Associate Category Manager

About the position

This role is designated as a hybrid role which includes working at least 3 days per week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays) in our main office located in Deerfield, IL to foster better collaboration, connection, and innovation. This role is a support role to a manager or senior manager. The Associate Category Manager will provide support for the Therma-Tru business, category definition for new category specifications, and business management of established category lines to maintain and support category leadership and achieve growth objectives. This includes day to day category management, analytics, new product development, category discontinuation and growing as a subject matter expert while focusing on driving margin and revenue growth.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for managing all 4 P’s of the category – Product, Price, Promotion, Place.
• Responsible for effective and professional communication to all levels in the company to explain the rationale of category line strategies, positioning, channel needs, financial impact, priorities and customer requirements.
• Provides competitive analysis at the regional level, and insight to category gaps or advantages.
• Supports business improvement initiatives in assigned category range.
• Develops a monthly forecast update to help set material and capacity planning.
• Responsible for attaining market share, revenue, unit sales and gross margin targets for assigned category range.
• Provides a regular profit review of category line results, with recommendations for improvement.
• Develops a thorough understanding of customer and market needs / trends, and of company capabilities.
• Manages trade-offs and balance conflicting demands to develop solutions that maximize the company’s opportunity vs. competitors.
• Provides leadership and Support within and outside the organization for any business, technical or competitive issue on assigned category line/s.
• Champions the 'voice of the customer' on all category related issues inside the company.
• Supports in the development and implementation of annual strategic category plan on a three-year planning horizon.
• Develops new category development (NPD) objectives, strategies and timelines to maximize market share growth.
• Conduct an ongoing category rationalization program.
• Supports the development of a 3-year Category Plan view for initiatives relating to cost, quality, marketing focus, exits and new category introductions.
• Provides sales and product training support to drive revenue and profitability goals of category line.
• Attend industry-related trade shows, sales meetings, and maintain trade association contacts as needed.
• Maintain a general understanding of pertinent industry building and government codes and standards to best position assigned category line.
• Support brand marketing / marketing services with category knowledge, promotional strategies and tactics for assigned category lines.
• Review content and message of all collateral materials and communications for assigned category lines.
• Ensure the accuracy of category offering, descriptions, pricing, etc. in all company communications.

Requirements

• Experience in category lifecycle management and strategy development across multiple category lines.
• Deep understanding of business analytics, category details and overall category performance.
• Strong collaboration and cross functional skills.
• Ability to lead a team and achieve desired results.

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelors’ or Master’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or related field.
• A minimum 3-5 years of Category Management experience.
• Prior demonstrated success in developing category plans for retail and/or wholesale channels.
• Prior P & L experience.
• Outstanding communication skills. (written, presentation, one on one)

Benefits

• Comprehensive health plans.
• Market-leading 401(k) program with a company contribution.
• Product discounts.
• Flexible time off benefits (including half-day summer Fridays per policy).
• Inclusive fertility / adoption benefits.