About Us
Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances and flavors, cosmetic active ingredients as well as functional ingredients. Its customers include perfume, cosmetics, food and beverage manufacturers, the pharmaceutical industry and producers of dietary supplements and pet food.
With sales of around €5.0 billion in the 2024 financial year, the company is one of the world's leading providers. The Group, headquartered in Holzminden, Germany, has more than 100 locations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Asia, the USA and Latin America.
Together with its customers, Symrise develops new ideas and market-ready concepts for products that form an indispensable part of everyday life. Economic success and corporate responsibility are inextricably linked.
Symrise – always inspiring more...
Your Role
The Senior Category Manager Culinary is responsible for driving strategic growth and innovation within the culinary category. As the internal category expert, you will play a central role in defining category strategy, building the innovation pipeline, and supporting key customer projects in collaboration with cross-functional teams. You will also serve as a critical partner to Key Account Management (KAM), ensuring a strong commercial interface between category development and customer needs.
Strategy Development
* Develop and implement culinary category strategy, mapping out market growth opportunities through market and industry insights and aligning with the business needs Align with savory category team and Savory Category Director.
* Monitor category sales and profitability; evaluate project pipeline and customer contribution to ensure achievement of growth objectives and align with sales on corrective measures
* Contribute to annual operating plan (AOP) and global growth planning (GGP) processes.
Innovation Leadership
* Take the lead in innovation process in culinary category end-to-end and execute consumer-driven and customer-led winning innovation projects defined by milestones over the 2–3-year horizon which will allow Symrise to reach market leadership position
* Manage & collaborate with other functions within the organization, such as Strategic Portfolio Development, Marketing, SCI, Technical Team, Market clusters and Global key account teams to align on relevant topics and to deliver the innovation projects
* Work with R&T on projects, where specific R&T expertise is required
* Measure pipeline size, quality and performance (ROI) of initiatives and derive corrective actions where necessary
Customer & Commercial Support
* Act as an embedded Category member within customer teams, supporting key strategic initiatives and driving innovation discussions.
* Act as a subject matter expert in culinary, support customer teams with culinary category expertise and drive innovation projects.
* Work closely with other SGM (Strategy Growth Management) functions on strategic pricing guidance (e.g., CPC1).
* Work with Market Clusters to ensure full delivery and execution of key innovation in a rigorous and effective manner.
* Drive commercialization of category strategy into concrete support for focus market clusters and visit key customers to help drive profitable growth, acting as product and portfolio expert.
About You
Professional Experience
* Minimum 6 years of relevant experience in category management, business development, or sales in the food, ingredients, or flavors industry.
* Proven track record in cross-functional project management and innovation delivery.
* International work experience is highly desirable.
Skills & Competencies
* Strategic mindset with strong innovation and growth orientation.
* Strong collaboration skills and ability to influence in a matrix organization.
* Effective communicator with excellent presentation skills.
* Agile, structured, and result-driven.
* Self-starter with a high level of motivation and a proactive approach to change.
* Comfortable with frequent business travel.
Languages
* Fluent in English (mandatory).
* Additional languages (German, French, Dutch) are a plus.
Our Offer
Become part of our open and transparent culture. It will give you the opportunity to flourish and to develop inspiring experiences that contribute to the health and well-being of consumers in 160 countries around the world. Putting our employees in the focus fuels our strong company growth above market rates and makes us an excellent place to develop your career.
Come join us and embark on a fascinating journey with Symrise.
If you feel that you fit the above criteria, then please apply by using our online application system. Your application will be treated confidentially.