Target Category Manager, Ice Cream

About the role

Ice cream is one of the most emotional and joyful categories in the store and Target's Guest is one of the most discerning shoppers in America. As our Target Category Captain for Ice Cream, you'll sit at the intersection of both. You'll be the trusted category advisor to Target's merchant team, partnering to be the strategic voice inside Target business, and the person who provides consultative recommendations on where the category is going next.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Category Captain / Category Advisor to Target's ice cream team across the Ice Cream category
• Build the multi-year category vision for Ice Cream at Target, including assortment, shelving, promotion, and innovation runway
• Lead planogram strategy and execution through Target's reset cycles
• Translate syndicated data (Circana, NielsenIQ), Target POS, Household Panel, and Loyalty / Guest data into fact-based recommendations the merchant team can act on
• Own the category story: the one-pagers, JBP inputs, and analysis that shape how Target thinks about indulgence and innovation

Requirements

• Be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without the need for current or future employer sponsorship
• Have a Bachelor's degree and 3–5+ years in Category Management, Customer / Shopper Insights, or Sales Strategy in CPG
• Have Direct Target experience required. You know the merchant cadence, the Guest lens, POL, and how Target's assortment discipline actually works
• Fluency in syndicated and shopper data platforms: Circana (IRI), NielsenIQ, Numerator, Household Panel, Loyalty Card data
• Strong working knowledge of space planning tools (JDA / Blue Yonder) and Target's reset / planogram revision process
• Track record turning analytics into compelling recommendations that drive positive outcomes

Qualifications

• Nice-to-have experience in Frozen, Ice Cream, or another impulse / indulgence category
• Familiarity with digital shelf, retail media (Roundel), and omnichannel shopper journeys
• Exposure to RGM and pack-price architecture

Skills

• A translator. You take messy data and turn it into a sentence a merchant can repeat in their next meeting.
• A retail nerd (in the best way). You walk the store. You take pictures of end-caps. You have opinions about facings.
• A Guest-first thinker. You understand that how someone shops for a pint on a Tuesday matters as much as the number in a Monday report.
• A builder. You've been in a room with limited direction and left with a plan.
• A storyteller. You know the number is the evidence, not the story.

Benefits

• Market-competitive pay and performance related rewards
• Flexible ways of working
• Support for health, wellbeing and life outside of work
• Time off to rest and recharge
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Medical, dental and (where applicable) vision coverage
• Health and wellbeing support, including employee assistance programs and wellness initiatives
• Health-related savings and spending accounts
• Retail savings programs with a competitive matching plan
• Additional employee perks (e.g., corporate discounts, commuter or learning support)

Pay

The pay range for this position is $103,000 to $154,400.

Schedule

Full-time

Application Instructions

Apply online and share your CV. We'll review your application and be in touch with the next steps.