Job Summary:
The Category Manager applies their analytical skills and business expertise to take ownership and drive growth and profitability for the category(s) while articulating a clear strategy and long-term vision. As a category expert, they will have a fundamental understanding of the products, vendors, brands and global trends driving the business. They will lead the team in evaluating, curating, pricing, promoting, and growing the brands/products in their assigned category and cultivating strong vendor partnerships that result in mutually beneficial opportunities. The role directly partners with the Director and Sr. Category Manager. As a leader on the team they will be responsible for hiring, managing, developing, and mentoring of the Buyers and Senior Buyers, and creating a cohesive, efficient and forward-thinking team. This role is the fourth step in the progression of the Merchandising team's buying structure, and is responsible for making merchandising decisions for large volume, highly visible accounts.
Job Expectations:
- The Category Manager will work closely with Senior Managers, Directors and team to implement business strategies, short and long-term growth objectives.
- Lead your Buyers to strategically negotiate with vendors to secure exceptional everyday pricing, marketing & promotional budgets, special opportunity buys, growth incentives including rebates and accruals, delivery, and payment terms for large volume, highly visible accounts.
- Manage and analyze key category metrics (KPIs) to drive solutions for category performance, new and existing brands, new products, pricing, gross margin, promotions, and product life cycle while seeking opportunities for improvement
- Continually develop and utilize strong category knowledge to build, edit and maintain current and future assortment creating market advantage while also reflecting customer needs/requests.
- Establish an action plan to capitalize on category and product innovation, industry trends, global markets, competitor offerings, consumer trends, and ways to differentiate our offering to exceed customer expectations.
- Foster relationships with large volume, highly visible existing/new vendors to drive sales, product innovation, margin growth, promotional support and maintain regular and consistent communication to ensure a clear understanding of short/long-term goals and capabilities
- Negotiation of contracts, product evaluation, quality issues, customer service questions and create and maintain supplier, product database
- Drive the new product/brand onboarding and maintenance process to ensure timely addition to market
- Calculate, maintain and evaluate cost, pricing, and product adjustments in system to ensure desired mark-ups, margin and seek strategic pricing opportunities
- Partner with Inventory Management and Planning Team in managing inventory turns, vendor forecasts, new item projections, service level, order cycles, rebate and marketing programs, special opportunity buys, and general supply chain practices
- Manage and develop short/long-term promotional activities that are profitable and highly effective in conjunction with the Marketing Team
- Create, review and utilize data/reports to enable in-depth analysis of category successes/challenges
- Comply with company policies and procedures, including safety, business ethics, and standards of conduct
- Cultivate, direct and support seasoned Buyers; enabling them to further develop and grow assigned category with tools for success
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Required:
- Skillful, creative negotiator with long-term category development and management experience
- Intellectually curious, energetic self-starter that is highly resourceful with a can-do attitude and solid decision making skills
- Confidence to manage up, secure buy-in from senior leadership, and navigate challenging situations
- Analytical and deductive reasoning skills; stickler for processes and ability to identify needed improvements
- Entrepreneurial mindset and positive leader that is a mentor and team player/developer/builder and collaborator with strong interpersonal skills and long term vision
- Ability to operate independently, work under pressure and coordinate, organize and motivate team to meet deadlines and goals successfully with a high level of quality
- Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to manage multiple projects with competing demands for resources and meet deadlines
- Proven strength in oral/written communication skills with ability to make presentations, communicate and partner with people at all levels of the organization and with external contacts
Equipment Knowledge:
- Experience with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Experience with Google Business Suite (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms) preferred
- WMS, EDI, SAP, Asana, Tableau experience a plus
Experience Requirements:
Generally, requires a minimum of seven (7) years of progressive experience in purchasing, merchandising, marketing or directly related role with equivalent responsibilities, preferably in an e-commerce environment with natural products experience a plus
Education Requirements:
Bachelor's Degree in Business, Merchandising or related field preferred, or a combination of education and equivalent work experience. MBA a plus.
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Staffing Agency Submission Notice
iHerb does not accept unsolicited 3rd party ("Agency") candidates. If you are an Agency, please send any requests to be considered as a supplier in our Vendor Management System to [email protected]. Do not contact iHerb employees directly. If requested to work on a role, any Agency candidates would be presented through the internal recruiting organization.
About iHerb
iHerb is on a mission to make health and wellness accessible to all. We offer Earth's best-curated selection of health and wellness products, at the best possible value, delivered with the most convenient experience.
We're the world's largest eCommerce platform dedicated to vitamins, minerals, and supplements, and other health and wellness products. For more than 25 years, we've been making it simple for people all over the world to purchase the highest quality products. From supplements to skincare to grocery items, we ship over 50,000 products, from over 1,800 brands direct to our customers in 180+ countries.
Our vision is to become the #1 destination for health and wellness across the world.
With a passion for wellness and a mind for innovative solutions, iHerb team members share a vision for a healthier world that drives them each day. Our 5 Shared Values unite our global team:
Focus on the Customer · Empower Our People · Be Entrepreneurial & Pivot Quickly ·
Embrace Diversity & Inclusion · Strive for Simplicity
iHerb Benefits
At iHerb, we are dedicated to offering programs designed to help our employees and their families stay healthy, live well, and plan for their financial future. Built on a strong foundation, our programs provide options and upgrades with flexibility, protection, and security in mind. For the comprehensive benefits list, visit www.iHerbBenefits.com. For our international team members, you may be eligible for benefits depending on the country where you are employed. The Talent Acquisition Partner/local HR representative will go over the benefits you are eligible for.
iHerb is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. iHerb provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment.
