Assistant Category Manager, Apparel

We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.

About the team

Our Commercial team is a large, but a close-knit group of trading experts, who are ready to shape the future of Coles. We pride ourselves on the long-lasting supplier relationships we build, the new ideas we develop and how passionately we work to help Australian eat and live better every day. And the best part? We’re all so different. We bring diversity of thought, backgrounds, and experience to every Business Unit across Coles Supermarkets and Liquor.

About the role

We’re looking for a motivated and commercially minded Assistant Category Manager to join our Health & Home team, focused on Apparel. In this role, you’ll help deliver customer-centric category strategies, supporting the achievement of sales, growth, and profitability targets.

Working closely with internal teams and suppliers, you’ll contribute to category planning, analyse market trends, and help deliver impactful promotional and product initiatives. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who thrives on data, enjoys problem-solving, and wants to grow their career in category management.

Please note: this opportunity is a fixed-term contract parental leave cover until June 2027.

You’ll also:

• Support the development and execution of category strategies and plans
• Assist with business planning, including promotional and trade activity
• Analyse customer behaviour, market trends, and competitor activity
• Deliver insights and reporting to support strategic decision-making
• Support product and category initiatives, including launches and improvements
• Maintain strong supplier relationships and contribute to joint planning
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to deliver customer-focused outcomes
• Ensure compliance with relevant policies, regulations, and processes

About you and your skills

You’re a curious, analytical, and proactive professional with a passion for understanding customers and driving commercial outcomes. You enjoy working with data to uncover insights and are confident translating these into actionable recommendations.

You’re equally comfortable working independently and collaborating with others, and you bring strong communication skills that allow you to build effective relationships with both internal teams and external partners. Ideally, you have experience working in apparel related categories, however; if you are adaptable and resilient, you thrive in a fast-paced environment, and are always looking for ways to improve and innovate, we would love to hear from you.

You’ll also ideally have:

• Experience in category, product, or portfolio management (retail/FMCG/apparel preferred)
• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret data and trends
• Commercial awareness and understanding of business drivers
• Excellent problem-solving and critical thinking capability
• Ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks effectively
• Strong stakeholder and relationship-building skills
• Experience working with suppliers or cross-functional teams
• Exposure to P&L management (desirable)

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
• Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
• Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
• Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
• Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
• Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
• Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.

About the recruitment process

We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au

Job ID: 186119

Employment Type: Fixed Term

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