Category Assistant – 12 Month Placement Full Time NEW

We’re looking for our new category assistant to help the category team to see the “what” and the “why” behind the data.

This is a 12-month placement starting in June 2026, ideal for a placement student as part of their sandwich course. And a great place if you are interested in consumer goods, retailers and shopping habits or a career in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry.

First things first, what is ‘category’? A ‘category’ is the fancy term for a group of similar products, like the ice cream category, the cereal category, or our personal favourite – the juice category.

Category management is all about influencing growth by analysing data to understand why people buy a particular category and brand, and how to get them to buy more. At innocent we partner with retailers and influence category growth through our “triple win” approach (great for retailers, great for consumers & great for innocent).

If you have ever wondered what happens to all the information from your loyalty cards, and think you would get a buzz from using data to help answer business questions, this could be the role for you.

As our category assistant you’ll become an expert in juice data, running weekly reports to help us track our sales performance and doing analysis to answer specific business questions, such as what time of year do our drinks perform best and when should we shout about them?

You’ll Have

• Experience in working with Excel: comfortable with pivot tables, formulae and functions. As well as summary table outputs, graphs and merge complex data into clear trends
• Experience with Microsoft PowerPoint: confident to present data in charts and graphs
• Interest in FMCG and demonstrate an aptitude for understanding retail, supplier and shopper dynamics
• Effective prioritisation skills: able to juggle multiple tasks and deliver on time
• Be a good communicator and networker as you’ll need to attend internal meetings to discuss big projects, get a wider business context, and to share some of your work

You’ll Also Have

• Curiosity and a burning desire to find out why
• Strong analytical skills, able to manipulate data easily
• Great attention to detail, accurate information that is totally reliable
• Ability to play as part of a team: you get a buzz from helping others

You’ll Get

• £29,000 a year (the fixed amount for placement)
• To work within a high performing team
• To understand how the business really ticks
• To present in front of different stakeholders and see how your work influences others and makes a difference
• Exposure to some interesting projects.

We want innocent to be a great place to work, so we do lots of stuff to make people feel at home and try to make sure everyone’s career is shaping up the way they want it to. There are plenty of opportunities to have a go at something new or take things further.

In exchange for helping us do business in the right way, you’ll get a solid rewards package that includes a salary (phew), private healthcare, a target-based bonus, and a bunch of other nice things like a day off on your birthday. And yes, you get free smoothies.

We also know that not all our drinkers come from the same background, or think the same – so why should we? At innocent, we want to be a great place to work where a diverse bunch of people from all backgrounds can turn up and thrive. When we hire, we want all the juice, bits, and pulp that make you who you are.

Even if you don’t think you can tick all the boxes, if the job sounds right for you, come and throw your hat in the ring.

Probably best to get your skates on though, as we might close this early if we get loads of applications.