Senior Category Development Manager

Why we are here

Tony’s Chocolonely is committed to ending exploitation in cocoa. We are an impact company that makes chocolate, not a chocolate company that makes impact. With incredibly tasty chocolate, we lead by example, demonstrating that ethical practices and success can go hand in hand. Through Tony's Open Chain (TOC), mission allies like Albert Heijn, Ben & Jerry's, Jokolade, and Aldi have embraced a fairer, more transparent supply chain for their chocolate too.

What you will do

We are looking for a Senior Category Development Manager to strengthen Tony’s position as a credible, strategic and insight-driven category partner in the Benelux & Beyond region. In this role, you shape the category vision by translating consumer, customer and market insights into clear commercial direction, helping both Tony’s and our retail partners grow the chocolate category in a sustainable and impactful way.

You will work closely with key customers such as Albert Heijn and Jumbo, using tools like NielsenIQ, SIS and Seven to uncover opportunities, build compelling category stories and guide assortment, pricing and promotional recommendations. You turn complex data into simple narratives that guide both internal decision‑making and external customer conversations.

Collaboration sits at the core of this role. You work daily with Sales, Marketing, Finance, NPD and Operations to inform long‑term plans, sharpen business cases, support innovations and ensure our market strategy is grounded in facts. You also lead and develop a junior Category Manager that will be reporting to you, building the capability and maturity of the category function within Tony’s. Reporting to the Head of Sales Benelux, you are a trusted partner to senior stakeholders and help drive profitable growth through a challenger mindset, strong analytical skills and compelling insight-led storytelling.

All wrapped up, in this role you will

• You leverage your extensive knowledge of the chocolate market to help shape the long‑term strategy for our market, and you co-present this strategy with the team to our Chiefs (Executive Board).

• Lead insight‑driven category conversations with key retailers, bringing clarity on opportunities and helping shape the future of the category together.

• Translate market, shopper and customer data into simple, actionable recommendations for assortment, pricing, promotions and shelf optimisation.

• Build and maintain a strong category vision that supports both long‑term growth and short‑term commercial decisions.

• Identify clear whitespace opportunities and support the development of business cases for innovation and strategic projects.

• Strengthen category management capabilities across the team and coach the junior Category Manager in analysis, insights and impactful storytelling.

• Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, Finance, NPD and Operations to align recommendations and ensure decisions are rooted in clear insights.

• Deliver clear and engaging performance stories that support senior leadership in shaping plans and making informed commercial decisions.

• Help improve internal processes, tools and ways of working to elevate the impact of category management across the business.