Senior Category Development Manager

Job description

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

In this role as Senior Category Development Manager, you strengthen Tony’s position as a credible, strategic and insight-driven category partner in the Benelux & Beyond region. 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.

Job requirements

Our new flavor:

• 7+ years of FMCG experience, including 3+ years in Category Management.
• Experience on the supplier/product (A-brands) organisation side; experience with Albert Heijn and/or Jumbo preferred.
• Strong skills in NielsenIQ, SIS, Seven and customer sell‑out analysis.
• Ability to turn complex data into simple, visual stories and recommendations.
• Strong financial acumen and understanding of commercial levers.
• Skilled at influencing senior stakeholders and guiding decisions.
• Confident representing Tony’s as a credible challenger in the category.
• Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
• Dutch & English proficiency required.
• Eagerness to work in a fast-paced scaleup environment and deal smoothly with the changes that come with a growing company.
• Data-driven decision-maker who utilizes data to identify areas of improvement and make objective, informed decisions.
• We are all about being more in person than apart; this means we offer flexibility but see each other in the Amsterdam office on average 3 days a week. More is fine too!
• You raise the bar: challenge yourself and team Tony’s to increase our ambition and to accomplish our mission. Making mistakes along the way and learning from them.
• Believe wholeheartedly in Tony’s purpose. You live our core values: outspoken, willful, entrepreneurial and makes you smile.

Our benefits (the icing on the cake)

At Tony's you will get the opportunity to be part of something extraordinary; first and foremost, by making real impact in the world but also enjoying the nice benefits we provide as you help us succeed. We’re dedicated to enabling all Tonys to grow and develop their careers and therefore we offer training programs, regular feedback cycles, coaching and a generous L&D budget. We also offer a wide range of additional benefits, including a luxurious vega-lunch, company bonus, minimum of 28 holidays, inspirational team updates, unforgettable events like the Tony's Carnaval and unlimited chocolate.

But we also know chocolate won’t cover the bills, so we’ve made sure your salary is just as rewarding. For this role that means a base salary between 65 – 80k on a yearly basis including holiday pay, plus a company car or car allowance.