new opportunities and improve existing approaches to to drive like-for-like sales growth through rigorous and detailed analysis of market data and internal sales information.The RoleAs Category Analyst your activity will look at both cross brand category performance as well as the performance of the brand or brands. In this role, you'll use a range of tools and approaches to achieve gross margin improvement: working with stakeholders to identify and take advantage of supplier income opportunities; drawing upon the expertise of the culinary team to simplify and standardise recipes or develop new ones; and finding ways to reduce the impact that commercial activity has on waste and labour. This role requires rigorous and thorough commercial modelling and analysis expertise.The Category Analystmay also need to work with external stakeholders in order to ensure that SSP achieves its commercial outcomes whilst satisfying the requirements of the client and our brand partners.The Details Key tasks * Planning * Commercial / category plan - support the Head of Category or Category Manager to create the commercial / category plan for each of the specified brand or brands * Sign off - submit proposed sales and gross margin improvement activities to weekly trade / monthly commercial forum meetings for approval * Support Commercial manager / Head of commercial to ensure preparation analysis is completed to support marketing briefs to access marketing services * Modelling * 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 and Commercial manager in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off * Implementation / Analysis * Reviewing data pre to post or year on year, normalisation of data to ensure seasonal and external factors driving performance are mitigated within reason * Ensure that the true cost to the business of product decisions is considered, within analysis * Post competition review of new openings * Pricing trial and elasticity reviews * Look for optimisation opportunities either in other brands or in other product categories where similar principles can be applied * Support Category manager (or) Commercial manager in preparing proposals for trading or commercial forum sign off * Reporting / MI * Review - report results at weekly trade and monthly commercial forum meetings. Assess whether forecast has been achieved and EBITDA can be banked. * Highlight new opportunities to improve performance through regular reviews of MI * Ensure that opportunities are highlight and discussed with Commercial Executive / Managers * Other * Spend time in the field observing and supporting implementation in operational units The BenefitsSSP is a world-wide retail catering company with operations in 32 countries and employing over 30,000 people. In the UK we operate retail catering sites at railway stations, airports and shopping centres across the county. As Category Manager, we offer you a competitive salary of up to £35,000 plus benefits.We also offer a benefits package including great training and learning and development opportunities and a discount scheme involving lots of high street retailers and service providers.