National Category Director - Fresh Meat

Albertsons • Pleasanton, CA

4d

About The Position

Albertsons Companies is hiring a National Category Director of Category Development for Meat and Seafood. The role strategically manages a group of Fresh categories across the organization, supporting growth, customer experience, and market share. The director leads category planning and development, works with market merchants and functional partners, and serves as the subject matter expert for assigned categories. The position is based in one of the listed market offices or at the national headquarters in Boise, Idaho, and requires travel to meet with market teams and suppliers. Travel may be up to 40%, depending on location.

The director develops and implements category strategies and tactics, including pricing, promotions, and assortment, to meet sales, profit, and market-share goals. This involves researching category trends, innovations, consumer preferences, regional differences, and competitor activity; making category decisions in collaboration with market and functional leaders; and using data to guide planning and execution.

Working with the National Director of Replenishment, the director leads company-wide supplier negotiations and manages vendor relationships, supplier performance, category development plans, and source-of-supply planning. The role maintains category scorecards and sales and profit projections, analyzes promotional performance, and turns data and research into practical retail actions.

The director collaborates with national, regional, and market merchandising and replenishment leaders, as well as cross-functional teams such as Own Brands and Operations. The role also fosters an inclusive team environment, develops merchandising talent through training and mentorship, and supports leadership development and category expertise across the organization.

Requirements

• Deep department and category expertise in Fresh Meat and/or Seafood.
• Field or relevant business experience with a solid understanding of marketing, merchandising, consumer research, and financial management.
• Strong understanding of store operations, merchandising methodologies and practices, P&L, and financial management.
• Strong quantitative, marketing, merchandising, and consumer research background, including the ability to interpret internal and external factors affecting financial results.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, initiative, and sound decision-making ability.
• Strong planning, facilitation, and organizational skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills for developing effective internal and external relationships.
• Strategy development skills and a proven record as a strong negotiator.
• Skill in category business planning and leading collaborative processes with multiple stakeholders.
• Understanding of procurement, logistics, and inventory management.
• 5–10+ years of retail merchandising/category management and operations experience, including perishable and non-perishable products and programs.
• 3–5+ years of Market- and/or National-level retail Meat and/or Seafood operations, merchandising/category, marketing, and finance experience.
• Passion for the Meat and/or Seafood industry, delighting customers, and growing customer education and consumption.
• Demonstrated success collaborating across functional areas, including Markets, Senior Leadership, Replenishment, and vendor partners.
• Experience leading large-scale projects across multiple retail locations.
• Proven ability to lead and influence others with and without direct authority.
• Ability to foster learning, teaching, growth, risk-taking, and innovation.
• Ability to balance multiple stakeholder needs and maintain executive-level partnerships.
• Self-motivation, personal accountability, and commitment to lifelong learning and personal development.
• Track record as a proactive, trusted organizational advisor or leader on strategic issues.
• Ability to interpret research objectively, extract insights, connect them to strategies, and communicate them effectively.
• Ability to implement innovative plans in response to business and consumer challenges and gain support from Market Management Teams.
• Ability to identify root causes through strategic and tactical questions and motivate others to address them.
• Willingness to travel up to 40%, depending on location.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency with merchandising tools such as OMNI, IRI, Nielsen, Mintel, Periscope, Demand Tech, I2E, BI Dashboards, and GOLD.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Advanced degree, such as an MBA.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage category development strategies for assigned Fresh Meat and Seafood categories.
• Create and implement category pricing, promotion, and assortment strategies based on analytical planning and collaboration with markets and functional leaders.
• Lead category planning with national and market merchants to improve performance across the company and within individual markets.
• Serve as the company’s subject matter expert for assigned categories and research trends, innovations, consumer preferences, regional differences, and competitors.
• Make category decisions while considering market nuances and input from functional teams.
• Conduct company-wide supplier negotiations with the National Director of Replenishment, including annual planning costs, funding, and supply agreements.
• Act as the primary vendor contact for category strategies and tactics; meet with vendors, attend key meetings, and develop supplier joint category plans where applicable.
• Evaluate supplier performance and coordinate source-of-supply planning and supply rotations with the National Director of Replenishment.
• Communicate negotiation outcomes to markets to support promotional events and local advertising.
• Maintain weekly, quarterly, and yearly scorecards tracking category sales, profit, and market share.
• Oversee use of merchant tools for category analysis and synthesize market, promotional funding, assortment, Own Brands, eCommerce, and competitor inputs for merchandising plans.
• Manage promotional plans to use vendor funding efficiently across markets; create category sales and profit projections and conduct post-promotional analysis.
• Identify issues and opportunities through critical thinking and problem-solving, and translate analysis into retail actions.
• Collaborate with National Directors of Merchandising and Replenishment, Market Sales and Replenishment Managers, and cross-functional teams to incorporate market needs into category business plans.
• Build team morale and capability through training, mentorship, performance goals, communication, and constructive feedback.
• Promote diversity and inclusion by incorporating perspectives from across the organization and role-modeling company culture and leadership practices.
• Develop materials, experiences, and programs to train and retain merchandising talent and build category expertise.

Benefits

• Competitive wages paid weekly.
• Access to up to 50% of earned wages before payday through a partnership with Stream.
• Associate discounts.
• Health and financial well-being benefits for eligible associates, including medical, dental, and 401(k).
• Vacation, holiday, and sick pay.
• Training, career growth, and development opportunities.
• Inclusive work environment with talented colleagues who reflect the communities served.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed