Category Management Intern

Careers and Highline Warren • Lisle, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Category Management Intern will support the Sprayway team through category analysis, consumer insight development, sales enablement, trade show support, and project ownership. The internship provides hands-on experience in consumer packaged goods, retail category management, professional and industrial channels, syndicated data, and cross-functional business planning. The position is based in Lisle, Illinois, with a hybrid schedule: onsite Monday through Thursday and remote flexibility on Friday. The internship runs from June 7, 2027, through August 13, 2027, and is scheduled for 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday.

The intern will own a summer-long capstone project based on category, consumer, and shopper insights. They will identify an opportunity, develop a recommendation, and present the concept to leadership for potential future action by the Sprayway team. The intern will also support analysis of Sprayway’s professional product lineup and channels, sales materials, trade show activities, market and retail data, and consumer reviews.

By the end of the internship, the intern is expected to have developed a stronger understanding of the Sprayway business, its retail and professional channels, category trends, consumer feedback, and competitive dynamics, and to deliver a final capstone recommendation identifying an opportunity and potential path forward for the brand.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a degree in business, marketing, analytics, economics, or a related field.
• Strong interest in consumer packaged goods, retail, category management, sales strategy, or product marketing.
• Comfort working with data and translating findings into clear business insights.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to build polished presentations and summarize key takeaways.
• Proactive, curious, and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage a project from concept through final recommendation.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Exposure to syndicated data platforms such as Circana.

Responsibilities

• Own and develop a summer-long capstone project rooted in category, consumer, and shopper insights; identify an opportunity, develop a recommendation, and present it to leadership.
• Conduct a deep dive into the Sprayway Professional product lineup and develop an understanding of industrial, professional, and commercial cleaning channels.
• Support channel research through activities such as customer visits, trade shows, competitive research, customer feedback analysis, and identifying product portfolio gaps or opportunities.
• Assist with developing and maintaining Sprayway sales materials, including sales decks, category stories, competitive comparisons, store set photography, product imagery, marketing copy, and supporting Circana or point-of-sale data.
• Support Sprayway-related trade show planning and execution, including sampling coordination, booth artwork direction, product presentation, show preparation, and on-site support when schedule and availability allow.
• Use Circana, retailer point-of-sale data, and other analytical resources to monitor category trends, competitive performance, retailer activity, and business implications.
• Prepare a biweekly category update summarizing market activity, its impact on Sprayway, and potential opportunities.
• Analyze Sprayway product reviews across key retail platforms and monitor competitor reviews.
• Help develop a repeatable process for tracking consumer feedback, identifying themes, and translating insights into actionable recommendations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed