Category Development Manager

The Category Manager directly supports the Director of Category Development in creating consumer- and customer-focused strategies, tactics, and category-based solutions. This individual will perform high-quality analyses and synthesize various data sources to generate insights and actionable recommendations while utilizing effective communication and influencing skills to drive action across national small-format customers. The ideal candidate should have strong business acumen, excellent communication abilities, and proven experience in the following areas: assortment planning, negotiation, pricing strategy, online product presentation, sales, and fostering productive relationships.

Areas that play to your strengths

All the responsibilities we'll trust you with:

• Develop and nurture business relationships with external retailer contacts to position RBNA as the essential partner for all category management needs.

  Gain in-depth knowledge of products, attributes, strategies, tactics, and competitive trends in the marketplace for assigned categories across both online and offline platforms.

  Supervise the development and execution of online and offline assortment and merchandising optimization, new product launches, seasonal programs, and pricing or promotional planning and evaluation.

  Utilize data from multiple sources to develop impactful analytics and compelling selling stories, identifying risks, opportunities, and performance gaps (e.g., distribution, assortment mix, incremental growth, sizing, shelving, and placement).

  Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to anticipate and address issues and opportunities by going beyond mere reporting, translating insights into actionable retail strategies.

  Collaborate effectively with Sales, Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Shopper & Consumer Insights, Brand, eCommerce, and other Category Leadership teams to establish and maintain performance management processes. This includes streamlining reporting schedules, conducting macro-level assessments, and performing opportunity gap analyses.

  Lead the execution of Red Bull’s Category Management resources to deliver solutions that help establish strategic plans for designated Customer Teams.

  Develop and implement Category Development programs by initiating and leading discussions with Retailers to identify and act on growth opportunities within the Category.

  Facilitate the customer business planning process by aligning efforts with overarching strategic business objectives.

  Translate insights into actionable strategies by executing, analyzing, and evaluating Category plans, identifying key opportunities for Red Bull and its retail partners to maximize success.

  Deliver compelling presentations of Red Bull’s Category expertise and credentials to key Retailers.

• Cultivate an unparalleled depth of expertise in the Energy Beverage category and broader beverage industry insights.

  Develop and implement cutting-edge Category Management solutions by leveraging and analyzing IRI and Nielsen syndicated scanning data, Household Panel information, market demographics, customer point-of-sale data, loyalty metrics, and other relevant systems to produce comprehensive Category reviews.

  Design, execute, and deliver regular Category reviews, strategic plans, and actionable strategies in collaboration with Retailer partners.

  Conduct detailed business analysis to provide insights on sales performance, pricing trends, and identify opportunity gaps for driving incremental volume growth.

  Oversee planogram development and facilitate store-level roundtable discussions for Retailers, ensuring best-in-class practices within the Category.

• Conduct analysis on the introduction of new items and evaluate their performance.

  Perform analysis on new product and package mix.

  Develop insights to assess the effectiveness of merchandising strategies, including display and promotional initiatives.

  Create, maintain, and improve regular internal scorecards and retailer-specific trackers.

  Deliver ad-hoc category management reports, trend analyses, customized insights, and manage special projects as needed for both internal and external leadership.

  Stay updated on developments and best practices in Category Management while actively seeking knowledge to enhance departmental competencies and professional adaptability.

EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise

that matter most for this role:

• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Management, Accounting, Data Analytics, or a related field is preferred.
• A minimum of 3-5 years of experience in the consumer goods or retail industry, or working with syndicated data, with a focus on category management, sales, business analytics, and/or shopper insights.
• Extensive experience in analyzing, utilizing, and applying syndicated data, customer card/POS data, and panel data to achieve internal and external successes through sales and market share growth (familiarity with data sources such as Nielsen, Circana, NPD, Numerator, 84.51, dunnhumby, SPINS, Stratum, Spectra/Demographics, SPSOneScreen, Symphony Retail AI/EYC).
• Proven ability to translate complex data into clear, concise narratives.
• Demonstrated success in developing indispensable, collaborative partnerships with retail customers and internal business stakeholders across functional teams.

• Travel 20-30%
• Permanent
• Benefits eligible