Parker Blake is partnering with an innovative Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, GA for a Director of Category Management. You will serve as a thought leader for the deployment of critical go-to-market capabilities; providing lead shopper insights generation, development, deployment and initiative customization for the sales force and customers. This role will lead a field based team of 5 managers directly and collaborate externally with clients and internally with the business development, brand management and sales teams.
Job Responsibilities
- Build customer relationships with key decision makers and represent best knowledge of actionable shopper insights and Category/Industry trends.
- Support strategic customer initiatives with competitive paper products industry knowledge in the grocery channel
- Lead, coach and develop the Grocery Channel Category Management Team to influence customers’ decisions to their economic benefit, to their shoppers’ benefit, and to the client’s benefit.
- Lead the commercialization of go-to-market SFE capabilities with strategic customers that include (but not limited to):
- A next generation Joint Business Planning (JBP) capability that leverages category and shopper knowledge, technology, and customer understanding to create mutual business objectives and action plans fueled by big innovation ideas with strategic customers
- Commercial innovation testing with key customers to enable quick, effective in-market testing based upon shopper/customer insights
- A consulting capability that enables customers to achieve topline results through effective management of their branded and Private Label portfolios
- Lead the JBP process with these customers, as appropriate, including identification of opportunities, creation of meeting agenda and presentation materials, project planning, and communication/sell-in to customer.
- Manage the shopper insights for each customer to help identify and communicate category growth opportunities to Sales team.
- Be the voice of the retailer to the Category teams, ensuring consideration of value to the customer in the strategic imperatives.
- Provide category insight and guidance to the Customer Insights Managers and Analysts to close distribution and space opportunities (e.g., drive improvements in the business through promotion evaluation, pricing analysis, assortment and space optimization).
- Participate in category line reviews and other sell-in sessions with strategic customers, as appropriate.
- Lead the team to consistently deliver category insights and analysis from mining customer loyalty card data (where available), scan data, panel data, custom research, etc., to identify growth opportunities and recommended customer action plans that generate value over the long term.
Key Role Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or higher in Marketing, Business Administration or related fields.
- At least 7 years of experience working in or across Category Management roles, Sales, Customer Planning and/or Brand Management.
- At least 5 years of Team Leadership and people management experience.
- At least 2-3 years of experience leading cross-functional teams in (or for a client in) a CPG environment
- Previous experience with IRI and/or Nielsen syndicated data.
- Willing to travel up to ~40% of time to customer’s and corporate locations for meeting and other business related activities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree
- Experience with a CPG company in the food industry or related forest products categories
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Customer-focused individual dedicated to exceeding the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers
- Experience interfacing with customers/retailers on shopper insights
- Ability to think broadly and objectively to grow the business with an entrepreneurial mindset
- Ability to creatively find solutions to business questions and issues
- Solid presentation and written/verbal communications skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects to completion with minimum managerial oversight
- Strong interpersonal skills with a collaborative / team based style
How to apply:
If you are interested in this opportunity please email an updated resume, cover letter and your salary history including salary expectations to us at talent@parkerblake.com.
About Parker Blake:
Parker Blake is a consulting firm with a proven record of enabling great returns on our clients’ investment. Our high-caliber consultants offer deep experience and expertise across many diverse industries and service areas. We specialize in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Executive and Professional Search, and Interim Staffing.
Parker Blake is an equal employment opportunity company committed to diversity in the workplace.
