Category Manager

Purpose

Strategically manages categories and negotiates to increase sales, gross dollars, market share versus prior year, and meet or exceed projected numbers. Recommends pricing, promotion, assortment and shelf planograms for each assigned category, based on detailed analysis of past performance and results, industry best practices, and consumer trends.

Responsibilities

• Drives sales, sets a vision, and executes necessary steps for category success
• Owns vendor relationship as a primary contact by maintaining quality relations and meeting on a consistent basis for growth results, negotiate future planning, range assortment, and understanding of industry trends
• Manages P&L, monitoring and recommending prices, to obtain the most aggressive price in the market
• Works closely with partner functions (sourcing, replenishment, supply chain etc.) and communicates category and promotional plans to ensure desired service levels and the optimum inventory position achieved
• Owns cross functional work with a wide variety of teams such as replenishment, suppliers, branding, and others to fulfill objectives and responsibilities of full ownership to assigned items
• Partners with promotional team on creation and implementation of a promotional calendar by major category and in tracking results at the end of each promotion in terms of sales, P&L share growth, or contribution
• Collaborates with Space Planning team for POGs, attentive to advertisements, keeping foot traffic in mind
• Drives product development through understanding market quality of both national and private brand, maintains private brand and product quality, and identifies need (or lack of need) for private brand products
• Owns the assortment planning process by making logical recommendations of new items entering the market and discontinuing lines based on potential contribution to the category strategies and department
• Takes ownership in working with the Quality Assurance team to determine the right quality specs and specify composition and sensory requirements of products
• Holds supplier accountable to continually provide the negotiated quality within agreement terms
• Collaborates with analysts and finance and analyzes category through measurement of total contribution to the entire department, previous results, and market trends to create a yearly category business plan
• Acts as expert on assigned items with understanding of ingredients, commodity impacts, and packaging costs
• Held accountable for gross profit projections at the category level, rolling up to department projections quarterly, monthly, and yearly
• Partner with promotional planning and space planning teams to recommend ads and displays in support of the category plans and total department initiatives for stores
• Visits competition as well as markets, stores, and distribution centers as necessary to observe results of product lines and communicate knowledge of competitive products, performance, and business trends
• Ensures all items are in effective and efficient display cases for supply chains and stores
• Pro-actively recognizes issues, defines customer-focused solutions, leads cross functional teams to define actions that will sustainably drive results, and presents strategy to line manager or above
• Initiates and follow through on personnel actions such as interviewing and providing input used in hiring decisions, and/or providing feedback on performance standards
• Maintains formal and informal channels of upward communication; encourage the expression of new ideas, suggestions, and complaints; review them for appropriateness and further action
• Performs other duties as assigned

About You

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing or related field and/or 3-5 years of relevant retail experience
• 3-5 years relevant business experience where a solid understanding of marketing, merchandising, Consumer research and financial management practices have been gained
• Solid financial, mathematical, statistical, marketing, merchandising, and consumer research background to read, interpret, and understand how internal and external factors influence financial results
• In-depth understanding of store operations and merchandising methodologies and practices, including P&L and financial management
• Familiarity with Category Business Planning or ability to learn
• Ability to read and interpret P&L statement and understand how the categories managed are affected
• Exceptional skills in negotiation, influencing, analyzing problems and decisions, and taking initiative
• Interpersonal skills to build rapport, network, and maintain effective business relationships within and outside the company
• Strategy development skills with the ability to manage short-term goals to meet long-term initiatives.
• Proficient in MS Excel and MS PowerPoint
• Understanding of procurement, logistics, inventory management

Physical Requirements

• Ability to travel up to ~10% of the time, which may include weekends and evenings, as needed
• Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled environment
• Incumbent may sit for long periods of time at a desk or computer terminal
• Incumbent may use calculators, keyboards, telephone and other office equipment in the course of anormal workday
• Stooping, bending, twisting and reaching may be required incompletion of job duties

Our Values

Ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our workplace values.

Simplicity (operate) – the drive to identify root cause and innovate to remove complexity to deliver the best outcome

Heart (emotion) – the passion that drives you to get up every day and work hard to strive for excellence

Performance Excellence (mindset) – clearly defining high expectations, driving ownership of key roles and responsibilities, executing with integrity and emphasis while creating a culture of accountability

Respect (philosophy) – taking pride in being inclusive and treating everyone who comes through the doors with respect

Benefits

• 401K company match up to 4%
• Paid Time Off
• Medical Insurance options including FSA & HSA
• Vision Insurance
• Dental insurance
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Team Member Referral Program
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Wellbeing Program
• Career development opportunities

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by the employees assigned to this job. All employees must comply with Company policy and applicable laws. The responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified may vary within each department and /or location.