Category Manager Senior Team Lead

Category Manager Sr. Team Lead

The Category Manager Sr. Team Lead is responsible for leading the Category Analytics & Insights and Shopper Insights teams for a specific client, customer, and/or region to drive insights-to-action. An essential part of this role is leading, training, and mentoring 8-15 category leadership professionals to achieve high-quality results with clients and customer teams across a portfolio of business between $20MM to $50MM. This role includes implementing client go-to-market strategies across different channels, regions, or markets to meet/exceed key performance indicators (KPIs). They will ensure that project insights and recommendations are effectively communicated to address customer business challenges and opportunities.

Moreover, the Category Manager Sr. Team Lead will collaborate with cross-functional teams to create strategies and tactics that support daily business needs. They will manage category relationships with clients and customers, anticipate future requirements, navigate challenges, and identify opportunities with both existing and new stakeholders. The Category Insights and Analytics Sr Manager will consistently seek to enhance processes and strategies, ensuring overall success and satisfaction for clients and customers.

Take this opportunity to join North America's leading business solutions provider and build your career working with amazing people in a growing industry! Apply today!

What we offer:

Full-Time Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life)
• 401(k) with company match
• Training and Career Development
• Generous Paid Time-Off

Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership:
• Direct management of 2 team members (East & West).
• Ensure workload distribution and performance across regions.
• ClientFacing Work:
• Fully integrated with the client's category management team.
• Ownership of central Tier 2 accounts.
• Data Analysis & Insights Creation:
• Deep dive into syndicated & POS data: Circana, POS, Panel Data, Kantar, Cleveland.
• Refresh and pull Excelbased reports.
• Translate data into clear insights and stories for recommendations (distribution, promotions, pricing, shelf placement).
• Proactively identify trends-flag issues such as OOS, competitor promotions, and performance gaps.
• CrossFunctional Partnership:
• Collaborate with internal and client teams.
• Lead monthly insight calls with all sales partners.
• Presentation & Communication:
• Present in internal forums and retailer meetings (line reviews, toptotops).

Qualifications:

• 5-10 years in retail analytics or category management (not financial/data-only analytics).
• People leadership experience.
• Strong presentation skills and comfort with executive-level interactions.
• Familiarity with Circana or Nielsen tools.
• Background in category management and insights within CPG.
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint experience.

Job Will Remain Open Until Filled

The Company is one of North America's leading sales and marketing agencies specializing in outsourced sales, merchandising, category management, and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers, and producers of food products and consumer packaged goods. The Company services a variety of trade channels including grocery, mass merchandise, specialty, convenience, drug, dollar, club, hardware, consumer electronics, and home centers. We bridge the gap between manufacturers and retailers, providing consumers access to the best products available in the marketplace today.

Responsibilities

• Associate Development: Provide coaching, training, and direction to associates to achieve professional objectives. Ensure project deliverables meet the quality standards of our partners.
• Client/Customer Management: Engage with assigned clients/customers and internal stakeholders to build strong, value added relationships. Leverages insights to provide recommendations that inform strategic direction enabling Advantage to be viewed as the "Trusted Advisor". Utilizes syndicated, panel, client, and geodemographic data along with market research to proactively identify mutually beneficial, actionable, and quantifiable solutions.
• Thought Leadership: Identifies, develops, and presents insight-driven thought leadership to clients, customers, and internal stakeholders. Presentations will demonstrate both data and story-telling mastery and effectively integrate category, consumer, and shopper insights with a quantifiable action plan. Be a Strategic Thought Partner, driving insights to action through deep analytics of the category, macro-trends, competitive landscape, pricing, promotion, assortment, space management, and shopper trends.
• Peer Collaboration: Consult with cross-functional teams on the development of business-building strategies and tactics informed by demands of the everyday business.
• Strategic Collaboration: Establish trust and rapport with internal and external partners to accomplish business objectives through understanding of customer goals, strategies, and capabilities.

Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, analytics, or related field required

Experience: 5-8+ years of experience in category management, shopper insights, business intelligence, strategy, or combination within the CPG, FMCG, retail, and/or consulting industries. 3+ years of people management experience leading teams of 5 or more members.

Professional Category Management Certification a plus (i.e. CMA, CKMG, TPG, Delta Associates, etc.)

Travel and/or Driving Requirements
- Travel and Driving are not essential duties or functions of this job

Supervisor Responsibility

Direct Reports
- Hires, retains, trains, coaches, guides, directs, and develops direct reports using company-wide processes, tools and resources
Indirect Reports
- May delegate work of others and provide guidance, direction and mentoring to indirect reports

Required Knowledge and Skills

• Strong leadership and team management skills - ability to lead, coach, mentor, and develop people
• Ability to collaborate with client, customer, and internal sales partners to influence business decisions with fact-based insights.
• Understanding and application of principles and practices of category leadership (assortment, pricing, promotion, shelving, and shopper)
• Communicate complex quantitative analysis in a clear, precise, and actionable manner / strong presentation skills
• Strong analytics, interpretive, & problem-solving skills - data into actionable insights

Environmental & Physical Requirements
Office / Sedentary Requirements: Incumbent must be able to perform the essential functions of the job. Work is performed primarily in an office environment. Typically, requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time (66%+ each day), ability to hear telephone, ability to enter data on a computer and may require the ability to lift up to 10lbs.

Additional Information Regarding Job Duties and Job Descriptions
Job duties include additional responsibilities as assigned by one's supervisor or other manager related to the position/department. This job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required for the position. The Company reserves the right at any time with or without notice to alter or change job responsibilities, reassign or transfer job positions, or assign additional job responsibilities, subject to applicable law. The Company shall provide reasonable accommodations of known disabilities to enable a qualified applicant or employee to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment as required by the law.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of associates so classified.

The Company is committed to providing equal opportunity in all employment practices without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, or any other category protected by law. As part of this commitment, the Company shall provide reasonable accommodations of known disabilities to enable an applicant or employee to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment as required by law.