Director Category Leadership

At our Company, we grow People, Brands, and Businesses! We are seeking a highly dynamic Director of Category Leadership role requires a proven leader who can motivate and inspire their team to create and deliver outstanding value for our customers and clients today, and a thought leader who can bring insight and strategic direction to lead our customers and clients into the future. Working as a creative, hands-on leader, this candidate will utilize their extensive industry knowledge, broad analytic capabilities and bias for change to optimally utilize all available resources to drive results. Ultimately, the Director, Category Leadership will facilitate solutions – primarily category leadership and trade, shopper, and space -- to our internal and external stakeholders.

Take this opportunity to join North America’s leading business solutions provider and build your career working with amazing people in a growing industry! Apply today!

What we offer:

• Full-Time Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life)
• 401(k) with company match
• Training and Career Development
• Generous Paid Time-Off

Responsibilities:

• Engage with assigned clients/customers to fully understand their needs and requirements, developing solutions that exceed their expectation and leverage the enterprise capabilities of the company.
• Foster and grow relationships across all levels of key internal and external stakeholders to deliver enhanced strategy value.
• Manage and cultivate an environment that encourages and empowers associates to be creative thought leaders.
• Demonstrate a hands-on approach to learning and development of associates, identifying training needs for current and future roles and mentoring and guiding associates in their development.
• Continually identify, develop, and present engaging, insight-driven though leadership and analysis to clients, customers, and internal stakeholders. Presentations will demonstrate both data and story-telling mastery and effectively integrate category, consumer, and shopper insights with a quantifiable action plan.
• Be a Strategic Though Partner, driving insights into action through the deep analytics of the category, macro-trends, competitive landscape, pricing, promotion, assortment, space management, and shopper trends.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree required; MBA Degree preferred; or equivalent job-related experience in Business, Marketing, Sales
• 5+ years’ experience in a Category Management role within the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry
• 1-2 years supervisory experience
• Well-organized and strong attention to detail and accuracy
• A hunger for “winning together”
• Ability to confidently work with, communicate effectively with, and present to the client, customer, and internal leadership

Job Will Remain Open Until Filled

The Company is one of North America’s leading sales and marketing agencies specializing in outsourced sales, merchandising, category management and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers and producers of food products and consumer packaged goods. The Company services a variety of trade channels including grocery, mass merchandise, specialty, convenience, drug, dollar, club, hardware, consumer electronics and home centers. We bridge the gap between manufacturers and retailers, providing consumers access to the best products available in the marketplace today.

Position Summary

The Director, Category Leadership role requires a proven leader who can motivate and inspire their team to create and deliver outstanding value for our customers and clients today, and a thought leader who can bring insight and strategic direction to lead our customers and clients into the future. Working as a creative, hands-on leader, this candidate will utilize their extensive industry knowledge, broad analytic capabilities and bias for change to optimally utilize all available resources to drive results. Ultimately, the Director, Category Leadership will facilitate solutions – primarily category leadership and trade, shopper, and space -- to our internal and external stakeholders.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities

Job Duty

Client/Customer Leadership and Management

• Engage with assigned clients/customers to fully understand their needs and requirements, developing solutions that exceed their expectation and leverage the enterprise capabilities of the company
• Foster and grow relationships across all levels of key internal and external stakeholders to deliver enhanced strategy value
• Be an advocate of the RAVE process, working to reinforce the importance of value creation measurement with clients, customers, and associates

Associate Development

• Manage and cultivate an environment that encourages and empowers associates to be creative thought leaders
• Communicate company and department strategies and goals to associates and align their efforts to achieve those goals
• Demonstrate hands-on approach to learning and development of associates, identifying training needs for current and future roles and mentoring and guiding associates in their development
• Proactively builds skill set by participating in educational opportunities, reading professional publications, exploring new data sets, and developing and maintaining personal networks that extend beyond the food industry

Leadership, Analytics, and Presentation

• Continually identify, develop, and present engaging, insight-driven though leadership and analysis to clients, customers, and internal stakeholders. Presentations will demonstrate both data and story-telling mastery and effectively integrate category, consumer, and shopper insights with a quantifiable action plan.
• Be a Strategic Though Partner, driving insights to action through deep analytics of the category, macro-trends, competitive landscape, pricing, promotion, assortment, space management, and shopper trends
• Champions data education and democratization across all business functions to elevate the analytic capabilities across the enterprise 30%

Supervisory Responsibilities:

Direct Reports
- Hires, retains, trains, coaches, guides, directs, and develops direct reports using company-wide processes, tools and resources

Indirect Reports
- May delegate work of others and provide guidance, direction and mentoring to indirect reports

Travel and/or Driving Requirements:

- Travel is an essential duty and function of this job
- Travel up to 35%

Minimum Qualifications The following are the minimum job-related qualifications which an individual needs in order to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities of the job

Education Level: (Required): Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience

(Preferred): MBA Degree or equivalent experience

Field of Study/Area of Experience:

5+ years’ experience in a Category Management role within the CPG industry

1-2 years supervisory experience

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• Well-organized and strong attention to detail and accuracy
• A hunger for “winning together”
• Ability to confidently work with, communicate effectively with, and present to client, customer, and internal leadership
• Demonstrated ability to effectively prioritize business requests, manage resources, meet deadlines, and deliver EBITDA against a budget
• Ability to present polished, professional image and represent the company in a professional manner
• Creativity…. with a passion for building visually compelling presentations
• Good communication – written and oral – skills and strong interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated forward-looking, strategic thinking ability
• Demonstrated ability to sell services to clients and customers 
• Microsoft Office experience: Mastery of Excel, Word, PowerPoint
• Syndicated Data experience: Mastery of IRI, Nielsen, and other relevant platforms preferred
• Deep experience with application of shopper panel data and geodemographic data sets
• Complete understanding and application of principles and practices of Category Management (analysis of assortment, pricing, promotion, shelving, shopper) with tangible value creation from projects
• Passion for development of self and others
• Demonstrated ability to manage, lead, mentor, and inspire

Environmental & Physical Requirements: 

Office / Sedentary Requirements: Incumbent must be able to perform the essential functions of the job. Work is performed primarily in an office environment. Typically requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time (66%+ each day), ability to hear the telephone, ability to enter data on a computer and may also require the ability to lift up to 10 pounds.

Additional Information Regarding The Company Job Duties and Job Descriptions

Job duties include additional responsibilities as assigned by one’s supervisor or other manager related to the position/department. This job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. The Company reserves the right at any time with or without notice to alter or change job responsibilities, reassign or transfer job position or assign additional job responsibilities, subject to applicable law. The Company shall provide reasonable accommodations of known disabilities to enable a qualified applicant or employee to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment as required by the law.

Any estimate, schedule, or guideline provided to associates in this job description or elsewhere in connection with their jobs is only intended to help describe job duties and for planning purposes. Regardless of any such estimate, schedule, or guideline, associates must always record all time worked for our company (which includes but is not limited to on-site work time in an assigned store, office, or other work location; required waiting time; administrative time; and work-related travel time).

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of associates so classified.

The Company is committed to providing equal opportunity in all employment practices without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, or any other category protected by law. As part of this commitment, the Company shall provide reasonable accommodations of known disabilities to enable an applicant or employee to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment as required by the law.