Director of Category Finance

About the role

The Director of Category Finance partners with category, channel, marketing, sales finance, and executive leadership to improve business performance across the cooperative. The role provides strategic financial leadership and decision support for decisions that drive revenue growth, profitability, pricing, volume, mix, brand development, and category performance. This position leads the Category Finance team and the planning, forecasting, reporting, and performance management processes for categories and channels. It requires deep commercial finance expertise, understanding of the brand development and business cycle.

Responsibilities

• Commercial Category Finance Leadership and Business Partnership (25%) – Partner with category, channel, marketing, sales finance, and senior leadership to shape commercial strategies that drive revenue growth, profitability, and long-term brand value. Provide senior-level financial input on business-critical decisions involving pricing, innovation, product mix, category investment, and go-to-market priorities. Lead financial evaluation of category and channel performance, including revenue results, margin drivers, price, volume, mix, and profitability trends. Translate commercial, brand, consumer, and financial insights into clear recommendations that influence cross-functional leadership decisions and business outcomes. Understand and apply the brand development and business cycle to evaluate category strategies, growth initiatives, and investment options.
• Category Financial Planning, Analysis and Reporting (25%) – Lead budgeting, forecasting, S&OP, financial planning, reporting, and analysis to support informed commercial decisions and business accountability. Provide forward-looking insight into category performance, business drivers, risks, opportunities, key metrics, revenue results, and profitability trends. Deliver executive-level financial insights and recommendations that enable management and commercial leadership to evaluate options, prioritize actions, and improve results. Maintain visibility to budget and forecast performance, variance drivers, and corrective actions needed to strengthen business outcomes. Ensure forecasting, reporting, close partnership, and variance analysis provide accurate, consistent, and decision-useful information across sales finance, marketing, accounting, S&OP and finance partners.
• Marketing Support and Performance Management – CLT Support (15%) – Evaluate the financial impact of marketing campaigns, promotions, innovation initiatives, pricing actions, and revenue growth management strategies. Partner with marketing leadership to assess brand and category investments, understand business-cycle dynamics, and prioritize initiatives that improve top-line growth and profitability. Lead analysis of price, volume, mix, trade spend, margin drivers, performance indicators, and emerging trends to identify actions that strengthen category and channel performance. Communicate financial insights and recommendations to non-financial stakeholders in a clear, compelling, and action-oriented manner.
• Advanced Analytics, Finance Operations and Continuous Improvement (15%) – Apply advanced analytics tools, financial models, and relevant financial, operational, consumer, category, and market data to strengthen performance visibility, forecast outcomes, and support complex commercial decisions. Strengthen category finance routines, reporting processes, planning tools, analytical capabilities, and performance dashboards to improve financial visibility, reporting accuracy, profitability analysis, and business decision support. Promote effective reporting environments, data integrity, financial systems, and business intelligence tools that support brand, category and channel analysis.
• People Leadership and Talent Development (20%) – Manage, lead, coach, and develop the Category Finance team to deliver high-quality commercial finance support and strategic business partnership. Set performance expectations, prioritize work, and ensure team resources and capabilities are aligned to category, channel, and cooperative objectives. Build team capability in category finance, financial storytelling, analytics, and cross-functional influence. Support recruitment, onboarding, talent development, succession planning, and workforce planning activities. Foster a collaborative, accountable, commercially focused, and high-performing team environment.
• Support evolving commercial, finance, and cooperative priorities through responsibilities aligned with the role’s purpose, scope, and leadership expectations. Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or related field required; master’s degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in finance, category finance, commercial finance, FP&A, revenue growth management, or related business roles required; 5+ years of management or leadership experience preferred.
• Expert-level financial acumen, analytical capability, commercial judgment, and business partnership skills, with advanced experience in budgeting, forecasting, reporting, variance analysis, pricing, performance management, and revenue growth management.
• Deep understanding of category economics, brand development, channel performance, consumer and market dynamics, and the commercial business cycle.
• Ability to translate financial, category, channel, consumer, and operational data into clear insights, recommendations, and actions that influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
• Demonstrated enterprise-level commercial and category finance leadership beyond a Senior Manager scope, including ownership of category and channel performance insights and accountability for recommendations that affect top-line and bottom-line results.
• Commercial and category finance skillset distinct from finance leadership roles focused primarily on supply chain, manufacturing, cost accounting, or operations finance.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, financial reporting tools, and business intelligence or advanced analytics platforms.
• Collaborative, solutions-oriented leadership style with strong communication, influence, relationship-building, prioritization, and change leadership skills.

Pay

Base salary wage range: $129,896 – $173,201.60 per year. This salary wage range is exclusive of fringe benefits. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary bonuses. This position is eligible for a 10% annual incentive bonus based on cooperative and individual performance. Final base salary wage compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills, education, and/or experience, with consideration for internal equity. Entry-level candidates to this role should expect to be at the lower end of the salary wage range; hiring at the maximum is not typical.

Schedule

This is a hybrid role based at the La Farge, WI office. You will collaborate onsite 4–8 days per month, with the flexibility to work remotely or onsite for the remainder of the time. Employee type: Salaried. Safety sensitive: No.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Health Insurance – choice of plans for you and your family, including some that can be paired with an HSA (CROPP contributes to the HSA on your behalf)
• Supplemental insurances – accidental insurance, critical illness insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance
• Time Off – 136 hours in the first year of employment (prorated by start date), plus 9 paid holidays and one floating holiday
• 6 Weeks Paid Parental Leave – for all gendered partners in childbirth or adoption
• Vision & Dental Insurance – free annual eye exam, discounts on glasses/contacts, flexible dental network, adult orthodontics
• 401(k) – 100% match on the first 3% of employee contributions, then 50% match on 3.1%–5.0% of contributions
• Free services at five local Neighborhood Family Clinics
• Tuition Reimbursement – up to $1,500 per year for continuing higher education
• Life Insurance – $50,000 policy funded by CROPP for each employee; supplemental voluntary coverage available for employees, spouses, and children
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability / AD&D Insurance – $50,000 of life insurance coverage and $50,000 of AD&D coverage funded by CROPP
• Employee Assistance Program – free and confidential for employees, spouses, and dependents
• Free onsite fitness centers available 24/7
• Free biometric screenings (cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure) and health coaching
• Financial advisors and seminars
• Annual $360 Lifestyle Spending Account
• Flexible Scheduling
• On-site all-organic cafeterias