Category Merchant

Staples•Framingham, MA

10d

About The Position

The Category Merchant develops and executes category plans across assortment, pricing, promotions, and marketing programs to drive revenue and margin growth. The role uses market trends, competitive activity, sales performance, customer feedback, and financial results to identify growth opportunities and optimize the product mix. It builds vendor and supplier relationships, negotiates terms, manages contracts, and monitors fulfillment, quality, and delivery performance. The Category Merchant partners with Finance to manage budgets, forecasts, profitability, and reporting, and with Supply Chain to optimize inventory and product availability while reducing excess or obsolete stock. The role works across Marketing, Operations, Sales, and eCommerce on go-to-market plans, customer engagement, and digital product presentation. It reports category performance and recommendations to senior leadership, identifies and mitigates risks, and provides direction, coaching, feedback, and development support to supervisors and/or individual contributors. The position also fosters a collaborative, accountable team culture focused on innovation, continuous improvement, and category results.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience in category management, merchandising, product management, or a related field.
At least 3 years of management or supervisory experience leading teams or large-scale, complex projects.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience using Microsoft Excel and business intelligence or data-analysis tools to make data-driven decisions.
Demonstrated vendor negotiation and contract management experience, including delivering cost savings or margin improvement.
Experience managing category sales, margin, profitability, budgets, and forecasts.
Strategic thinking and ability to turn market, customer, and financial data into actionable category plans.
Strong financial acumen in managing sales, margin, profitability, budgets, and forecasts.
Vendor negotiation, supplier relationship, and contract management capabilities.
Leadership and team-development skills, including coaching, feedback, and accountability for results.
Analytical adaptability and ability to adjust strategies as market conditions and customer needs evolve.
Clear communication and cross-functional collaboration skills, including ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

Nice To Haves

MBA or another relevant advanced degree.
Experience using Tableau, Power BI, or a similar advanced analytics platform.
Experience leading category initiatives that delivered measurable revenue growth.
Experience in an omnichannel retail environment integrating eCommerce and other selling channels.
Project Management Professional (PMP), APICS, or another relevant project or supply chain certification.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute category plans covering assortment, pricing, promotions, and marketing programs to drive revenue and margin growth.
Analyze market trends, competitive activity, sales performance, customer feedback, and financial results to identify growth opportunities and optimize product mix.
Build vendor and supplier relationships, negotiate favorable terms, manage contracts, and monitor fulfillment, quality, and delivery performance.
Partner with Finance to manage category budgets, forecasts, profitability, and financial reporting.
Collaborate with Supply Chain to optimize inventory, improve product availability, and reduce excess or obsolete stock.
Create go-to-market plans with Marketing, Operations, Sales, and eCommerce to strengthen customer engagement and digital product presentation.
Prepare category performance reports and present actionable insights and recommendations to senior leadership.
Identify and mitigate risks related to sourcing, supply chain, vendor relationships, and regulatory or internal policy requirements.
Provide direction, coaching, performance feedback, and development support to supervisors and/or individual contributors.
Foster a collaborative and accountable team culture focused on innovation, continuous improvement, and category results.