Director of Category Management

CRUSH IT HERE!

We're not just about grapes. Our bold ambition is to be the leading company of convenient, good for you, fruit-based food and beverage globally. To make this happen, we need talented, agile and innovative people who want to help us grow something special together.

Our culture is authentic, and we are building an inclusive environment where you belong and can be the best version of yourself. If you're passionate about achieving goals, trying new things and making an impact every day, we want to hear from you!

Position Summary:

The Director of Category Management. This person is responsible for developing and advancing category solutions that grow the category and Welch's. This position helps build strong partnerships and trust in Welch's Category Management team through strategic and tactical thought leadership, research-based shopper insights, best-in-class analytics, and shelving recommendations. This position will lead a team of Category Development Team Leaders across Welch's retail channels with responsibility for all of Welch's categories. This role will partner with Sales to deliver against key business objectives and align category, brand, and customer priorities and goals. This role will report to the VP of Sales for Walmart/Sam's/E-Commerce/Category Management/ Food Service.

Location Options: Concord, Ma; Cincinnati, OH; Bentonville, AR

What You'll Do:

• Lead the Welch's Category Management team in supporting Welch's company goals & objectives through the alignment of data, insights, analytics, and category solutions to customer needs.
• Deliver integrated consumer, shopper, and category insights along with data analysis, both internally at Welch's, and externally with the customer to influence business decisions and category strategies.
• Develop, refine, and present best-in-class merchandising and shelving principles including "gold standard" plan-o-gram recommendations in all of Welch's categories
• Drive collaboration and sharing of fact-based insights and actionable analytics from the category management team to the organization, partnering with Insights, Marketing, Sales Planning, and Field Sales, among others.
• Support innovation launches via category and assortment opportunity analyses.
• Engage with key retailers, providing fact and insight-based recommendations for assortment, merchandising, pricing, and promotion that drive market-leading growth for the category.
• Own category management budget and optimize mix of syndicated data and customer level tools for maximum return
• Partner with Finance and Sales Planning on revenue growth management strategies that incorporate brand objectives and category & customer dynamics
• Evaluate Welch's price pack architecture annually in each category, identifying opportunities for optimization that will deliver value to organization.
• Travel 30-40%
• Additional duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Who You Are:

• Experienced in category management methods that have driven positive results
• You think like the customer and the consumer with the ability to drive Welch's categories, customer relationships, and share growth forward
• Strategic storyteller with excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Analytical thinker with the ability to seek alternatives, new ideas/approaches to problems and develop and implement solutions
• Experienced in revenue management & analytics; adept in using a variety of data sources to develop pricing and promotion strategy and tactics
• Able to juggle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, balancing both Welch's & the customer's needs
• Self-motivated with strong time management, organizational, and interpersonal skills
• Super user of MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor's degree in a related field required.
• Minimum of 7 years of previous experience in sales, category management and/or insights, with significant responsibilities in the application of consumer/shopper insights and category management
• Proven experience leading and developing high performing teams in sales/category management
• Experience utilizing IRI syndicated and panel data as well as advanced consumer data (Consumer Decision Trees, Market research studies, etc).
• Experience working in Assortment Planning or Space Management Software (Blue Yonder/JDA)

Welch's is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer: Minority/Female/Disability/Protected Veteran