Category Manager
Glenview, Illinois, United States
Full Time
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The Associate Director, Customer Category Strategy serves as a strategic leader connecting customer teams, category insights, retailer intelligence, and the broader commercial organization. Reporting to the Vice President of Customer Strategy & Retail Intelligence, this leader is responsible for transforming data, shopper insights, omnichannel trends, retailer feedback, and market intelligence into actionable category roadmaps that support category performance across physical and digital retail environmen
ts.
The role combines local-level space analytics, category performance data, consumer and shopper insights, retailer information, and macro and micro market trends to identify opportunities and develop compelling customer-specific stories. As a leader of a team of subject matter experts aligned to a business unit, the Associate Director will help shape category roadmaps, influence retailer decision-making, and uncover opportunities through innovation, collaboration, and disciplined execut
ion.
This individual serves as a strategic category expert both internally and externally, partnering closely with Business Unit Sales & Strategy (BUSS) teams to provide retailer, category, and space insights that inform commercial decision-making. The role ensures category recommendations are grounded in retailer realities, future retail trends, and evolving shopper behaviors while advancing long-term category leader
ship.The Associate Director will lead efforts to identify emerging retail opportunities, drive space and merchandising strategies, evaluate evolving omnichannel retail models, and develop recommendations that position the organization and its customers for success in the future retail environ
ment.
Key Responsibi
lities
Customer Category S
- trategyDevelop and deliver customer-specific category roadmaps that support category performance and long-term retailer and business obje
- ctives.Integrate multiple data sources—including space analytics, syndicated data, retailer data, shopper insights, consumer research, and market trends—to identify opportunities and develop actionable recommend
- ations.Translate complex analyses into compelling customer-facing stories that influence retailer decisions and strengthen category lead
- ership.Build strategic recommendations focused on assortment, shelving, merchandising, space productivity, omnichannel execution, and the future evolution of the retail envir
- onment.Identify category opportunities at national, regional, and local market levels through advanced analytics, retailer insights, and changing consumer beh
- aviors.Leverage retailer strategies, category trends, and market intelligence to develop forward-looking category roadmaps aligned to customer and business prio
rities.
Omnichannel Strategy, Space & Retail Ex
- cellenceLead the development of omnichannel category roadmaps that connect physical retail, e-commerce, click-and-collect, digital merchandising, and emerging retail
- formats.Evaluate changing shopper behaviors, channel dynamics, and retailer strategies to ensure category recommendations remain relevant across all points of p
- urchase.Partner with customer teams to identify opportunities that improve category performance through optimized space, merchandising, and omnichannel ex
- ecution.Assess the impact of evolving retail models, store formats, digital capabilities, and emerging technologies to identify opportunities for category leadership and future store deve
- lopment.Champion thought leadership around the future of retail, helping customers and internal teams understand how category strategies must evolve across physical and digital envir
- onments.Incorporate emerging retail trends, technology, and shopper behaviors into category roadmaps and strategic recommen
dations.
Customer Partnership & Business Uni
- t SupportPartner closely with Customer Teams and Business Unit Sales & Strategy (BUSS) teams to develop retailer-specific category strategies aligned with customer ob
- jectives.Serve as the category, retailer, and space strategy subject matter expert for assigned business units and custom
- er teams.Provide category, retailer, and space insights that support commercial planning, strategic decision-making, and customer engagement ac
- tivities.Translate retailer feedback, category trends, space opportunities, and field insights into actionable recommendations that inform category roadmaps and business pr
- iorities.Equip sales, BUSS, and customer teams with actionable insights, category stories, retailer intelligence, and space-based recommendations that can be effectively activated i
- n-market.Support key customer meetings, joint business planning sessions, category reviews, and executive business reviews through compelling, insight-based stor
- ytelling.Establish feedback loops that continuously capture retailer and field perspectives to improve category recommendations, priorities, and e
xecution.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Enterprise Col
- laborationLead strategic collaboration across Business Units (BU), Business Unit Sales & Strategy (BUSS), Commercial Capabilities, Retail Teams, Supply Chain, Marketing, Insights, Analytics, and Revenue Growth Management
- functions.Align category roadmaps with broader commercial objectives while ensuring recommendations are operationally feasible, retailer-relevant, and grounded in category
- insights.Partner with Commercial Capabilities teams to develop tools, frameworks, and best practices that strengthen category leadership and customer-facing effe
- ctiveness.Collaborate with Supply Chain and business partners to ensure category recommendations consider inventory, fulfillment, and operational
- realities.Influence innovation, assortment, merchandising, space planning, and go-to-market decisions through fact-based insights and retailer-informed recomm
- endations.Foster alignment across stakeholders to drive execution against shared business p
riorities.
Innovation, Test & Learn & Retai
- l SolutionsIdentify emerging retail opportunities, technologies, and industry trends that can unlock new sources of category value and competitive
- advantage.Lead the development and coordination of test-and-learn initiatives designed to evaluate new retail solutions, merchandising concepts, space optimization approaches, future-store formats, and omnichannel execution opp
- ortunities.Partner with customer teams and cross-functional stakeholders to design pilots, establish success metrics, measure results, and scale successful i
- nitiatives.Create a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement by leveraging data and insights to validate new approaches and accelerat
- e learning.Share best practices, key learnings, and scalable retail solutions across business units and cust
- omer teams.Monitor industry innovation and emerging retailer strategies to identify opportunities that shape the future of category management and retail
execution.
Team Leadership &
- DevelopmentLead, coach, and develop a team of category strategy, insights, analytics, space planning, and retail intelligence subject matter experts aligned to a bu
- siness unit.Foster a culture of curiosity, innovation, collaboration, accountability, and continuo
- us learning.Establish clear priorities, development plans, and performance expectations that drive business impact and empl
- oyee growth.Promote analytical rigor, strategic thinking, thought leadership, and storytelling excellence acro
- ss the team.Build organizational capability in category strategy, retailer strategy, space analytics, omnichannel execution, and future-of-reta
il thinking.Qu
- alificationsBachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Analytics, Statistics, Consumer Behavior, or a re
- lated field.8+ years of experience in category strategy, category management, category leadership, retail analytics, shopper insights, sales strategy, or related commercia
- l functions.3+ years of experience leading and developing high-perfo
- rming teams.Demonstrated ability to synthesize multiple data sources into actionable business recommendations and catego
- ry roadmaps.Strong understanding of retail, omnichannel commerce, category management principles, retailer strategies, and shopp
- er behavior.Experience working with syndicated data, retailer data, consumer insights, space analytics, and category performa
- nce metrics.Proven success influencing senior leaders, cross-functional stakeholders, and external custom
- er partners.Exceptional communication, storytelling, presentation, and relationship-buil
ding skil
PreferredMBA or other adv
- anced degree.Experience working directly with national and regional reta
- il customers.Expertise in category strategy, omnichannel retail, space optimization, retail merchandising, future-store concepts, and advanced consu
- mer insights.Experience leading customer pilots, retail innovation initiatives, or test-and-le
- arn programs.Familiarity with Circana/IRI, NielsenIQ, retailer loyalty data, space planning tools, shopper panel data, and advanced analyti
cs platforms.
Pay: $81,992.13 - $98,743.22 per year
Work Location: In person
