Customer & Category Manager

📋 Description

• Establish trust and enhance collaboration with our key retail partners by delivering top-notch consumer insights, data analysis, and strategic positioning that collectively inform both internal and external strategies aimed at driving growth and profitability.

• Propel customer category growth with a brand-agnostic focus on the category/segments and shopper dynamics—essentially, be obsessed with the consumer and the category!

• Ensure that consumer insights, data analysis, and strategic positioning converge to provide unbiased category insights and solutions that will expand the Ice Cream category.

• Spot category trends, opportunities, and threats, leading monthly and quarterly discussions with customers to highlight key performance indicators and future enhancements.

• Implement 4 P strategies for our retailers, working alongside cross-functional teams such as sales and marketing while customizing recommendations to meet specific customer requirements.

• Spearhead category strategy and approaches in Joint Business Planning (JBP), Top to Top meetings, Category Reviews, and annual planning sessions at relevant accounts and channels.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.

• Over 5 years of experience in customer-facing roles, sales planning, or category management sales positions within the CPG industry.

• Desired experience in category or sales roles specifically within Kroger.

• Strong commercial acumen, highly developed collaboration and influencing skills, self-motivated, results-oriented, and entrepreneurial.

• Retail sales experience is an advantage.

• Proficient understanding of customer best practices, market intelligence, category/channel/shopper trends, and the ability to translate shopper insights into actionable ideas.

• Background in data management (e.g., IRI, Nielsen, and other data sources) and insight development.

• Demonstrated ability to formulate solid insights and strategies from multiple data sources.

🏝️ Benefits

• Complimentary ice cream.