Category Development Manager

Red Bull•Santa Monica, CA

1d•$92,000 - $138,000

About The Position

The Category Manager assists the Director of Category Development in creating consumer- and customer-focused strategies, tactics, and category-driven solutions. This role involves conducting high-quality analyses and synthesizing diverse data sources to generate insights and actionable recommendations. The individual must utilize strong communication and influencing skills to drive action across national small-format customers. The ideal candidate should demonstrate sound business judgment, exceptional communication abilities, and experience in areas including assortment planning, negotiation, pricing strategies, online product presentation, sales, and fostering productive relationships.

Requirements

A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Management, Accounting, Data Analytics, or a related field is preferred.
A minimum of 3–5 years' experience in consumer goods, retail, or syndicated data, with a focus on category management, sales, business analytics, and/or shopper insights.
Extensive experience in analyzing and applying syndicated data, customer card/POS data, and panel data to drive internal and external success through sales and market share growth (proficiency in data sources such as Nielsen, Circana, NPD, Numerator, 84.51, dunnhumby, SPINS, Stratum, Spectra/Demographics, SPSOneScreen, Symphony Retail AI/EYC).
Ability to simplify complex data into concise, compelling narratives.
Proven ability to cultivate indispensable, collaborative relationships with retail customers and internal business partners across functional teams.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, as well as expertise in delivering impactful presentations.
Strong planning and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Familiarity with retail merchandising and in-store execution strategies.

Nice To Haves

CPCM (Certified Professional Category Manager) certification and/or a Master’s degree is preferred.
Experience in sales, analytical sales support, and initiating face-to-face collaborations and initiatives is preferred.
Additional experience in managing relationships with third-party agencies, including brokers and providers of data and insights, is preferred.
Experience in beverages DSD (Direct Store Delivery) is strongly preferred.
Additional analytical experience and skills in tools such as Tableau, Microsoft Access, PowerBI, ProSpace, SQL, VBA, and Alteryx is preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and nurture business relationships with external retailer contacts to position RBNA as the essential partner for all category management needs.
Acquire a thorough understanding of the products, attributes, strategies, tactics, and competitive trends in the marketplace for assigned categories across both online and offline channels.
Supervise the development and implementation of optimized online and offline assortments/merchandising strategies, new product launches, seasonal programs, and pricing/promotional planning and evaluations.
Utilize data from various sources to create impactful analytics and sales narratives, identifying risks, opportunities, and performance gaps (e.g., distribution, assortment mix, growth potential, sizing, shelving, and placement).
Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to proactively identify issues and opportunities, enhancing analytics beyond simple reporting and translating insights into actionable retail strategies.
Collaborate effectively with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Shopper & Consumer Insights, Brand teams, eCommerce, and other Category Leadership resources to establish and maintain performance management, streamline reporting processes, and conduct macro assessments and opportunity gap analyses.
Direct the execution of Red Bull’s category management resources to develop solutions that enable the formulation of strategic plans for assigned customer teams.
Drive the implementation of category development programs by leading conversations with retailers to highlight category growth opportunities.
Integrate the customer business planning process with overarching strategic business objectives.
Transform insights into actionable strategies by executing, analyzing, and evaluating category plans, while identifying key opportunities for Red Bull and its retail partners to leverage.
Deliver engaging presentations of Red Bull’s category expertise and credentials to key retailers.
Develop a robust and comprehensive understanding of the Energy category and the broader beverage industry.
Deliver state-of-the-art Category Management solutions by leveraging expertise in analyzing IRI and Nielsen syndicated scanning data, Household Panel data, market demographic information, customer point-of-sale data, loyalty metrics, and the systems utilized to compile and optimize Category reviews.
Design, implement, and present regular Category reviews, strategic plans, and actionable insights in collaboration with Retailer partners.
Conduct detailed business analyses to assess sales performance, pricing strategies, and identify opportunity gaps for driving incremental volume growth.
Oversee the creation of Planograms and facilitate store-level roundtable discussions with Retailers to establish best-in-class practices for Category management.
Conduct analysis on the introduction of new items and assess their performance.
Perform analysis on the mix of new products and packaging.
Develop analyses to evaluate merchandising effectiveness, including the impact of displays and promotions.
Maintain and enhance regular internal and retailer-specific scorecards and trackers.
Provide ad hoc category management reports, trend analyses, customized reports, and support for special projects as required by internal or external leaders.
Stay informed about advancements and best practices in category management, actively pursue knowledge to enhance departmental capabilities and professional adaptability.