Wine Category Manager

About the role

The Wine Category Manager will lead the identification, selection, and commercial development of a best-in-class global wine assortment for the company, including travel retail and local-market businesses and subsidiaries.

• Identify global wine trends, consumer insights, and opportunities to shape the wine category strategy and annual range plans.
• Build and maintain a global pipeline of wineries, producers, and distributors to unlock limited allocations and exclusive propositions.
• Develop business cases for new wine collections, including pricing architecture, margin, volume assumptions, and promotional plans.
• Track category performance and supplier scorecards, including sales, margin, mix, and availability, and recommend actions to optimize range health, pricing, and promotional effectiveness.
• Create synergies across the QR Group ecosystem and develop 360-degree commercial propositions.
• Source and select wines across key regions and styles for global travel retail and domestic-market needs.
• Lead commercial negotiations with wineries, agents, and distributors covering cost price, rebates, listing fees, payment terms, marketing support, and allocations.
• Secure limited or exclusive selections and manage launch readiness in partnership with Retail, Supply Chain, and Marketing.
• Provide expert advice to Lounges and Inflight businesses.
• Perform other department duties related to the position as directed by the Head of Department.

Qualification

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant experience.
• Fluent spoken and written English.
• Proven experience in wine buying across France, Italy, Spain, and New World countries such as Chile, Australia, and South Africa, as well as category management, sourcing, or brand management.
• Strong experience in supplier negotiation and relationship management, including managing allocations and delivering commercial terms that meet margin and growth targets.