Role Overview
Vision Express is seeking a commercially driven and strategic Category Manager – Lenses to join our team at the store support centre in Ruddington, Nottingham. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone passionate about product strategy, customer experience, and driving business performance. You’ll lead the development and execution of our lens assortment, ensuring a balanced and profitable product portfolio that meets customer needs across the UK Optical retail estate including Vision Express and David Clulow.
Who Are We?
We’re Vision Express – with over 550 stores across the UK and Ireland, we offer a variety of working environments, from vibrant city centre flagships to charming village stores and scenic coastal locations.
We’re proud to be part of the EssilorLuxottica family – the global leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of lenses, frames, and sunglasses. Our portfolio includes iconic brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Costa, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, and Oliver Peoples, alongside over 20 prestigious licensed brands.
What You’ll Bring to the Team
We’re looking for a strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen and a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach. You’ll have experience in senior retail category roles, ideally within FMCG or an optical environment, and be confident in leading cross-functional teams. Your ability to analyse data, manage supplier relationships, and drive omni-channel growth will be key to your success.
Key Responsibilities
- Range Planning: Drive range and collection planning to deliver a balanced product portfolio aligned with the global EssilorLuxottica strategy.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Supply Chain, Store Operations, Finance Marketing and field teams to optimise product launches, promotional activity, and profitability.
- Trading & Lifecycle Management: Manage the full product lifecycle and drive performance through weekly trading processes.
- Growth Initiatives: Lead key initiatives focused on category growth and effectively manage senior stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and progress tracking.
- Supplier Management: Oversee local supplier relationships and contracts, ensuring consistent delivery and alignment with business expectations.
- Excellence In Store: Strategically develop and enhance the in-store tools (including the Digital Lens Tool) used for dispensing to further our category goals
- New Product Launches: Lead new product introductions, applying strong project management skills to coordinate cross-functional teams, deliver training, and ensure business-wide alignment
- Market Expertise: Proactively review market trends and competitor activity to identify new opportunities and inform strategic decisions.
What We’re Looking For
- Proven leadership and team development skills
- Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities
- Experience with SAP, Excel, and Word
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management
- Personal attributes: empathy, integrity, curiosity, and a collaborative mindset
- Previous experience of working for an optical retailer would be highly advantageous to your application.
Benefits of Working for Vision Express
- Competitive pension scheme
- Life assurance
- Free annual eyewear from day one
- Free parking at our Ruddington head office
- Opportunities to support the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation
- Friends & family discounts
- Employee Assistance Programme offering confidential support
- 33 days annual leave (increasing with service), with the option to buy or sell holiday
- Flexible health benefits including Health Cash Plan, Critical Illness Cover, Dental Plan, and more
- Access to internal communities for collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Lifestyle benefits such as Gymflex, Dining Cards, Discounted Travel Insurance, Experience Days, and Cycle to Work Scheme
- …and much more!