Category Manager- Produce

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
• Owes 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
• Promotes 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
• 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
• Partners 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 resultsof 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

Requirements

• 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
• 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 an normal workday
• Stooping, bending, twisting and reaching may be required in completion of job duties

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