Senior Specialist Category Development

Staples•Framingham, MA

19h

About The Position

As Senior Specialist, Category Development at Staples, you will turn customer, market, and competitive research into insights that help shape category and portfolio decisions. Working closely with Merchandising and cross-functional partners, you will identify unmet customer needs, emerging trends, and opportunities to strengthen assortments, support product innovation, and deliver differentiated growth, sustainable incremental margin, and greater customer value. The role suits someone who can connect data with business strategy and translate research into clear recommendations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Merchandising, Analytics, Market Research, or a related field.
At least 2 years of experience in category management, merchandising, market research, consumer insights, business analytics, or a related field.
Curious, customer-focused mindset and an interest in understanding customer needs and purchasing decisions.
Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, including the ability to evaluate information from multiple sources and identify meaningful patterns.
Ability to translate complex research and data into clear, actionable business insights.
Sound business acumen and understanding of how category performance, assortment strategy, and margin influence business results.
Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to develop polished, executive-ready materials.
Collaborative approach and ability to build productive relationships with cross-functional partners.
Initiative, sound judgment, and organizational skills to manage research independently, balance multiple priorities, and deliver accurate, timely work.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting Private Brand, product development, or innovation initiatives.
Experience using market research, competitive intelligence, or benchmarking tools.
Advanced proficiency with Excel and data analysis techniques.
Experience developing executive-level presentations and business recommendations.
Knowledge of retail, consumer products, category management, and merchandising practices.

Responsibilities

Analyze category performance, assortment productivity, and Owned Brand penetration to evaluate category health and identify growth opportunities.
Identify hero products, assortment redundancies, whitespace opportunities, and potential risks to inform portfolio decisions.
Support quarterly and annual category reviews with scorecards, portfolio assessments, trend reports, and opportunity analyses.
Benchmark competitive products, designs, materials, specifications, and value propositions to support product development and innovation.
Track competitor assortments, pricing, product features, packaging, innovation, and emerging brands to assess the competitive landscape.
Monitor customer reviews, ratings, and feedback alongside category trends and market shifts to identify unmet needs and emerging opportunities.
Translate research and complex data into concise, executive-ready presentations, business cases, and actionable recommendations.
Partner with Merchandising, Category Development, Product Development, Marketing, and Analytics to translate insights into informed business decisions.
Maintain shared repositories of competitive intelligence and category insights, improving research methods and reporting tools as needed.