Senior Category Manager, Kroger

General Summary :

As a member of the Campbell Snacks Category Management Team, the Senior Category Manager, Kroger will be responsible for accelerating strategic and tactical thought leadership at Kroger.

This individual will also be responsible for managing and mentoring the local Kroger category management team with the expectation of building a high functioning team driven to executing with excellence.

This person will be responsible for delivering against team growth objectives, partner on category reviews, monthly performance tracking, and be the trusted advisor for Kroger.

This individual will partner with key retailer decision makers aligning on priorities, insight needs and whitespace identification to drive Campbell Snacks strategic retailer partnerships forward.

Proficiency in the use point-of-sale, Stratum and Market 6 data to create clear actionable category recommendations will be imperative to the success in this role.

Primary Responsibilities :

• Effectively and efficiently manage and build up the local category management team skills
• Proactively develop collaborative relationships with our retail partners to be viewed as a trusted resource for category insights and objective growth opportunities
• Actively advise Kroger on category and shopper centric opportunities to grow market share
• Develops category strategy and assists customer with integrated category strategy development
• Provides strategic and tactical recommendations on the Distribution, Shelving, Merchandising and Pricing (DSMP) goals to improve overall category performance.
• Responsible for developing customer specific presentation with relevant consumer insights, competitive responses, and new item / category selling strategies.
• Actively lead and participate in preparation of line reviews and reoccurring customer category reviews, JBP plans, and Top to Top meetings.
• Lead comprehensive understanding of plan-o-gram insights and assortment to help identify and drive strategic sales opportunities and customer growth objectives.
• Owner of Kroger TDP forecasting
• Develops strong working relationships with category leadership, buyers, and cross functional departments.

Job Complexity :

The Senior Category Manager, Kroger will work with buyers, insights teams, and senior leaders with the goal of driving strategic category direction.

This role will require professionalism, executive presence, ability to balance customer / Campbells daily.

• Ability to manage the local category management team building individuals skills and knowledge of both Kroger and Campbell Snacks.
• Works with cross-functional groups including the retailer, internal customer team(s), and World HQ resources.

Minimum Requirements :

• Bachelor's Degree required
• 8+ years' experience in Category Management or data analytics role in the CPG industry
• 84.51 Stratum (Strongly preferred)
• IRI and Nielsen syndicated data experience required (Proficiency required)
• Excel & PowerPoint expertise (Proficiency required)
• POG software (JDA)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Preferred :

• Category, Loyalty, & Shopper Knowledge
• High degree of self-motivation and discipline
• Exceptional organization and communication skills (both written & verbal)
• Excel at math, analytics, and problem-solving
• Ability to work with a wide variety of individuals within the organization and maintain regular contact with all stakeholders
• Team oriented with the ability to work independently
• Initiative and ability to work with various individuals and groups inside and outside the company progressing towards a common goal

Working Conditions :

This position will work from the Campbell Snacks local office three (3) days a week

8805 Governor's Hill Drive, Suite 300, Cincinnati, OH 45249

• Collaborative relationships and team focused are vital to the success of this role
• Approximately 10% travel is required to the customer & team meetings

This role reports directly into the Director, Category Management National Accounts.