About the role
9 month FTC
Up to £60,000 + Pension + BUPA + ShareSave + 6.6 weeks holiday + Hybrid Working
Southampton, Store Support Office
We believe anyone can improve their home to make life better. From our Southampton Store Support office (SSO) we equip our stores, our people, and our whole business with everything it takes to help our millions of customers create a home they’ll love. Join us as a Category Marketing Manager and you’ll be a big part of this.
Role Purpose: As a Category Marketing Manager at B&Q, you’ll be shaping the future of your category at the heart of one of the UK’s most loved brands. You’ll own the marketing plan for your category end-to-end — balancing immediate trading priorities with long-term growth opportunities. You’ll be the single marketing point of contact for your category, using customer insight and commercial priorities to shape annual marketing plans, set direction, and lead the briefs that bring them to life across channels.
Key responsibilities
- Own and deliver the annual category marketing plan – insight-led, customer-focused, and aligned to business and marketing priorities.
- Lead quarterly reviews of the plan with the category leadership team and MLT, ensuring objectives are met, insights embedded, and forward plans adapted.
- Act as single point of contact for all category marketing activity – shaping initiatives, managing trade-offs, and ensuring seamless execution across channels.
- Champion customer insight and category expertise – becoming the authority on customer behaviours, needs, and perceptions within your category.
- Brief and lead cross-functional teams – setting clear direction for creative, channels, and agencies, ensuring consistency and integration across touchpoints.
- Balance trading needs and brand building – delivering short-term sales-driving initiatives alongside longer-term growth priorities.
- Maximise vendor-led and retail media opportunities – working closely with commercial and retail media teams to enhance plans.
- Simplify and prioritise – making clear recommendations, driving decisions, and removing duplication in campaign planning.
- Lead cross-category initiatives where relevant (e.g., Prices Nailed, Special Buys) to ensure integrated delivery.
- Report performance and share learnings – providing clear analysis and recommendations to senior stakeholders
Required skills & experience
- Significant marketing experience, ideally within retail or FMCG.
- Proven track record of building and delivering annual marketing plans, and large-scale, multi-channel campaigns.
- Strong commercial acumen with ability to link insight and activity to business performance.
- Exceptional communicator – able to inspire, influence, and challenge senior stakeholders.
- Highly customer-focused, always keeping customer needs at the heart of campaign and trading decisions.
- Skilled at balancing strategy and execution – from big-picture planning to operational detail.
- Strong project management skills — comfortable juggling multiple priorities, adapting plans at pace, and holding teams to account to deliver.
- Collaborative and resilient, thriving in a dynamic retail environment.
- Continuous improvement mindset — always looking for opportunities to simplify ways of working, sharpen processes, and drive greater efficiency.
What's in it for me?
As part of a great team, you’ll be valued for who you are. We’re committed to making B&Q more diverse and representative of the communities we serve, where everyone can feel they belong and have equal opportunities. You will have access to a range of networks that represent our colleagues and allies and help us to continue to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business.
We also recognise that wellness means different things to different people, and we want to help colleagues be at their best and feel well by offering a range of benefits to help you. As well as a competitive salary, our benefits package includes an award-winning pension scheme, bonus, ShareSave options, 6.6 weeks holiday, payroll giving, an Employee Assistance Programme, shopping discounts, colleague wellbeing benefits and lots more!
So we can support you during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk for any recruitment adjustments.
We want to ensure that all employees, future employees and applicants to all Kingfisher companies are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
If you require any additional support or adjustments to help you make an application, please contact us at recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk.
Rewards &
benefits
Discount card
The one we all love! Get 20% discount on your purchases at B&Q in-store and online, after you've been with us for 3 months.
Share schemes
Share in the success you help create. With our shareplans, from just £5 per month, you can build up a savings pot, or use what you save to be a Kingfisher share holder.
Life assurance
If the worst should happen, Life Assurance ensures those close to you have some protection.
Employee assistance programme
We offer free and confidential support and counselling to help you through matters such as wellbeing, divorce, legal, and financial management.
Salary/Bonus
We offer competitive salaries for all roles, and benchmark them, to ensure that we’re getting it right. And, as we value the contribution of all our colleagues equally, whether they are 17 or 70, our rates of pay for each job is the same.
Pension
You’ll have access to the award-winning Kingfisher Pension Scheme, and we’ll put money in alongside your savings too.
