Category Manager - Sam's (based in Bentonville, AR)

Premier Nutrition Company•Rogers, AR

24d•Hybrid

About The Position

Premier Nutrition Company (PNC), maker of Premier Protein and Dymatize and part of publicly traded BellRing Brands, is hiring a Category Manager to partner with Sam’s Club Merchandising teams. The role develops and delivers go-to-market strategies to achieve Sam’s Club and PNC business targets through category planning, analysis of product assortment, pricing, promotion and placement, and new product introductions. It facilitates communication between PNC’s internal headquarters category leadership and Sam’s Club sales teams, builds vendor-partner relationships with Sam’s Club merchandising, and drives continuous improvement in total category performance. The position’s time is allocated approximately 50% to analytics and reporting, 40% to customer and category development, and 10% to sales strategy and planning. The work includes synthesizing data into actionable recommendations, leading modular planning and performance tracking, assessing industry and competitive trends, and supporting business planning and customer initiatives. The job posting describes PNC as a dynamic, hybrid workplace and states that employees are expected in the office Tuesday through Thursday. However, its office-location description refers to Emeryville and the greater Bay Area, while the job title specifies Bentonville, Arkansas. The expected pay scale is $130,000 to $140,000, subject to relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area where applicable, and internal equity. The role is bonus-eligible. PNC describes a culture emphasizing autonomy, calculated risk-taking, action, building, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

In-depth understanding of Category Management principles.
Proficiency with category-management tools, including syndicated data such as IRI, Nielsen, and SPINS; MADRID; Scintilla; JDA; ProSpace; assortment-optimization tools; and custom or proprietary consumer studies.
Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, including the ability to analyze multiple data sources and make action-based recommendations.
Advanced PC skills, including Excel, Word, data-visualization software such as Tableau or Power BI, and PowerPoint.
Five or more years of CPG experience.
Walmart or Sam’s Club Advisor experience, including high-level analytical experience.
Familiarity with the Sam’s Club business model.
Project-management and organizational skills, including the ability to manage competing priorities while supporting multiple retail customers.
Verbal and written communication skills to present complex data clearly and accurately and persuasively recommend actions to stakeholders and customers.
Ability to manage tasks and exercise independent judgment without supervision.
Ability to work independently and with teams.
Ability to work with a computer and office technology, navigate multiple systems, analyze detailed information, and shift between priorities and deadlines.
Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, marketing, or a related field is preferred.

Nice To Haves

CMA certification.
Category Management, retail management, or selling experience.
Familiarity with JDA or other planogram software and data.
Previous experience in a Category Advisor or Captain role.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain an advisor relationship with Sam’s Club.
Manage functions and necessary firewalls to protect confidential category data and support unbiased recommendations for category growth.
Maintain confidentiality of Sam’s Club category and competitive data.
Synthesize POS, MADRID, household panel, and consumer-study data into actionable assortment, merchandising, pricing, and shelving recommendations.
Create category insights for everyday needs, ad hoc business questions, and modular processes.
Lead the modular drawing process, including customer strategy, merchandising layout, adjacencies, assortment optimization, pack-out compliance, and set-size versioning.
Quantify cluster- and modular-specific opportunities and track performance before and after modular changes.
Advise on initiatives including omnichannel engagement and expansion of category adjacencies.
Assess industry trends and competitive actions and develop alternative promotional offerings to maintain or improve competitive position.
Plan, test, and monitor store-level tests to improve shopper engagement.
Support the business-planning process within PNC’s Sam’s sales team.
Monitor competitive activity and share findings with headquarters teams.
Partner with Sales, Broker Partners, and Customer Marketing to evaluate distribution, merchandising, and shelf initiatives for customer decision-makers, using technology and customer knowledge.
Partner with Sam’s Club merchandising teams to develop and deliver go-to-market strategies that meet Sam’s Club and PNC business targets.
Facilitate communication between internal headquarters category leadership and Sam’s Club sales teams.
Build strong relationships with Sam’s Club merchandising as a vendor partner and drive continuous improvement in total category performance.