NA Category Strategy Manager - Fruits, Vegetables, & Dairy

Gordon Food Service•Wyoming, MI

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Welcome to Gordon Food Service! We are excited that you are thinking about opportunities with us, and we have an amazing story to share. See below for a quick glance of who we are and the impact you could have on the food service industry. There's a seat at our table for you... Position Summary: The NA Category Strategy Manager - Fruits, Vegetables, & Dairy responsible for developing North American strategy and objectives to maximize sales, margin and profits through end-to-end category management. Owns category management strategy and process informed by knowledge of current trends, internal and external category data, and feedback from engaged relationships with GFS merchandising and division marketing teams. Develop Joint Business Plans (JBP) with suppliers that drive go-to-market strategies to achieve sales, margin, product innovation and brand goals. Influence other functional teams (operations, finance, revenue management, strategic alliances, strategic procurement, supply chain, transportation, sales, digital) to enable go-to-market and margin strategy execution. Collaborate with strategic procurement on supplier sourcing and agreements. What you will do:

Requirements

Five or more years previous experience in brand, product or category management with three years of management experience.
Bachelor's degree in Sales, Marketing, or other related field preferred.
Proficient category management skills including product lifecycle management.
Proficiency of business and management principles involved in strategic planning to inject creativity, fresh thinking, new perspectives and to generate new and imaginative ideas.
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Proficiency in analyzing information; able to use analytics and associated tools to analyze and interpret data related to industry trends, pricing, margin performance, customer needs, etc.
Knowledge of principles and methods for merchandising products and services.
Knowledge of product and marketing segments.
Able to understand, create and follow processes in order to complete projects.
Must have good time management and organizational skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously and to complete assigned work on time and on budget.
Must be results oriented and have excellent team skills.
Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Requires effective verbal, written, and presentation skills in order to support projects, convey findings, share strategies and implement product marketing/merchandising presentations, or to sell an idea in a variety of ways including written correspondence, face-to-face, or group meetings.

Responsibilities

Product Portfolio Management Business owner of category strategies that drive company KPI’s for sales and margin. Responsible for supporting all segments of the business.
Responsible for all aspects of the product lifecycle management process from initial sourcing, market introduction, and product positioning to deletion. (Category Management Playbook)
Manage the strategy for category management insights (Vendor/NPD/Direct link) to achieve volume and margin targets in support of segmented customer and brand marketing plans.
Responsible for product taxonomy and portfolio organization.
Create category conversion strategy: Preferred Portfolio, Forced (SKU rationalization), Selling conversions (Sales / NMU)
Approves new product setup and executes introduction, conversion, and discontinuance resulting from end-to-end category management process.
Manage new product Innovation pipeline/ Portfolio Gaps (Brands and NB) and bring product to commercialization.
Develop marketing strategy utilizing multiple tools and tactics in collaboration with the Brands, Marketing Communications, and merchandising regions.
Responsible for acquisition, accuracy, timeliness and relevance of core product data information.
Initiate Brand packaging process (workfront)
Collaborate with Lead Category Buyer with Competitive Market Review strategies for assigned product lines.
Maintains knowledge of industry trends and developments by reading appropriate books, journals and other literature and attending related conferences, seminars, supplier training visits, etc. Maintains industry relationships to share issues and ideas.
Financial KPI Management Responsible for achieving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs- Top Line Growth, Vendor Income, Net Margin, Market Share)
Executes Cost Strategy initiatives identified through Variant Tree & Cost Stratification activity.
Develops and maintains Brand/Cost/Indexing (BCI) rules and attributes Collaborate with Revenue Management on executing BCI strategies that influence Cost for Price.
Manage variant tree cost stratification strategy Effectively manages expenses within budget for associated tools and promotions.
Review and monitor KPI dashboard measures for all segments making correct action when necessary
Supplier Business Strategy Alignment Develops and manages strategic relationships with vendors through regular communications and Joint Business Planning (JBP) reviews to optimize supplier value to Gordon Food Service.
Responsible for JBP strategy and execution plans with the supplier Inclusive: all segments/products Common Goals / KPIs Top to Top Collaboration Innovation - planning, timing, launch plans Digital, Foodshow, promotions Vendor direct/broker sales force CCOV-Co-Creation of Value Sales Execution- Waterfall Stores Collaboration
Collaborate with Finance and Strategic procurement to continually increase working capital Support supply chain optimization initiatives
Performs other duties as assigned.