Category Manager

Are you an experienced and data-driven retail merchant looking to make your mark with an established yet growing retailer? Fleet Farm may be the perfect match for you

The Category Manager is responsible for developing, sourcing, pricing and merchandising a group of products for catalog, internet and sales promotions that meet the merchandising objectives of the company. Provides merchandise assortments that continually increase company revenues and profitability that achieve all assigned category goals and objectives.

1. Plan, develop, and recommend sales, gross profit level, inventory control, and merchandise turnover objectives for the assigned department(s) and item(s).
2. Develop and recommend merchandising, display, advertising, distribution, packaging and sales plans and programs for assigned items and merchandise departments.
3. Negotiate buying contracts on categories or subsets of categories.
4. Analyze market, competitive, and customer perception data, and provides recommendations regarding price levels.
5. Review and analyze historical and YTD category performance data. Recommend performance goals for categories, and manage category performance
6. Work closely with Store Operations and Planogramming to build and review category insights. Utilizes data to make recommendations on planograms, promotional programs, merchandising assortment, forecasts, and other key category initiatives. Takes the initiative to elicit insights from data and recommend programs to division leadership.
7. Develop an understanding of Fleet Farm’s private brands, including assortment and projected sales forecasts, gross profit level, and merchandising and promotional programs. Project sales forecasts and gross profit levels within the assigned categories.
8. Continuously acquire and retain product knowledge through the research of specific items and product categories.
9. Work with Inventory Management to ensure that stock is being ordered for promotional plans as well as day-to-day stock.
10. Define long term category visions and category strategies that provide the framework for all category management deliverables in Fleet Farm.
11. Drive assortment management and define core assortment by category. Provide unbiased recommendations on optimal category assortment to the retailer based on clear understanding of product, segment performance and current/ anticipated category trends. Track distribution performance
12. Identify, prioritize and execute category projects that embed the category strategy and will unlock category growth.
13. Leverage strong relationship building skills and excellent communication skills to influence key stakeholders.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of experience required.
• 3-5 years of related experience required.
• Experience with retail environment preferred.
• Experience working with P&L concepts – revenue, cogs, gross profit margin, operating expenses and income.
• Knowledge of customer centric retailing principles and the analytics of customer purchase behavior.
• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent computer skills, with MS Office Applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.