Category Lead - Clothing
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: Coventry Store Support Centre - Ansty Park and Home, Coventry, CV7 9RD
Contract type: Fixed-Term Assignment
Business area: Sainsbury's Commercial & Sustainability
Closing date: 22 September 2026
Requisition ID: 400080069
We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. Here, everything in our stores starts in Sainsbury’s Commercial. From product, proposition, packaging and price, to whether it meets our sustainability commitments or simply tastes great, our team is responsible for, all food, non- food and Clothing items available in Sainsbury’s stores, online and on demand. It’s an incredibly fast-paced environment. People here are in it together and aren’t afraid to take risks. The knowledge and experience you gain here could set you up for career moves anywhere else in the business. So, if you’re passionate about your products and just as hungry to learn, you’ll fit in perfectly.
Category Lead - Clothing - 12 month Fixed Term Contract
About the team
You will join the Sainsbury’s Commercial Clothing TU, working within the branded category area that brings distinctive and relevant brand partnerships to our customers. The team sits at the centre of commercial decision making, working closely with Merchandising, Digital, Legal, Finance and external brand partners to shape a differentiated and competitive offer. With a strong focus on growth, customer relevance and sustainability, the team plays a pivotal role in strengthening our market position and performance.
More about the role
As a Category Lead, you will define and deliver a compelling branded proposition that drives growth across the Clothing TU. You will shape category and brand strategy, lead brand relationships and optimise the mix of wholesale and marketplace models to maximise sales, margin and customer relevance. Using market insight, customer data and commercial modelling, you will identify new opportunities and make informed decisions that support wider business objectives.
The role includes leading brand onboarding and negotiations, developing and optimising ranges, and driving commercial performance against agreed KPIs. You will work cross‑functionally to ensure brand plans align with channel strategy, customer needs and sustainability priorities, while representing the category clearly and confidently with stakeholders. You will also support, coach and develop colleagues, building capability and ensuring consistent, high‑quality delivery.
More about you
You are commercially focused and insight‑led with a passion for product and trends. You have proven experience managing and growing complex partnerships. You are comfortable working with data and customer insight, you use evidence to inform strategy, negotiations and trading decisions, balancing brands needs with commercial outcomes.
You communicate with impact and build strong relationships across teams and suppliers. Resilient and adaptable, you are confident operating in a fast‑paced environment and influencing at pace. You demonstrate Sainsbury’s valued behaviours by taking ownership, seeking better ways of working and collaborating openly and authentically with others.
Essential criteria
- Previous clothing category experience working as a key account manager or within a fashion buying team. You have a passion for product and a strong understanding of the clothing market.
- Demonstrated ability to define and deliver strategies aligned to commercial and customer objectives.
- Experience leading on and developing stakeholder partnerships, including negotiations, onboarding and ongoing performance management.
- Ability to use market insight, customer data and commercial analysis to inform decision making and identify growth opportunities.
- Proven capability to deliver against commercial KPIs, including sales, margin and profitability.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, enabling effective collaboration and the ability to influence across cross‑functional teams.
#Commercial
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them: Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 10% of salary, depending on how we perform. Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme. Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave. Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).
