Category & Insights Analyst Jobs

Position Overview:

West Madison Foods was formed in July 2023 following the Private Equity Firm, Brynwood Partners’, purchase of the Ventura Food’s Dips and Dressing Portfolio. West Madison Foods is a private equity “start-up” business with iconic brands, a strong retail presence, and outstanding manufacturing capabilities. We are looking to build out a complete marketing team: we are seeking a Category & Insights Analyst to support category management and insights functions across its iconic portfolio of brands.

The Category & Insights Analyst will be a key part of the retail customer sell-in process by leading the development of the Customer-specific stories and deck creation for meetings. Additionally, this person will support the marketing team in conducting research, identifying category trends, and providing actionable analytics and recommendations to internal partners and West Madison Food’s retail customers. This role will also maintain a strong pulse on consumption performance, reporting on-going KPIs and addressing various brand-specific questions of internal stakeholders.

Specific Responsibilities:

·Supports line review and customer meetings across West Madison Food’s national customer base

·Develops and executes category insights and customer support based on retail specific objectives & sales goals.

·Crafts robust fact-based selling stories utilizing syndicated and custom consumption information, retailer specific POS data, panel data, shopper-card data, and other data sources.

·Identifies opportunities for and executes against third party research needs to grow brand understanding internally and with customers.

·Provides retailer specific recommendations to assortment and strategy.

·Leverages category knowledge and merchandising strategies to help build customer specific POG recommendations.

·Responsible for delivering a suite of monthly consumption reports.

The successful candidate is…

·Goal-oriented, taking initiative to establish account-specific plans and exceed sales goals.

·Analytical and able to convert data to strategic business insights.

·Able to position yourself as a trusted advisor to your business partners.

·Able to communicate effectively to build relationships and influence senior level executives

·Curious and on the look out for new trends in the food and consumer packaged goods industry

Required

·Bachelor’s Degree is Required (Business, Food Management, or Psychology Preferred)

·2+ Years of working in Category Management, Market Research, Insights, Marketing or Sales, CPG experience a plus

·High degree of self-motivation and discipline

·Exceptional organization and communication skills (both written & verbal)

·Excel at math, analytics, and problem-solving

·Expertise in Excel, PowerPoint, and syndicated data (Nielsen, IRI, SPINs)

·Ability to work with a wide variety of individuals within the organization and maintain regular contact with all stakeholders

·Team oriented with the ability to work independently, providing ongoing support & direction to internal sales team and field sales team

·Initiative and ability to work with various individuals and groups inside and outside the company progressing towards a common goal

Personal Characteristics:

·Strong leadership presence, communication skills, and ability to influence

·Great attitude and drive: Ability to roll up sleeves and get things done.

·Ability to thrive in and handle ambiguity & fast paced environment

·Passion for food and marketing.

Bonus Points

·Experience working directly with Field Sales and Broker contacts in CPG sales

·Demonstrated ability to succeed in startup and/or private equity backed company

·Food Marketing and deli/produce category experience a strong plus.

·Knowledge of POG software (Spaceman, Apollo, etc.)

·A love for our brands: Dean’s Dips & Marie’s Salad Dressing!

Other

·Chicago Based: 500 West Madison Street 36^th Floor

·Travel Requirement: As needed for customer visits and research.