Category Manager

California Dairies, Inc.•Dublin, CA

8d•$91,346 - $137,644•Hybrid

About The Position

Join the California Dairies, Inc. (CDI) team, a farmer-owned cooperative dedicated to sustainably producing the highest quality dairy products while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. CDI products are delivered locally and around the world. Our corporate function serves as the central hub for the CDI enterprise, driving strategic decision-making, innovation, overall business support, and growth across our diverse portfolio of dairy products and brands. We encourage you to be part of our team that's shaping the future of dairy, right from the heart of California! Our commitment to CDI employees: We believe in valuing our team with a total rewards package that goes beyond the basics. You'll find we offer competitive pay and incentive programs designed to recognize and reward your contributions. Competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits, generous paid time off, sick days & holidays, retirement plans designed to secure your future. We don't stop there. We've also cultivated a variety of valuable programs focused on your personal well-being and professional growth, ensuring you have the support you need to both inside and outside of work. Job Summary The Category Manager works closely with the Retail Sales Team, Marketing Team, and Finance & Accounting teams to drive sales, purchases, and profitability. As a strategic partner to top customers, the Category Manager is responsible for providing fact-based, insight-led, and actionable category solutions to drive growth for the category, customer, and company. The Category Manager acts as a thought-leader using consumer and data trends to provide value-creating business solutions regarding category assortment, merchandising, shelving, pricing, and promotion. The role has close collaboration with both internal & external partners. The position requires proficiency in following the company values of cooperation, integrity, work ethic, decisiveness, and agility.

Requirements

Ability to adapt to changing conditions and demands.
Ability to handle multiple priorities.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to interface with all levels of the organization as well as external customers.
Excellent verbal, written, and social communication skills.
Ability to work under pressure with minimal or no supervision.
Detail oriented and deep understanding of key category management.
Exceptional leadership, motivational, and team management skills.
Proven ability to develop teams to the next level.
Strategic thinking and analytical skills with the proven ability to translate data into insights and actions.
Possess strong communication and organizational skills.
Strong Microsoft skills required.
Enjoy independent responsibility. Self-motivated and able to execute independently.
Emotional intelligence.
Team player with excellent collaboration skills.
High level of integrity and dependability with strong sense of urgency and results-orientation.
Highly proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (especially Excel and PowerPoint)
Strong financial acumen, attention to detail, time management and problem-solving skills
Ability to collaborate across multiple departments and levels of the organization.
Must demonstrate good judgement when carrying out duties as assigned.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or equivalent work experience required.
7+ years progressive experience working in an insights capacity; category / shopper/retailer-facing experience a must, CPG experience preferred
Deep fluency in shopper panel (Numerator preferred), syndicated and retailer data
Demonstrated success translating insights into measurable commercial impact
Experience designing and leading large-scale research initiatives
Strong retail and business acumen with ability to identify opportunities that drive growth in a retail environment
English is required as the written and spoken language.

Nice To Haves

CMA certification preferred

Responsibilities

Define and own the multi-year Category Insights learning agenda aligned to enterprise growth priorities
Identify high-value opportunities across channels and retailers by synthesizing primary research, panel data, and syndicated sources
Translate shopper behavior and category trends into clear commercial implications that drive distribution, velocity, and basket expansion
Serve as a category thought leader, elevating CDI’s credibility with retail partners through insight-led selling
Integrate diverse data streams (primary, shopper, panel, syndicated, and retailer data) into cohesive, action-oriented narratives
Establish frameworks and standardized approaches for Category trend mapping, segmentation, and opportunity sizing
Build scalable tools and ways of working that embed shopper thinking into the Sales organization
Champion disciplined, hypothesis-led analytics that move beyond diagnosis to business opportunities to test and learn
Craft stakeholder-ready, insight-driven stories that drive clarity and inspire action among senior leaders and decision-makers
Connect macro trends, category dynamics, and shopper motivations into growth opportunities and narratives
Simplify complexity into intuitive visualizations and clear business implications tailored to diverse audiences
Equip Sales teams with compelling, insight-backed selling stories that unlock incremental retailer opportunity
Act as the voice of the category expert in preparation for key customer engagements and internal strategy discussions
Elevate organizational fluency in category analytics through education, frameworks, and repeatable tools
Build and manage external research partners to deliver high-impact learning efficiently and effectively.
Performs other related duties as assigned.