At Pet Circle, we believe pets deserve the very best, and the people who love them deserve a better way to care for them. Since 2011, we've grown from that single idea into Australia's biggest online pet retailer, with around 500 Pet Circlers across Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, reshaping how pet parents discover, choose and receive what their pets need.

Pet care is a $15 billion industry in Australia, and as pet ownership continues to grow, so do the expectations of modern pet parents. They want expert advice, personalised experiences, convenience and reliability, all delivered seamlessly. That's where we come in. We're building the future of pet care through technology, innovation and a deep understanding of what pets and their people need. It's a big opportunity, and we're only just scratching the surface.

The opportunity

Food is the backbone of a pet's life, and the category that anchors customer loyalty and drives the commercial engine of the business. As Category Manager for Food at Pet Circle, you'll own the full P&L for one of Australia's most competitive and commercially significant pet categories: from the terms you negotiate with major suppliers to the assortment you curate, the pricing you set, and the promotional investment you deploy.

This is a role for someone who is genuinely commercial. You read a P&L, you understand what drives margin, and you make decisions that grow profit, not just revenue. You bring a clear point of view to supplier negotiations, you challenge cost price increases with data, and you hold partners accountable to the commitments they make.

What you’ll be working on

Category strategy and planning

• Set a clear strategy for your categories, aligned to the Director's direction and company targets.

• Define goals across revenue, margin and profit, track performance against them, and bring a clear so-what to every piece of analysis: the insight, the recommendation, and the actions that follow.

Commercial and margin management

• Own pricing execution for your categories, including price matching and promotional pricing, and assess the impact of price changes on volume, revenue and margin.

• Take full accountability for category margin and profitability, not only revenue.

• Manage promotional investment for return: assess the commercial impact, reallocate spend toward what works, and cut what doesn't.

Supplier terms and trading

• Own the terms structure for your suppliers, including trading terms, rebates and growth incentives.

• Critically assess supplier cost price increases, challenge them with data, and manage their impact on margin and retail price.

• Build joint business plans with major suppliers, assess their performance through the year, and hold suppliers to the agreed investment and outcomes.

• Lead negotiations for your categories and own the commercial result.

Range and assortment

• Run regular range reviews and rationalisation, making clear calls on what to grow, hold or exit on a customer-first and commercial basis.

• Manage the product lifecycle from launch to exit, keeping the Food assortment relevant, competitive and profitable.

Market and competitor intelligence

• Conduct regular competitor analysis across range, pricing and promotion to find opportunities and close gaps.

Cross-functional collaboration

• Work with Marketing, Planning, Pricing, Finance and Category Operations to execute the plan and drive growth.

• Brief the wider category team with clear direction on data, analysis and execution.

What we're looking for

• Commercial acumen: you understand the drivers of margin and make decisions that grow profit.

• Analytical rigour: you interrogate performance data, run range reviews and price models, build a driver tree, and turn analysis into clear recommendations.

• Negotiation capability: you structure and negotiate terms, assess CPIs with evidence, and own the outcome.

• Ownership: you take full accountability for your categories and the levers that drive them.

• Strong relationships: you build trust with suppliers and cross-functional partners, and you hold them to commitments.

• You've started using AI in your work and you're keen to do more. We're building AI into how we work, so we're looking for genuine curiosity and a bit of a track record.

Where you'll work

This is a Sydney-based role. Our office sits on top of Wynyard station, it's pet-friendly (of course), and we work flexibly, a mix of office and home (teams are typically in the office 3-5 days per week). We believe spending time together in person is important for building strong relationships, collaborating effectively, moving quickly as a team, and having fun!

A few good things

• Heaps of development opportunities - lunch & learns, secondments & unlimited learning courses via Go1

• Flexible working environment

• Up to 50% employee discount

• Product sample giveaways

• Pawrental leave and wellbeing leave

• Volunteer days for the causes you care about

• Fitness corporate partnership

Why you'll want in

Looking after pets, and the pet parents who love them, is what gets us out of bed. That energy carries into how we work, and into what your days here would feel like.

You'll own your patch and have the room to act on it. We move fast and decide fast, and we'd rather test an idea and learn from it than sit on it. You'll have rich, real-time data at your fingertips to back your thinking, and the freedom to chase an opportunity the moment you spot one. The best idea wins, wherever it comes from.

What holds it together is what we stand for:

• We're better together

• We operate with humble hearts and hungry minds

• Pets matter, so pets and pet parents always have a seat at our table

• We're instinctively curious. Always

Everyone (& their pets) Welcome

We're better when we don't all think the same. Different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences make our work sharper and our days more interesting, so whoever you are, if this role excites you we'd love to hear from you, even if you don't tick every box. And if you need anything adjusted in the process to do your best, just say the word, we're happy to help.