Senior EU Category Manager

About the Role

The Senior EU Category Manager is the commercial and operational owner of Emma's product category (one or several categories - Mattresses, Accessories, Beds, Linens) across European markets. You sit at the intersection of global strategy and in-market reality - responsible for ensuring the portfolio performs, launches land successfully, and consumer and commercial insights flow back into global decision-making.

This is a dual-facing role: you translate global category strategy into EU execution, while simultaneously representing European market needs - consumer preferences, competitive dynamics, channel realities - back to global teams.

You can develop Local or cross countries product when needed to answer specific countries consumer needs

In a context where Category Management at Emma is evolving toward stronger commercial ownership, faster feedback loops, and sharper portfolio performance, this role is critical to delivering on-the-ground results while building a stronger link between strategy and execution.

What you'll do:

1. Regional Portfolio Management & Activation

• Own the EU product portfolio for the category: range structure, SKU priorities, and channel fit
• Adapt / develop global portfolio architecture to European market realities (country priorities, regulatory context, channel mix)
• Manage SKU lifecycle across EU - from introduction to rationalisation - in coordination with global
• Ensure portfolio coherence across channels: online DTC, Marketplace, Wholesale, and Retail (Emma Stores)
• Drive assortment decisions in collaboration with Commercial teams and Country Managers
• Maintain up-to-date country-level range plans and collaborate on activation calendars

2. Go-to-Market & Launch Execution

• Lead EU launch planning and readiness: operational timelines, commercial activation, and product truth localisation
• Ensure sales, marketing, customer service, and retail teams are equipped with product knowledge and messaging before every launch
• Coordinate local market adaptations -regulation, claims, pricing thresholds etc… - within global guardrails
• Own post-launch performance reviews: sell-through, return rate, NPS, and commercial learnings
• Proactively flag launch risks and escalate blockers to global and commercial stakeholders

3. Commercial Performance Monitoring & Improvement

• Track category performance weekly and monthly across key EU markets:
• Revenue and volume mix evolution by SKU and channel
• Gross margin and margin-per-SKU trends
• Return rates and NPS by product and market
• Channel performance (DTC vs retail vs marketplace vs wholesale)
• Identify underperformers, portfolio gaps, and pricing misalignments - and drive corrective actions
• Build business cases to support portfolio investment, de-listing, or repositioning decisions
• Partner with Finance and BI on KPI frameworks, dashboards, and category contribution analysis

4. Market, Consumer & Competitive Intelligence

• Monitor EU market trends: category growth, channel shifts, consumer behaviour changes
• Maintain a structured view of the competitive landscape in key EU markets (pricing, product moves, positioning)
• Gather and synthesise qualitative and quantitative insights from:
• Emma Stores (direct consumer interaction - a unique Emma asset)
• Customer Service feedback and returns analysis
• Consumer reviews and online listening
• Country Manager and sales team field intelligence
• Produce regular EU market intelligence reports and feed insights into global category planning cycles

5. Sales, Trade & Channel Enablement

• Build and maintain strong relationships with Country Managers and EU commercial leads
• Act as the product expert and internal ambassador for the category across EU commercial teams
• Deliver product training, category selling stories, and trade argumentation for retail partners
• Support trade marketing and channel activation with product knowledge and positioning clarity
• Adapt product messaging and benefit communication for different EU channels and retail contexts

6. Global-EU Interface & Feedback Loop

• Participate in quarterly global-regional alignment sessions with Global Category Managers
• Provide structured European market intelligence to inform global roadmap and portfolio decisions
• Validate global portfolio decisions against EU commercial and consumer realities
• Flag regional constraints (regulatory, cultural, channel) that affect global plans

Who we are looking for:

• 5-8 years experience in Category Management, Product Management, or Commercial Strategy in DTC, e-commerce, FMCG, or omnichannel retail
• Demonstrated experience connecting product strategy with in-market commercial performance
• Strong understanding of European consumer markets - including channel dynamics, country-level variations, and shopper behaviour
• Experience working cross-functionally and managing multiple stakeholders across sales, marketing, and operations
• Experience with product launches in multi-country environments (end-to-end, from planning to post-launch review)
• Commercially sharp: you think in revenue, margin, and sell-through, not just product features
• Analytical and data-driven: comfortable with dashboards, BI tools, and Excel modelling for performance analysis
• Structured and operational: able to manage multiple launches and priorities simultaneously
• Strong communicator: able to simplify complex product information for sales teams, retailers, and non-category audiences
• Consumer-curious: genuinely interested in shopper behaviour, market trends, and in-store/field observation
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving DTC environment with evolving priorities and lean team structures

What we offer:

• At Emma, you’ll find a culture of freedom, impact, and zero politics. We give you full ownership from day one and expect you to move fast, think big, and grow even faster.
• Pet-friendly environment, where you can bring your furry desk buddy;
• Discounts on our top-notch products;
• Health insurance including dentist;
• 24 days holidays/year +1 day/year at Emma (máx. 29 days);
• The opportunity to collaborate with multinational teams;
• Exciting events that aren't just team-building exercises but opportunities to create epic memories.