Category Manager

Position Summary

The Category Manager is a cross-functional role that owns product category performance by integrating demand planning, inventory strategy, and commercial insights to drive sales, margin, and inventory productivity. The role is responsible for aligning forecasting, channel allocation, retail replenishment and key merchandising initiatives to support overall commercial goals.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Shape seasonal assortment strategies, including SKU productivity, lifecycle management, and line architecture for owned categories
• Own category-level performance including sales, inventory productivity, and sell-through; proactively identify risks and opportunities and drive action plans
• Develop and maintain category-level financial plans (revenue, margin, inventory) aligned to company targets
• Analyze category performance across channels and recommend actions to optimize mix, depth, and timing
• Drive decisions on new product introductions, discontinuations, and lifecycle transitions based on performance insights
• Act as the central point of view on category health, synthesizing inputs from Merchandising, Sales, Marketing, and Planning
• Develop, manage, and continuously improve demand forecasts at the SKU, category, and channel levels to support financial and category plans
• Translate forecasts into actionable inputs for inventory planning, production planning, and purchasing
• Support S&OP processes by preparing demand plans, assumptions, and scenario analyses
• Maintain and enhance forecasting tools, models, reporting, and processes
• Prepare clear reporting and insights for leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
• Oversee allocation of inventory by channel and retail location in alignment with demand plans and approved strategies
• Determine and manage retail replenishment parameters (safety stock) by SKU by store based on historical analysis, seasonal builds, and visual strategy
• Collaborate with Merchandising, Product Development, Retail, and Visual Merchandising to ensure allocations align with GTM plans and seasonal assortment strategies
• Monitor sales trends and weeks of supply to proactively adjust retail replenishment levels
• Lead project management of key merchandising initiatives
• Build and manage project plans, timelines, dependencies, and risk mitigation strategies
• Ensure alignment across Merchandising, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Retail, and Operation
• Communicate progress and drive accountability to ensure initiatives are executed accurately, on time, and with minimal disruption

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Supply Chain, Business, Analytics, Economics, or related field
• 2-5 years of experience in category management
• Experience owning or influencing category-level strategy and financial performance (sales, margin, inventory)
• Strong business acumen with understanding of pricing, assortment strategy, and product lifecycle management
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills with the ability to interpret large data sets
• Demonstrated ability to translate data into commercial recommendations and business decisions
• 3+ years project management experience working with cross-functional teams
• Advanced proficiency in Excel
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Qualifications Desired

• Luxury retail experience preferred
• Experience with ERP and demand planning tools preferred