Category Manager (55874)
About The Position
The Category Manager plays a key role in supporting Premium Guard’s growth with large North American automotive aftermarket retailers by delivering insight-driven category strategies, compelling customer narratives, and data-backed recommendations. This role partners closely with Sales, Product Management, and the Senior Category Manager to translate complex automotive aftermarket data—including POS performance, vehicle-in-operation (VIO) trends, application coverage, and market insights—into actionable strategies that drive category growth. The Category Manager helps position Premium Guard as a trusted category partner by developing insights that support assortment optimization, product innovation, and fact-based selling with major retail customers.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Analytics, or a related field.
- 4–7 years of experience in category management, analytics, sales strategy, or business insights within retail, CPG, or the automotive aftermarket.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate complex datasets into actionable business insights.
- Experience working with POS data, assortment analytics, pricing analysis, or promotional performance.
- Proficiency with Microsoft business tools including Excel, PowerPoint, and Power BI.
- Ability to develop customer-facing presentations and data-driven selling stories.
- Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Product Management, Supply Chain, and Marketing teams.
Nice To Haves
- Experience working with automotive aftermarket data sources such as VIO databases, catalog/fitment platforms, or syndicated retail data.
- Familiarity with automotive aftermarket catalog standards such as ACES and PIES.
- Experience supporting retail line reviews or assortment planning.
- Experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
- Understanding of automotive aftermarket dynamics including DIY and DIFM customer segments.
Responsibilities
- Category Strategy & Insights Develop customer-specific category strategies that support growth initiatives and business planning.
- Analyze POS data, VIO trends, vehicle parc data, and market insights to identify whitespace opportunities and emerging trends.
- Deliver insight support across the 4Ps (Product, Placement, Promotion, and Pricing) to enable data-driven selling and merchandising strategies.
- Leverage vehicle age trends, application coverage, and aftermarket demand signals to inform assortment and product development recommendations.
- Customer-Facing Insights & Storytelling Build clear, compelling category narratives and selling stories tailored for large aftermarket retail partners.
- Support Sales with category insights, presentations, and strategic materials for buyer meetings and business planning discussions.
- Translate complex data into clear, actionable insights that strengthen retailer partnerships.
- Reporting & Analytics Maintain dashboards and performance reporting that track category and assortment performance.
- Analyze competitive assortments, promotional activity, and category share movement.
- Convert complex datasets into concise insights and executive-ready summaries to support internal and customer decision-making.
- Assortment Optimization Conduct SKU productivity and assortment performance analysis to optimize product mix and improve category productivity.
- Identify rationalization opportunities, assortment gaps, and category whitespace.
- Support line reviews and assortment discussions through data analysis and insight development.
- Assist with new product introductions aligned with vehicle trends and category demand.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with Product Management to align customer insights with product roadmap and innovation planning.
- Collaborate with Catalog & Content teams to ensure accurate fitment data, product attributes, and digital assets.
- Coordinate with Sales and Supply Chain to support new item launches and assortment transitions.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
