Category Manager - National Chain

Company: The Swan Food Company
Location: Minneapolis
Posted on: February 1, 2025

Job Description:

Schwan's Company, a U.S. affiliate of the global lifestyle brand CJ CheilJedang Corporation, is a leader in manufacturing and marketing quality foods enjoyed nationwide. We have beloved brands like Red Baron, Tony's, Big Daddy's, Villa Prima and Freschetta pizzas; bibigo, Pagoda Asian-style snacks and we can't forget Mrs. Smith's and Edwards pies! We bring families and communities together through great food. Join our team and see the opportunities are real, and the sky is the limit; this isn't just a job, it's a seat at the table!We are hiring a Category Manager to work in our Bloomington, MN based HQ supporting a large National Retailer. In this customer-facing role, you will function as an expert in the frozen pizza, frozen desserts, frozen Asian, and Shelf Stable Asian category. We are looking for category management skills including big picture thinker, story-telling abilities, an openness, and excitement to dive deep into the data. You will work cross functionally (both internally and externally) to develop, draw, and execute planograms with high-level strategies that maximize sales and profitability. As part of the home office insights center of excellence, every day will bring a variety of opportunities for your thought leadership. Your critical thinking skills will grow as you build strategic rationales using your objective consumer and shopper-centric analytics. Your influence will be based on factual insights which will help drive profitable growth for retailers and for Schwan's.Responsibilities:

• Present expert, non-biased category insights focused on driving category growth at key Retailer through weekly and monthly communication, and annual category reviews.
• Proactively identify business opportunities and propose both strategic and tactical solutions.
• Utilize fact-based data measures to develop solutions focused on category management basics: market shares, opportunity gaps, seasonal or regional trends, promotion, pricing, and distribution.
• Understand Retailer's core shopper and buying behavior in market to both increase conversion and eliminate leakage to other retailers or channels.
• Perform market assessments through competitive store visits and other data sources.
• Prepare assortment optimization analysis and influence buying team decisions to maximize schematic performance.
• Build out planograms in alignment with retailer buying team, hitting key deadlines and metrics.
• Provide post reset analysis to begin category assessment for next POG build.
• Lead and manage diverse complex projects both internally and externally improving capabilities and efficiency of workstreams.
• Proactively anticipate the business needs of the buyer and provide recommendations to grow sales and demonstrate strong problem-solving skills.Basic Qualifications:5+ years' experience in a role involving category analysis or category management. Strong Excel, PowerPoint, JDA or Apollo planogram software experience.Preferred Qualifications:Bachelor's and 5+ years' experience involving category management or advisory role, shopper/loyalty card data, and strategy and presenting to retail buyers. Experience generating, interpreting, and analyzing syndicated data and retailer POS data within the CPG industry, ideally in food.Compensation and Benefits:The base salary range for this position is $91,000 - $151,000 annually with eligibility for a 20% annual incentive bonus, based on organizational performance. The salary range represents numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to education, skills, work experience, certifications, geography etc. As such, starting pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range.Beyond base salary, we offer a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. We are proud to offer a strong foundation of health benefits, retirement and financial wellbeing, time off programs, and wellbeing support programs.The employing subsidiaries of Schwan's Company are Equal Employment Opportunity Employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, age, race, color, religion, gender, vet status, national origin, or other protected class.
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Keywords: The Swan Food Company, St. Paul , Category Manager - National Chain, Executive , Minneapolis, Minnesota