Medical
We have a number of medical benefits available depending on your role to help you and your family look after yourselves.
Leave
All work and no play is no fun! So, you can enjoy 6.6 weeks' leave, plus we'll reward you with additional leave and cash rewards to celebrate long service anniversaries and milestone years.
Flexible working
The chance to achieve more balance between work and your other commitments.
Shopping discounts
Take advantage of fantastic discounts on loads of products and services, just for being a B&Q colleague!
Gym discounts
We have a network of over 3,300 health clubs offering discounts to colleagues and their partners of up to 25% on self-paid gym memberships.
Eye care
If you use a computer regularly for work, then we pay for your eye test
every two years. If you do require glasses, then you’ll also get £49/€69 towards single focal lenses and frames too.
Cycling to work scheme
Whether you are thinking green, trying to get fit or saving money, our cycle to work scheme helps colleagues spread the cost and save money on any bike and safety equipment through salary sacrifice.
Long service
Just like most families, we like to celebrate anniversaries and milestone years. For every 10 years up to 40 years’ service we give extra annual leave and a cash payment.
Training &
development
Learn & Develop at B&Q
When you join B&Q, we want you to be all you can be. From the minute you walk through our doors to the exciting moment you make that next career move, we're here to help you make the most of every opportunity. Thanks to our friendly learning system, Leo, we make sure you always have the support you need to take on every challenge and fit your learning around your life. Here, we know that the best way to grow is together.
Flexible learning with Leo
Leo is your every day, on the go learning and development partner. Helping you build the knowledge you need now and in the future. With Leo, you can access training and content, anywhere, anytime and on any device. You can even influence the type of training on offer by rating and recommending content, and letting us know what we can do to improve. Award-winning and featuring over 150 different learning activities - like short videos, articles, workshops and webinars - think of Leo as your 24/7 training pal, designed to help you make the most of your B&Q career journey.
Developing in role
Learning never stops at B&Q. Whether you've been in your role for one day or five years, there's always something to be curious about. It's why we're always creating learning opportunities and experiences that'll give you the chance to develop your skills. Like our First Line Manager programme: a course that helps our newest line managers build their confidence and management skills. Or our Leadership Development programme that challenges our more experienced leaders to reflect on and adapt their approach for our ever-evolving ways of working.
Building expertise and know-how
We believe anyone can learn the technical skills to do their job with excellence. It's all about attitude and behaviour here. So, if you're passionate about customer service and design, we'll teach you how to create beautiful kitchens. If you're someone who loves being outdoors, we'll help you learn about our garden ranges. And, if you're someone who just loves what we do but doesn't know where to start, we'll help you find the perfect role for you to grow into.
Accelerated Development Talent Programmes
Whatever goal you're working to at B&Q, we want to help you get there. We do this by designing a number of programmes which help you to practice your skills and learn new ones, gain valuable experiences, learn from others and jump on opportunities that are right for you. From leaders taking their first steps into management to those simply looking for a new challenge, we're there to make sure you achieve your ambitions.
Induction
At B&Q, we want every new colleague to understand our values, our customers, and how we work together to achieve our purpose. That’s why we’ve designed an induction programme that’ll give you real insight into our business, our culture and help you feel included from day one. For your first few weeks on the job you’ll work with your team and line manager, mixing online learning with practical tasks, to grow your knowledge a little every day.
Explore our
store support office
Facilities
In B&Q house, you’ll enjoy an onsite gym, a subsidised Costa, a canteen and restaurant, prayer room, plus open plan and cosy work spaces, an outdoor picnic area, and bike sheds for those who cycle in.
Sustainability
B&Q House has a biomass boiler, solar panels and a rainwater harvesting system. Our building also makes use of upcycled and recycled furniture and fittings, and features natural ventilation, heat retention and CO2 management, all via our very own weather station on the roof.
Why
choose us?
Why Marketing & PR at B&Q?
With three million customers coming through our doors every single week we need to know how to excite and inspire them so they return to us time and time again. Luckily, our Marketing team know everything there is to know about how to deliver the best B&Q experience, offline and online too.
Why B&QReady to apply?
Step 1:
Apply via bandqcareers.com
Step 2:
We'll contact you for a phone interview
Step 3:
We’ll carry out a face to face or online interview (and we may request a 2nd interview if the role you're applying for is more complex).
Step 4:
We’ll contact you with feedback, and maybe even a job offer.
Check out our FAQs for more information about interviewing at B&Q.