Category Manager - Food Lion & Hannaford

Category Manager – Food Lion & Hannaford

Must live within 3 hours of Salisbury, NC

As a strategic partner to top customers, the Category Manager is responsible for providing fact-based, insight-led and actionable category solutions to drive growth for the category, customer, and company. This category thought-leader will translate consumer and data trends into value-creating business solutions regarding category assortment, merchandising, shelving, pricing, and promotion for Everyday candy as well as seasonal. Close collaboration with both internal & external partners will be critical to success within this role.

What are we looking for?

Minimum Qualifications:

• Willingness to travel (up to 10% of time)
• 5+ years of CPG Account and/or Category Management
• Highly proficient in MS Office applications (i.e. Excel & PowerPoint)
• Bachelor’s degree
• 2 years of business analytics leveraging variety of data resources (i.e. IRI, Nielsen, Stratum, Spectra, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ahold experience
• Experience managing and visualizing data using cutting edge tools (i.e., MS Power BI, Tableau)

What would be your key responsibilities?

As the Lead Mars Wrigley Confectionary contact for Food Lion and Hannaford, this associate will:

• Project leadership & support, potentially including test & learn analytics
• Partner closely with the Mars Wrigley Category Strategy team to leverage and activate agreed upon internal category initiatives, including "Perfect Store" execution and other success measures, with detailed follow-through.
• Ad hoc and ongoing data management, reporting, and the creation of analytical tools
• Competitive market analysis
• Category assortment, merchandising, shelving, pricing, and promotional performance & recommendations
• Collaborate closely with Mars Wrigley sales and cross-functional stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and alignment on category and customer plans.
• Develop the knowledge and skills to consistently provide quality category support including:
• Leverage insights and resources through the utilization of a broad range of data sources, market research findings, tools, analyses, and technology; clearly articulating growth strategies and providing guidance to your customers toward quality category decisions.
• Create, plan, and execute category leadership solutions for the Everyday Confectionery Category which will deliver profitable sales growth.
• Lead the development of actionable category presentations utilizing storytelling
• Build credibility and develop positive, cross-functional relationships with key customer stakeholders to maintain a high level of partnership with customers on Confectionery strategies.
• Planogram analysis and development

What can you expect from Mars?

• Join a purpose driven company, where we are striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• Work with over 130,000 diverse and talented Associates, all guided by The Five Principles.
• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• This role includes a company vehicle.
• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.