Category Manager, Small Format

Do you love snacks? Are you looking to join an ever-evolving and rapidly growing team? At PIM Brands, we make the brands you love. Our portfolio includes Welch’s® Fruit Snacks, Sun-Maid® Chocolate Raisins, and Sour Jacks® Sour Candies, enjoyed by millions of consumers daily. We seek talented, results-oriented individuals to help build amazing brands in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-paced environment.

About the Role

The Category Manager drives category growth and strengthens partnerships with key retail customers by leveraging shopper, consumer, and syndicated data to identify opportunities that increase sales, distribution, and assortment performance. Working closely with Sales, Marketing, Insights, and customers, this role translates market trends and business performance into actionable strategies and recommendations. The ideal candidate is a collaborative, analytical, and results-driven professional who influences decision-making through insights and category expertise.

Responsibilities

• Category Leadership & Customer Development
  • Develop and execute category growth strategies for assigned customers and channels
  • Provide category expertise and insights to support customer business reviews, line reviews, assortment decisions, and merchandising initiatives
  • Partner with Sales teams to identify and capture revenue and profit opportunities
  • Build trusted relationships with retail customers, brokers, and cross-functional business partners
  • Serve as the category thought leader for fruit snacks, confectionery, and adjacent snacking categories
• Analytics & Insights
  • Leverage syndicated data sources, retailer POS, shopper insights, and internal sales data to identify actionable opportunities
  • Analyze sales performance, market trends, consumer behavior, and competitive activity to develop strategic recommendations
  • Conduct assortment, distribution, pricing, shelving, and promotional analyses
  • Identify whitespace opportunities through gap analyses and category assessments
  • Translate complex data into concise, compelling business recommendations
• Strategic Planning
  • Develop annual category and customer situation assessments to support strategic planning and brand growth initiatives
  • Create customer-specific category playbooks highlighting assortment opportunities, merchandising recommendations, placement strategies, and promotional best practices
  • Partner with Marketing and Insights teams to integrate consumer and shopper learnings into category strategies
  • Support innovation launches through category sizing, placement recommendations, and retailer sell-in materials
• Presentation & Communication
  • Develop and deliver impactful presentations communicating trends, opportunities, and recommendations for internal leadership, sales teams, brokers, and retail customers
  • Lead category reviews, business reviews, and insight-based selling presentations
• Cross-Function Collaboration
  • Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Revenue Growth Management, Supply Chain, and Consumer Insights teams to align priorities and drive execution

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Statistics, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in Category Management, Sales Analytics, Consumer Insights, Shopper Marketing, Marketing, or related CPG disciplines
• Experience supporting retail customers within the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry
• Demonstrated success using data and insights to influence business decisions and drive category growth
• Strong expertise with syndicated data platforms, including NielsenIQ, Circana (IRI), and/or 84.51°
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including complex formulas, pivot tables, and data analysis
• Exceptional PowerPoint and presentation development capabilities
• Familiarity with planogram software and space management tools preferred
• Knowledge of Power BI, Tableau, or other business intelligence tools is a plus
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of data into meaningful insights and strategic recommendations
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills
• Strong business acumen with an understanding of consumer and retail dynamics
• Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Self-motivated with a strong bias for action and results
• Collaborative team player with exceptional interpersonal skills

Schedule

• On-site at PIM Brands Global Headquarters in Park Ridge, New Jersey: Monday through Friday
• Remote work once per month on a Friday
• Summer Fridays between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend

Pay

The pay range for this position is $120,000.00–$150,000.00. PIM Brands considers a wide range of factors in making compensation decisions, including skill sets, experience, training, and other business and organizational needs.

Benefits

• Total compensation package including bonus, 401(k) plan match, and other incentives (based on eligibility and position)
• Comprehensive benefits package effective day one, including medical, dental, vision, and disability insurance plans
• Diverse range of benefit choices tailored to support personal and family needs
• Personal time off, vacation time, floating days, and observed holidays
• Business casual dress
• Entrepreneurial and innovative culture with opportunities for internal career advancement

PIM Brands has received numerous awards and accolades, including:

• Best Places to Work in NJ 2025
• Top 50 Employer in New Jersey
• #10 Candy Company in North America
• #26 Global Candy Company
• Makers of Welch’s #1 Fruit Snack in the U.S. (2024)
• Advocate of the Year Award (2024)
• Recognized by NJBIA for state-of-the-art manufacturing and research/development facilities (2024)
• Recognized by New Jersey Business Magazine (2024)
• Top 100 Privately Owned Company in the Metro NYC Market (2024)