Combustibles Category Manager

The Role

The Combustibles Category Manager is responsible for leading the development and execution of brand, category, and portfolio strategies that drive sustainable growth, strengthen brand equity, and optimise commercial performance within the combustibles category. This role plays a critical part in shaping the long‑term direction of the portfolio while ensuring flawless execution of annual marketing plans.

This is a senior professional and leadership role that requires strategic thinking, strong commercial acumen, and the ability to make data‑led decisions in a fast‑moving and highly regulated environment. The position is accountable for adapting global and regional strategies into locally relevant activation plans, proactively addressing operational challenges, constraints, or shifts in the competitive landscape.

Principle Accountabilities

• Portfolio & Category Strategy: Lead the creation and ongoing refinement of the combustibles portfolio strategy, ensuring alignment with consumer insights, trade dynamics, pricing architecture, and regulatory requirements. Assess portfolio gaps, prioritise investment areas, and shape long‑term category roles.
• Commercial Performance Management: Monitor market performance, brand health, and SKU profitability. Identify risks and opportunities, recommend interventions, and drive initiatives that deliver volume, share, and revenue targets.
• Cross‑Functional Leadership: Serve as the marketing lead for cross‑functional project teams. Partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, Planning, Finance, Legal/Regulatory, and Global/Region stakeholders to ensure consistent strategy execution and portfolio alignment.
• Stakeholder Management: Engage and influence senior leadership by presenting clear strategies, business cases, performance updates, and recommendations.
• Operational Excellence: Anticipate and solve complex operational challenges, including resource constraints, route‑to‑market issues, or regulatory shifts. Lead continuous improvement of processes, ways of working, and marketing governance.
• Team Leadership & Talent Development: Lead, manage, and develop a team of direct reports, ensuring strong functional capability and succession planning. Provide coaching, set performance expectations, conduct reviews, and create a high‑engagement team culture. Support team members in navigating complexity, prioritising work, and building strong cross‑functional relationships.

Skills and Experience Required

Essential

• Strong marketing and analytical capabilities; commercial acumen
• People‑oriented, coaching‑focused leadership; strong listening skills; ability to manage mixed‑experience teams and influence cross‑functional and senior stakeholders.
• Experience with pricing and portfolio management
• Familiarity with trade/trade marketing and local market activation (not only global innovation)
• Finance‑ and insight‑driven decision‑making; strong project management skills suited to process‑driven environments
• Industry background preferably in tobacco or other highly regulated consumer sectors (e.g., pharmaceuticals); open to adjacent industries if candidates demonstrate relevant activation experience and fast learning

Desirable

• Experience in multinational or matrixed environments, with exposure to consumer insights tools, multi‑channel brand activations, agency management, and the ability to influence stakeholders across functions while navigating regulated categories.

What We Offer

In return for playing your part in building our future, you will receive a comprehensive compensation package with salary, bonus scheme and further benefits as well inspiring places to work and collaborate with purpose. Here at Imperial we will give you the opportunity to grow and learn, innovate at pace and be a part of our purpose to forge a path to a healthier future for moments of relaxation and pleasure for our consumers.

Everyone Belongs

Everyone belongs in Imperial. We are proud of being a truly inclusive organisation. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, disabilities, sexual orientation, religions or beliefs and of neuro divergence. We give fair and equal consideration to all our applicants. Please contact us at recruitment@impbrands.com to let us know if we can provide support in helping you complete an application and/or attend an interview.

About Us

We're a truly international company, fourth largest in our industry and operating across 120 markets. An inclusive, innovative global FMCG business supported by 25,000 employees. As we embrace a new era of growth, we are transforming. Our ways of working and culture are driven by a challenger mindset, constantly questioning the status quo where people can bring their best selves to work. Our agility and collaboration are driving our ambitions, innovation and success all supported by our award-winning development programmes that creates exciting and rewarding career opportunities for all.  Encouraging inclusion at local levels and supporting a developing and robust diversity agenda globally, we’re fully committed to creating and maintaining an environment that celebrates and respects difference.

As a matter of policy, Imperial Tobacco or its subsidiaries never requests or requires payment as part of any recruitment process.