Manager, Category Leadership - Walmart Inc. (Sales Facing)

J.M. Smucker Co•Bentonville, AR

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Category Leadership is responsible for building trust and influence with Walmart and Sam’s retailers and supporting Smucker’s sales teams in driving brand penetration, growth, and development across designated categories and JMS brand activation. The role leads customized development of category-specific retailer growth opportunities and diagnostics, using insights to create activations tailored to retailer, shopper, and category dynamics. It supports sales with insights for joint business planning, line reviews, and annual customer sales planning, identifying and executing category and JMS growth opportunities. This position serves as a go-to category expert, providing retail, consumer, shopper, and category expertise in support of sales initiatives and acting as a liaison to the headquarters category leadership and strategy team. The role leads customer-specific category growth strategies, initiatives, and content; develops four-P tactical solutions with ownership of shelving and assortment; and partners with cross-functional teams on price and promotion. It provides thought leadership and category-first input in customer reviews, assessments, top-to-top meetings, joint business plans, and quarterly business reviews. The Manager uses account-specific insights, analytics, and recommendations to influence retailer strategies and creates customer-ready stories, visuals, and tools for selling conversations. The position tracks performance and activation effectiveness, identifies risks and opportunities, supports omni-channel activation, and communicates insights to internal and external audiences. The Manager partners with Sales, Marketing, Insights, Intelligence, Category Strategy, and other functions to identify opportunities and translate insights into execution. The role is expected to be an expert in customer business analytics and resources, identify requirements for tools and data-support systems, and contribute to customer long-term business strategy. The position is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, with a hybrid arrangement requiring onsite work at least two days per week and travel of up to 20–25%.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
At least 6 years of experience in the consumer-packaged goods industry.
At least 3 years of Category Management or Shopper Insights experience.
Proven success building relationships with customers or retailers.
Experience analyzing shopper- or consumer-based CPG information.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with storytelling experience.
Cross-functional collaboration skills, particularly in customer- and sales-centric work.
Excellent organization and written and verbal communication skills.
Proficiency leveraging Circana or Nielsen data, POS and panel data, shopper card data, Scintilla, and Atlas.
Ability to develop insights and translate them into actions, including telling stories with data.
Strategic mindset to help build and execute effective plans.
Business and financial acumen.

Nice To Haves

MBA.
Experience working cross-functionally in a headquarters environment.
Planogramming or planogram software experience, such as JDA ProSpace or EZPOG.

Responsibilities

Build trust and influence with Walmart and Sam’s retailers while supporting sales teams in growing brand penetration and category development.
Develop customer-specific category growth drivers, strategies, initiatives, and customized content.
Lead four-P tactical solutions for assigned customers and categories, owning shelving and assortment and partnering with cross-functional teams on pricing and promotions.
Provide thought leadership to strengthen Smucker’s voice and influence with Walmart and Sam’s.
Lead category-first input in customer category reviews, assessments, top-to-top meetings, joint business plans, and quarterly business reviews.
Influence retailer category strategies with account-specific insights, business analysis, and recommendations on distribution, promotion, pricing, and shelf placement.
Create customer-ready stories, visuals, and tools for insight- and data-supported selling conversations.
Track performance and activation results, assess promotional and innovation effectiveness, and identify risks and opportunities.
Use consumer, shopper, and category insights to develop fact-based strategic selling that supports implementation and activation at retail.
Support and drive omni-channel activation and integration into category deliverables and workstreams.
Collaborate with category advisor teams and sales to drive business results.
Analyze the competitive marketplace in which JMS and customers operate.
Communicate insights and learnings to a range of internal and external audiences.
Provide category and key customer business analytics and participate in retailer meetings.
Partner with Sales, Marketing, Insights, Intelligence, Category Strategy, and other functional teams to identify opportunities and translate insights into execution.
Use customer business analytics and resources, including Circana, panel data, and Scintilla.
Identify requirements for tool development and data-support systems that improve visibility and application of category insights.
Act as a liaison to the JMS headquarters Category Leadership team.
Provide input into customer long-term business strategy.
Travel up to 20–25%.