Category Management Manager

Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA•Arlington, VA

3d•$120,480 - $159,346•Hybrid

About The Position

Nestlé USA’s Coffee & Beverage Division is on a mission to craft cups that uplift our consumers and better our communities. With brands like Starbucks, Coffee-Mate, Nescafé, Nesquik, Natural Bliss, and Seattle’s Best Coffee, our diverse product portfolio is brimming with rich and fulfilling opportunities for motivated individuals. Our offices provide an inspiring and high-energy work environment that fuels our fast-paced growth, and our field-based positions across the country ensure that we are fully immersed and positioned to pioneer the coffee and beverage market. Across our organization, we are creating a workplace where collaboration is essential, courage is rewarded, speed is expected, and agility is the norm in order to delight our consumers and shoppers every single day. Together, we will elevate everyday moments with each sip. The Category Development Manager – US Regionals role contributes to Coffee & Beverage’s success by driving sales category growth with customers. This role will drive and influence category strategy utilizing coffee and enhancer industry knowledge, shopper insights and business analytics. Additionally, the position identifies growth opportunities via best-in-class analytics including optimal assortment. Working cross functionally within the organization to drive results is a key success factor. The location of this role is flexible.

Requirements

University Degree (BA/BS) or equivalent experience and minimum 3 years of related work experience
Advanced MS Excel and PowerPoint skills
Analytical experience with Circana and/or other omni syndicated data preferred
7+ years of relevant work experience in category, sales, marketing, etc.
3+ years work experience in Category Development / Category Management roles in the CPG industry
2+ years of experience leading others preferred
Bachelor’s Degree in a related discipline

Nice To Haves

Shows relentless curiosity and proactively shares ideas with teams.
Effectively distills large swaths of data into compelling and straight-forward narratives
Takes a lead role with stakeholders to confidently voice and advocate support for key opportunities.
Takes initiative to build ongoing connections outside of immediate team for professional development and solving for complex challenges.
Comfortable and effective at communicating/presenting to more senior audiences.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain strong relationships with key customers, based upon short-and long-term category strategies aligned to customer needs and business objectives.
Identify trends based on, consumer preferences, shopper insights and competitor activity to deliver actionable strategies and opportunities for category growth.
Work closely with the sales team to align category strategies with sales objectives, ensuring effective execution in the field and driving customer satisfaction.
Analyze sales data and key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of category initiatives, making data-driven decisions to optimize performance.
Develop and implement comprehensive category plans that encompass product assortment, pricing, promotional activities and placement strategies to maximize strategic growth initiatives.
Contributes to building a cohesive culture and team connections across cross-functional teams (e.g., Sales, HQ, Shopper Marketing, Finance, etc.)
Partner with cross-functional teams on strategic projects and customer presentations, enabling C&B to build credibility and influence as the coffee/category authority
Interprets shopper and consumer research to drive category focused shopper solutions for key customers.
Leads the assortment precision analytics to define optimal best-in-class shelf assortment utilizing analytics tools and make aisle flow recommendations
Provide strategic and tactical direction to customer on how to orchestrate the shelf, rooting guidance in shopper insights, business impact & the future of coffee growth
Identifies coffee & beverage growth opportunities grounded in a strong understanding of customer’s shopper and in collaboration with cross-functional teams, shopper insights and business analytics
Works closely with manager to craft annual strategic priorities and goals for the organization
Works closely with commercial development and brand marketing partners to identify strategic opportunities and sell in across retailers