Company Description
The Category Manager directly assists the Director of Category Development in creating consumer- and customer-focused strategies, tactics, and category-driven solutions. This role involves conducting thorough analyses and integrating data from various sources to produce insights and actionable recommendations. A key responsibility is leveraging strong communication and influencing skills to drive actions across national large-format customers. The ideal candidate will demonstrate sound business judgment, exceptional communication abilities, and expertise in areas such as assortment planning, negotiation, pricing strategy, online product presentation, sales, and building effective professional relationships.
This role is also eligible to sit in the following locations: Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, Philadelphia, PA, Washington, DC
Job Description
CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT
Develop and nurture business relationships with external retailer contacts, positioning RBNA as the essential partner for all category management needs.
Build a thorough understanding of products, attributes, strategies, tactics, and competitive trends within the assigned categories, both online and offline.
Oversee the development and execution of online and offline assortment/merchandising plans, new product launches, seasonal programs, and pricing/promotional strategies.
Utilize data from multiple sources to create meaningful analyses and persuasive sales narratives, identifying risks, opportunities, and performance gaps (e.g., distribution, assortment mix, incremental growth, sizing, shelving, and placement).
Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to anticipate challenges and opportunities by going beyond basic reporting, translating insights into actionable retail strategies.
Collaborate effectively with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Shopper & Consumer Insights, Brand, eCommerce, and other Category Leadership teams to drive performance management and streamline reporting processes, macro assessments, and gap analysis.
Provide guidance on the use of Red Bull Category Management resources to develop strategic plans tailored to specific Customer Teams.
Lead and implement Category Development initiatives by engaging in meaningful discussions with retailers to focus on Category growth opportunities.
Support the customer business planning process by aligning it with overarching strategic business objectives.
Transform insights into actionable outcomes by executing, analyzing, and assessing Category plans to identify significant opportunities for Red Bull and its retail partners.
Deliver compelling presentations of Red Bull’s Category expertise to key retail partners.
CATEGORY MANAGEMENT
Cultivate an in-depth and unmatched understanding of the Energy Beverage category as well as the overall beverage industry.
Deliver state-of-the-art Category Management solutions by leveraging expertise in IRI and Nielsen syndicated scanning data, household panel data, market demographics, customer point-of-sale information, loyalty data, and other analytical tools used in generating insights for category reviews.
Develop, prepare, and present regular category reviews, plans, and strategic recommendations in collaboration with retail partners.
Conduct detailed business analysis to provide actionable insights into sales performance, pricing strategies, and identifying opportunity gaps for driving incremental volume growth.
Oversee Planogram development and facilitate store-level roundtable discussions with retailers to implement best-in-class processes for category optimization.
ANALYSIS
Conduct analysis on new product introductions and their performance.
Provide insights and evaluations of new product and packaging mix performance.
Create analyses to assess merchandising effectiveness, including the impact of displays and promotions.
Develop and maintain regular internal scorecards as well as retailer-specific trackers.
Deliver ad-hoc category management reports, trend analyses, customized reports, and support special projects as needed for internal or external leaders.
Stay informed about industry developments and best practices in Category Management, continuously seeking knowledge to enhance departmental capabilities and professional growth.
Qualifications
A Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Management, Accounting, Data Analytics, or a related field is preferred.
A minimum of 3 to 5 years of experience in consumer goods, retail, or syndicated data, with a focus on category management, sales, business analytics, and/or shopper insights, is required.
Extensive experience in understanding, utilizing, and applying syndicated data, customer card/POS data, and panel data to drive both internal and external success through sales and share growth (experience with data sources such as Nielsen, Circana, NPD, Numerator, 84.51, dunnhumby, SPINS, Stratum, Spectra/demographics, SPSOneScreen, Symphony Retail AI/EYC).
Demonstrated ability to distill complex data into simple, actionable stories.
Proven track record of building indispensable, collaborative partnerships with retail customers and internal business partners across functional teams.
CPCM (Certified Professional Category Manager) certification and/or a Master’s degree are preferred.
Experience in sales, analytical sales support, and driving face-to-face dialogue and initiatives is preferred.
Additional experience managing relationships with third-party agencies, including brokers and data/insight providers, is preferred.
Experience in beverages distributed via DSD (Direct Store Delivery) systems is strongly preferred.
Preferred additional analytical expertise in tools and platforms such as Tableau, Microsoft Access, Power BI, ProSpace, SQL, VBA, and Alteryx.
Additional Information
This position is open to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or individuals who are currently authorized to work in the United States on a valid visa.
The base salary range for this position is $92,000 - 138,000 + cash incentives. Actual salary offers may vary based on work experience. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified.
Our current Benefits include:
Comprehensive Medical, Dental and Vision Plans, 401k Match, Family Leave, PTO & Paid Holiday Schedule, Pet, Legal, and Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement (Benefits listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment and/or work location)
Red Bull North America, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other classification protected by Federal, state, or local law.