Director, Category Space

Red Bull•Chicago, IL

2d•$115,200 - $172,800•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Category Space is responsible for leading Red Bull’s planogram, assortment, and micro/macro space strategy for assigned customer accounts. This role designs and influences space planning methodologies that strengthen Red Bull’s leadership position in the category and provide both Red Bull and its retail partners with actionable insights that drive best-in-class merchandising and assortment decisions. The Director will directly manage Category Space Manager(s) and Category Space Analyst(s) supporting retail partners, planogram development, reporting, and insight generation.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in Space Planning, Category Management, CPG, beverage, or a related industry, with demonstrated expertise influencing category and merchandising strategy.
Lead, coach, and develop high-performing teams while balancing multiple priorities, stakeholder needs, and high-volume workstreams.
Manage complex projects independently, delegate effectively, and create clear plans that support successful execution across internal teams and retail partners.
Translate complex data and insights into clear, actionable recommendations through strong analytical, communication, presentation, teaching, and influencing skills.
Apply deep knowledge of syndicated data sources, including Nielsen, Circana, and/or PDI, to inform customer strategies and category recommendations.
Leverage Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint, to build compelling analyses, presentations, and business recommendations.
Build strong working relationships with internal sales teams and customer account partners to influence decisions and drive initiatives forward.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Blue Yonder space planning software preferred.
Familiarity with Snowflake, SQL, Python, and Power BI to strengthen reporting, automation, and insight-generation capabilities preferred.
An innovative, solution-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving and strategic thinking skills.
Bachelor’s Degree strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead and influence space planning strategy across assigned customer accounts to ensure fair share representation of category and brand space.
Oversee reset process management, planogram development and analysis, reporting, and clustering capabilities that support internal teams and retail partners.
Advance the development, standardization, and rollout of Category Space and Assortment tools and reporting to improve planogram communication, identify merchandising and assortment opportunities, and drive process efficiency.
Translate shopper, category, and customer insights into actionable strategies that bring Red Bull’s merchandising principles to life.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of Category Space Manager(s) and Category Space Analyst(s), ensuring clear accountability, career growth, and strong execution across priorities.
Provide ongoing guidance, workflow clarity, and resources that enable the team to manage high-volume internal and external demands effectively.
Build team capability in analytical thinking, merchandising strategy, selling, and influencing to deliver thought-leading insights for customer account growth.
Partner directly with Category Development and Key Accounts teams during business planning to establish a continuous cycle of planning, discovery, analysis, and insight sharing that supports Red Bull growth opportunities.
Build and manage strong relationships with buying and merchandising leaders across assigned customer accounts through consistent, insight-led conversations and mutually beneficial retail recommendations.
Plan and communicate resource commitments with key internal stakeholders, ensuring alignment on customer prioritization, successful delivery against retailer commitments, and flexibility to address emerging opportunities.