Director, Category Convenience

Red Bull•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Director of Category is responsible for designing and managing Red Bull’s Category Business Plan across all insight’s functions within their assigned customers to improve the company’s selling proposition and deliver sustainable and impactful category-based sales initiatives. The end-goal is to provide their customer accounts with cutting-edge analysis and insights that lead to best-in-class promotion, distribution, and merchandising. The Director of Category will directly manage a team of Category Development Managers and Category Analyst(s) supporting various divisions and insights responsibilities for their account(s).

Requirements

Minimum 10 years of experience in Sales/Category Management, within CPG/Beverage
Proven leadership skills and the ability to coach and managed a team
Comfort working independently; a demonstrated track record in project management
Efficient management and proper delegation - up, down and out – of high-volume projects
Proven analytical and communication skills, including verbal, written & presentation
Proven teaching/coaching skills, driving analytical thinking, selling, and influencing skills
Exceptional ability to manage multiple priorities and navigate through competing demands
Extensive knowledge of syndicated data (Nielsen, Circana, and/or Spectra) and shopper data (Numerator or retailer loyalty data)
Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel & PPT and familiar with Plan-o-gram software, such as JDA Intactix
Innovative, analytical, solution-oriented mindset with problem solving and strategic thinking skills to evaluate and provide actionable insights
Ability to drive initiatives and develop strong working relationships with both the internal sales team and customer accounts
Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
Must be fluent in English, additional language skills an advantage

Responsibilities

Using multiple sources of research, this individual will integrate shopper and category insights into actionable plans that carry Red Bull’s category initiatives forward
Implement industry-leading category management tools and processes for their customer accounts
Lead and influence their customer accounts’ space planning strategy to ensure fair share representation of category & brand space
Leads their team and oversees the function of interpreting data, concluding, and developing insights and presentations including the generation of reports utilizing various data sources like IRI, shopper data, market demographic data, customer point-of-sale, loyalty data, to help support overall business goals at their customer accounts
Manage a team of category managers and analysts and ensure career development and growth for each employee
Coach, educate, and motivate direct reports for increased productivity
Through frequent communication and increased workflow definition, the DCD will provide the team with resources and counsel as needed and will continue to support the developmental needs of a highly motivated group
Coach team to deliver on a high volume of internal and external demands
Lead team to develop thought-leading initiatives and insights that impact their customer account’s strategy
Provide thought leadership in direct partnership with Sales teams during Business Planning, establishing a continuous cycle for planning, discovery, analysis, development, and sharing best-in-class Insights to drive Red Bull’s growth opportunities at their customers
Identify key management level stakeholders within their customer accounts and establish strong relationships through consistent Insights led conversations, influencing mutually beneficial decisions at retail
Facilitate the customer business planning process by integrating with overall strategic business goals
Develop an integrated picture of success based on In-Store leadership principles and prioritized Category growth solutions and activations, ensuring Red Bull’s portfolio visibility and presence at point of purchase exceeds market share and perfect store ambitions are realized
Lead custom projects in collaboration with HQ Shopper Insights Team, to inform the development of effective Category and In-store solutions at the key Energy locations in store (Main Aisle/Path to Purchase, Front End, along with secondary & permanent displays)
Drive the measures of success of in-store activations and marketing strategies impacting category & brand growth plans with their customers, based on shopper and customer insights
Actively contribute to a wide variety of HQ Cross-Functional Teams within RBNA to ensure Insight’s representation and their customer account’s ‘voice