Category & Insight Manager

About Samyang Foods UK

Samyang Foods, the iconic creator of Buldak, is one of the world's fastest growing food brands. Consumers can't get enough of the bold, unapologetic flavour of Buldak ("fire chicken") which has redefined spice since its launch in 2012.

Right now, Samyang Foods is exploding globally, with a viral momentum driven by TikTok and Google Trends - Buldak is flying off supermarket shelves worldwide.

To strengthen our footprint in Europe, we have established Samyang Foods UK, a dedicated UK business focused on accelerating sales, brand presence and long-term partnerships across the Grocery and Independent retail market sectors.

We're a fast-moving, entrepreneurial team bringing Samyang's legendary heat to more consumers across the country, and we're looking for a Category & Insight Manager who shares our values of trust, integrity, collaboration and a deep passion for the brand.

This is our start point - and we're building something truly special.

As our Category & Insight Manager, you will help shape how Samyang Foods UK understands its market and consumers. Most importantly you will turn UK market data into opportunities for growth and decisions that shape the business.

This role brings together category, consumer and shopper evidence to understand what is happening, why it is happening, and where Samyang can win. Turn this understanding into clear, relevant recommendations that inform brand and commercial strategy.

This is a hands-on role for someone with strong analytical fundamentals, who is curious about people and markets, confident with data and research, and able to turn evidence into clear answers and practical recommendations. You will work closely with Marketing, Category and Samyang EU Insight teams to ensure insight leads to better decisions, rather than simply more reporting.

Key responsibilities

•  Lead market and category intelligence. Analyse data about category and competitive landscape to identify growth opportunities, risks and emerging shifts in the UK market.
• Develop consumer and shopper understanding. Use relevant methods (quantitative, qualitative, desk research etc) to understand consumer needs, motivations, occasions and purchase behaviour. 
• Translate evidence into insight. Connect all the sources of evidence to explain not only what is happening, but why.
• Turn insight into action. Provide clear recommendations that inform marketing (e.g. brand strategy, innovation pipeline) and commercial (e.g. price and promo optimization) decisions.
• Lead insight projects. Develop briefs, work with research/data partners and manage projects from business question through to recommendation.
• Contribute to the European insight capability development. Lead insight work for the UK while sharing learnings, approaches and best practices across European markets and contributing to a consistent European understanding of consumers, categories and growth opportunities.

Requirements

•  7-10 years of experience in consumer insights, market research, category, analytics, strategy or a related field, ideally within FMCG, food, retail or another consumer- driven business.
• Strong understanding of the UK grocery and retail landscape, with experience working with market, category or retail performance data.
• Strong analytical skills - able to identify meaningful patterns, separate signal from noise, and understand what the data means for the business.
• Genuine interest in consumer and shopper behaviour, with experience using qualitative, quantitative and/or behavioural research to understand needs, motivations, occasions and decision-making.
• Able to move beyond describing what is happening to understand why it is happening, identify opportunities and translate evidence into practical recommendations.
• Comfortable working with research agencies, data providers and other external partners, from defining the business question through to interpreting and applying the results.
• Curious about food, culture, consumers and emerging trends, with the ability to distinguish potentially meaningful shifts from short-lived hype.
• An independent thinker but strong team player - comfortable forming and voicing your own point of view, challenging assumptions constructively, listening to others and supporting the wider team when needed.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to make complex information clear, concise and engaging for different audiences.
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills; experience with data visualisation, analytics tools or Al is an advantage.
• A relevant degree or equivalent experience in marketing, business, economics, psychology, behavioural science, sociology, statistics, market research or another relevant discipline.
• Fluent English proficiency required; right to work in the UK required. Al proficiency is an advantage.

Benefits

• A rare opportunity to help build Samyang Foods UK from the ground up.
• Competitive Salary
• Pension plan
• Vitality Benefit (£50 a month)
• 25 days of paid time off
• Company laptop & phone
• Life insurance
• An international team of highly skilled colleagues
• Professional growth and mentorship as the UK business scales.
• Real ownership, autonomy and the ability to make a visual impact.

Salary

Additional info: If you are excited by the idea of growing an iconic global brand in the UK, thrive in an entrepreneurial environment, and believe in doing business with trust, integrity, collaboration and passion, we would love to hear from you.<br><br><strong>Apply now and help us bring the heat of Buldak to the UK!</strong>