Category & Enablement Lead
Are you driven by commercial growth, category development, and business optimization? Do you enjoy turning data into insights, building strong supplier relationships, and improving processes that support business performance? If so, this could be your next career opportunity.
At DS Smith, we are looking for a Category & Enablement Lead to join our Packaging Services team and play a key role in supporting our growth ambitions across North Europe.
The Role
As Category & Enablement Lead, you will combine commercial responsibility with operational excellence. Working closely with Sales, Sourcing, IT, suppliers and other key stakeholders, you will help shape and execute category strategies while ensuring that the systems, data, and processes supporting the business are effective and fit for purpose.
A significant part of your role will involve developing and managing our product portfolio. You will analyze market trends, customer insights, and sales data to identify opportunities for growth, optimize product assortments, and support pricing and promotional activities. You will also coordinate product launches, ensuring that commercial teams have the training, information and tools they need to succeed.
In addition, you will take ownership of key enablement activities within the business. You will oversee ERP-related processes, ensure high-quality and compliant data management, develop meaningful reports and insights, and work closely with users and IT teams to drive continuous improvements. Through your efforts, you will help create greater efficiency, support decision-making, and enable sustainable business growth.
Success in this role requires strong collaboration skills. You will build productive relationships with suppliers to ensure excellent support, quality and service levels, while also partnering internally across functions to deliver business objectives and improve ways of working.
About You
You are a commercially minded professional with strong analytical capabilities and a natural ability to connect strategy with execution. You are comfortable working with data, systems, and multiple stakeholders, and you enjoy identifying opportunities to improve performance and efficiency.
To succeed in this role, you will likely bring:
- A university degree or equivalent professional experience.
- At least five years of experience within sales, category management, portfolio management, or a similar commercial environment.
- Leadership experience and the ability to influence and engage stakeholders across different functions.
- Experience working with Excel, SAP, reporting tools, and business data.
- Strong communication, planning, and problem-solving skills.
- A continuous improvement mindset and a passion for delivering results.
Why Join DS Smith?
DS Smith is a leading provider of sustainable packaging solutions, committed to innovation, customer focus, and continuous improvement. We offer a collaborative environment where talented people can grow their careers while making a meaningful impact on our business and sustainability ambitions. The position comes with a salary that reflects your qualifications and a benefits package.
Interested?
If you would like to learn more about the position, please feel free to contact Interim Category & Sourcing Manager, North EMEA Tom Johnsson on e-mail: [email protected]
We look forward to receiving your CV.
Interviews will be conducted on an ongoing basis until the right candidate has been found.
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Skills Required
- University degree or equivalent professional experience
- At least five years of experience in sales, category management, portfolio management, or a similar commercial environment
- Leadership experience and ability to influence and engage stakeholders across functions
- Experience with Excel, SAP, reporting tools, and business data
- Strong communication, planning, and problem-solving skills
- Continuous improvement mindset and passion for delivering results
DS Smith Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about DS Smith and has not been reviewed or approved by DS Smith.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered okay to good across many roles, with some plants indicating competitive or above‑market hourly rates for operators and similar positions. This supports a broadly fair perception of base pay even as experiences vary by site.
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Healthcare Strength — U.S. offerings include day‑one medical/vision and dental, employer HSA contributions, and 100% company‑paid life and short/long‑term disability, alongside an EAP. Some role descriptions also highlight mental‑health and fertility options.
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Retirement Support — Packages commonly reference a 401(k) with company match and, in some locations, pension eligibility or company‑funded retirement contributions. This positions retirement benefits as a meaningful component of total rewards.
DS Smith Insights
What We Do
DS Smith provides innovative packaging solutions, paper products and recycling services with a commitment to sustainability and a circular economy. Our core purpose is to Redefine Packaging for a Changing World, and our expert teams work closely with like-minded partners to incorporate renewable resources for products that minimize our environmental impact, reduce complexity and increase profitability through supply chain optimization
