Director, Category Leadership, Walmart

Key Responsibilities

• Utilize Power BI, Alteryx, AI-enabled capabilities, Excel, and other analytics tools to analyze complex data sets, build dashboards, automate recurring reporting, and deliver clear visuals for customer-facing stakeholders.
• Collect, clean, combine, and maintain data to ensure accuracy and reliability across reporting and analysis. Leverage Walmart Scintilla, Nielsen, Numerator, shopper/panel data, internal data sources, and other relevant tools to identify category opportunities and support merchant recommendations.
• Serve as a trusted category advisor and primary point of contact for Walmart merchants, understanding both tactical and strategic needs to deliver tailored recommendations, support strategic planning conversations, and influence decisions through objective, fact-based category expertise.
• Develop fact-based insights that connect category trends, shopper behavior, consumer dynamics, competitive activity, innovation, and performance results into cohesive assortment and space recommendations. Translate complex analysis into clear, compelling stories that drive action with merchants and senior stakeholders.
• Partner closely with internal teams across space, shopper insights, advanced analytics, and omnichannel to align category strategies, support Walmart merchant priorities, and ensure recommendations are connected across store and digital shopping experiences.
• Stay current on industry trends, Walmart tools, category management best practices, automation, AI-enabled analytics, and data visualization approaches to improve processes, reporting, datasets, and decision support capabilities.
• Lead assortment and modular reset recommendations, including SKU optimization, space-to-sales analysis, regionality, aisle flow, adjacency strategy, white-space discovery, planograms, and post-reset performance tracking.
• Maintain objectivity, confidentiality, and high ethical standards when handling customer, competitive, supplier, and category-sensitive information. Ensure recommendations are unbiased, category-first, and aligned with Walmart’s expectations for trusted category advisorship.

Qualifications

• Minimum Required: 5+ years of experience in CPG, retail, category management, shopper insights, business analytics, or related field. Experience developing customer-facing category recommendations for a major retailer, with Walmart experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of category management principles, space management, assortment strategy, shopper behavior, and analytic techniques. Experience translating data into customer-facing recommendations, presentations, and category stories.
• Preferred Level: 7+ years of experience in CPG, retail, category management, shopper insights, business analytics, or related field. Experience serving in or directly supporting a Walmart category advisor role. Experience using Walmart Scintilla or similar customer data platforms to develop category recommendations. Experience across multiple disciplines beyond category management, such as shopper insights, space planning, advanced analytics, customer strategy, or omnichannel.
• Education: Minimum Required: Bachelor’s Degree; Preferred: MBA or other graduate degree.
• Skills: Analytics & Automation: Proficiency in Power BI, Alteryx, Excel, and AI-enabled analytics is essential. Experience with SQL or scalable data automation is a plus. Walmart and Category Data Platforms: Strong familiarity with Walmart Scintilla, Nielsen, Circana, Numerator, shopper/panel data, data hierarchies, and the nuances of using multiple data sources to develop category recommendations. Analytical: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data, identify patterns, and translate insights into practical actions. Storytelling and Influence: Excellent verbal, written, and visual communication skills with the ability to simplify complex analysis, build compelling presentations, and influence stakeholders at multiple levels. Customer Focus: Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong merchant relationships by understanding customer needs, anticipating questions, and delivering objective category recommendations. Detail-Oriented Execution: High attention to detail at both breadth and depth, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, timelines, data sets, and stakeholder expectations. Category and Space Management: Experience with JDA/Blue Yonder, Cantactix/Mission Control, planogram development, assortment analysis, modular resets, space-to-sales, regionality, aisle flow, and post-reset measurement is a plus.