Category Manager, Body Jewelry

About the role

The Category Manager, Body Jewelry & Piercing serves as the category expert and strategic business leader responsible for driving growth, innovation, profitability, and portfolio performance across BAA's body jewelry brands. Reporting to the Director of Product Development, this role will own the category roadmap, lead new product initiatives, optimize product assortments, identify emerging opportunities, and ensure the portfolio remains aligned with customer needs and industry trends.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute comprehensive category strategies that drive revenue growth, increase market share, and improve profitability.
• Create and manage short and long-term category roadmaps aligned with company objectives, customer demand, and emerging industry trends.
• Define and execute brand-specific strategies for Anatometal, NeoMetal, Tilum, Painful Pleasures, and future portfolio brands.
• Identify opportunities for category expansion, assortment growth, new product development, and market differentiation.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on body jewelry, piercing trends, customer behavior, and competitive activity.
• Build business cases and strategic recommendations for new product launches, assortment expansion, and portfolio investments.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance category performance and operational effectiveness.
• Own and drive the end-to-end product development roadmap from concept through commercialization.
• Lead the development of new products, collections, materials, finishes, exclusive designs, and innovation initiatives.
• Partner with internal development teams and external vendors to identify opportunities that strengthen BAA's competitive position.
• Develop comprehensive product briefs outlining customer needs, market opportunity, pricing strategy, material requirements, design direction, technical specifications, and competitive positioning.
• Lead category participation in the New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) process to ensure successful product launches.
• Evaluate product opportunities through customer insights, market research, financial analysis, and competitive benchmarking.
• Establish launch success metrics and monitor product performance post-launch.
• Manage the full product lifecycle from product introduction through end-of-life decisions.
• Curate and optimize category assortments to maximize sales, profitability, inventory productivity, and customer satisfaction.
• Identify assortment gaps, duplication, underperforming SKUs, and opportunities for portfolio expansion.
• Develop pricing strategies that balance market competitiveness, profitability, and customer value.
• Manage the complexity of large SKU portfolios across gauges, lengths, diameters, materials, finishes, threading systems, and jewelry styles.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Inventory Planning teams to maintain appropriate inventory levels and product availability.
• Drive SKU rationalization initiatives while preserving assortment depth in strategic product segments.
• Partner with Marketing, Ecommerce, Sales, Operations, Manufacturing, Finance, Inventory Planning, and Product Development teams to execute category strategies.
• Support product launches through merchandising, promotional planning, content creation, and go-to-market execution.
• Ensure product listings contain accurate specifications, technical information, attributes, imagery, and educational content.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Creative teams to develop product education materials, brand training resources, and customer-facing content.
• Support Sales teams with category insights, product knowledge, competitive positioning, and customer training.
• Act as a key liaison between internal teams and external manufacturing and vendor partners.
• Analyze customer purchasing behavior, sales trends, market feedback, and product performance data.
• Gather and synthesize feedback from professional piercers, studio owners, distributors, and end consumers.
• Identify opportunities to improve the customer experience through assortment improvements, product innovation, educational content, and service enhancements.
• Use customer insights to guide assortment planning, product development priorities, and category strategy.
• Establish and monitor category KPIs, performance metrics, and growth targets.
• Analyze sales, profitability, inventory productivity, new product performance, and customer adoption trends.
• Measure ROI on new product investments and category initiatives.
• Prepare and present category reviews, business updates, and strategic recommendations to leadership.
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities through data analysis and translate findings into actionable plans.
• Drive accountability for category performance against sales, profitability, innovation, and operational objectives.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Merchandising, Product Development, or a related field.
• 5 to 8+ years of experience in Category Management, Product Management, Merchandising, Product Development, Brand Management, or a related discipline.
• Proven experience developing and executing successful category growth strategies.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate data into actionable business decisions.
• Advanced analytical capabilities with proficiency in Microsoft Excel and business intelligence tools such as Power BI.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Demonstrated success working cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience partnering with vendors, manufacturers, and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Experience within the professional body jewelry, piercing, jewelry, fashion accessories, or adjacent specialty consumer product industries.
• Knowledge of implant-grade materials, ASTM standards, ISO certifications, and APP guidelines.
• Experience managing large SKU portfolios and complex product assortments.
• Experience with product lifecycle management, NPDI processes, and commercialization strategies.
• Familiarity with ecommerce, wholesale distribution, and omnichannel retail environments.
• Experience working with ERP, PLM, or product management systems.
• MBA or advanced degree is a plus.