Category Development Manager

Why join us?

Founded in Copenhagen in 2002 with the ambition of creating contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories for modern living, HAY’s vision is to create high-quality and well-designed products in collaboration with some of the world’s most talented, curious, and courageous designers. Through the commitment to sophisticated industrial manufacturing processes, HAY strives to make good design accessible to the widest possible audience.

CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (MATERNITY COVER)
Based out of Copenhagen

Are you passionate about design and do you have an analytical mindset? Are you an experienced project manager? Would you like to work for an international design company, world renowned for beautiful and affordable products?

If yes, please read on!

At our office facilities in the heart of Copenhagen, you will become part of a modern company with a unique and social internal culture, which we do our best to nurture and cherish. You will become a part of our Category Furniture team and be reporting directly to our Head of Category Furniture. The position is a maternity cover starting from March 2025, or as soon as possible hereafter, and lasting 10-12 months.
 

About the job

As a Category Development Manager for Furniture at HAY, you will be working closely together with the Head of Category Furniture as well as your colleagues in the Furniture Product Development department, our Category Buyers and the Design team. You will also have a close cooperation with Sales, Product & Wholesale Marketing and Brand & Communication.

Your primary role is to ensure the successful launch readiness of new projects and drive continuous assortment optimization within the existing portfolio. You will take ownership of specific areas of the process, serving as a key advisor and sparring partner to the Head of Category Furniture.

More specifically, your tasks will include:

• Responsible for running the Furniture Launch process incl. finetuning set-up and processes, facilitate identification of interdependencies and running core team meetings
• Lead the development of Project Briefs for new launches
• Run Product data workstream as part of Furniture launch process
• Responsible for driving the yearly assortment optimization process incl. stakeholder management and communication
• Ongoing PLC management and understanding of product performance
• Develop principles for driving complexity reduction in the overall assortment
• Ongoing sparring with Design on pipeline based on product, market and customer insights.
• Support the development and track implementation of category/product family strategies incl. roadmaps for Line extensions together with Head of Category Furniture and with participation from Product Development, category buyers, marketing, and sales

Are you the Category Development Manager we are looking for?

Role expectations

• Passion for Furniture Design: You have a genuine interest in furniture and design trends, bringing insight and enthusiasm to the category
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: You are able to act as a central liaison between design, product development, marketing, supply chain, and sales teams to streamline processes, resolve challenges, and ensure alignment on project goals and timelines
• Inspiring Leadership: You naturally lead with a style that motivates others and fosters a collaborative team environment
• Strategic and Data-Driven: You excel in strategic thinking and data analysis, turning insights into concrete actions that drive results
• Organized and Detail-Oriented: You manage your own tasks with precision, adhering to deadlines through structured and meticulous planning
• Proactive and Self-Motivated: You work autonomously, proactively driving initiatives forward
• Global Perspective: you are comfortable and effective in an international organization, adapting to diverse teams and environments

Experience required

• Have at least 5 years’ relevant experience from a similar position – preferably within the furniture design industry, and desirably from a global company with a large product portfolio
• Have a degree within Industrial Design, Project Management, Business Administration or equivalent
• Have strong communication, presenting, and relationship-building skills
• Experience with PowerBI preferred
• Are a super user of Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Have a digital mindset
• It is a requirement that your English and Danish language skills are fluent in both spoken and written, since HAY is a part of an international design world within the MillerKnoll Group

You want to be a part of HAY?

Then do not hesitate to send us your application and CV as soon as possible and no later than Sunday 5 January 2024. We evaluate candidates on an ongoing basis.

If you have any further questions regarding the position, please do not hesitate to contact John Cain at [email protected].

Who We Hire?
Simply put, we hire everyone. HAY is comprised of people of all abilities, gender identities and expressions, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, veterans from every branch of military service, and more. Here, you can bring your whole self to work. We’re committed to equal opportunity employment, including veterans and people with disabilities.

MillerKnoll complies with applicable disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact MillerKnoll Talent Acquisition at [email protected].