Category Development Manager, Retail

**Position Title**: Category Development Manager, Retail
**Position Type**: Regular - Full-Time
**Position Location**: Toronto HQ
**Requisition ID**: 31619
Reporting to the Sr. Manager, Category Development of McCain Foods (Canada), the Category Development Manager is responsible for leveraging various data sources and analytical tools to provide support to external and internal customers. This support includes monthly category reviews, assortment, shelving and pricing recommendations and ad-hoc analysis on request from customers. The scope of this role includes two external key customers, Retail Sales and Marketing team on the internal side. This position will bring skills and expertise in data analytics, report creation / presentation and planogram management (including full support of planogram deployment for the key customers). As a member of the Category Leadership team, the CDA will be enabling the Sales team with insights / analytics to deliver McCain's objectives for Canadian Retail business.
**JOB RESPONSIBILITIES**:
Category Leadership and Insights
Develop and support relationships with the key assigned Retail Customers as Category Vendor Advisor (or Category Captain), establish credibility and set the stage for selling category solutions aligned to McCain strategies and enabling customer business growth.
Managing the delivery of weekly / monthly reports with commentary to drive action and deliver value for external customers
Manage monthly and YTD business and drivers reporting to inform the organization on McCain's performance against key consumption metrics
Conduct quarterly (or monthly) Customer Category reviews for the key or assigned accounts that are based on insights and align to McCain strategies for respective customers
Identify category development gaps and growth opportunities for key customers, develop customer centric strategies (that align with McCain objectives) and work directly with customers to execute and bring them to life
Develop and sell-in customer specific assortment, shelf space and promotional strategy solutions to help grow the category and McCain business in key or assigned customers
Work with the external customer to develop, execute and track all required assortment and planogram changes as per customer timeline and quality standards
Collaborate with Marketing and Sales teams on internal projects where customer or category insights and analytics support is required.
Continuous Improvement
Continuously improve skills and knowledge in the category development space by participating webinars, conferences and formal training courses.
Get and maintain the Category Management Association certification and other designations required for external customers.
Lead internal training sessions to help others in the organization develop analytical skills and effectively use standard reports.
Cross-train to be able to act as back-up for other Category Leadership team members as needed.
Advise, support and collaborate with Retail Sales team to develop customer selling stories / decks, technical learning materials.
**MEASURES OF SUCCESS**:
Strong relationships based on trust and credibility built with external and internal customers
Timely delivery of assortment, shelf space and promotional recommendations for the external customer (within their respective cycles) and internal partners
Delivery of share of shelf to $ share index target for the external customer
Timely delivery of category insights inputs for the sell-in of customer annual JBP, innovation launches, pricing strategy changes, etc. in partnership with Sales Strategy & Operations team
Delivery of AOC on target in accordance with KPIs for profitable business growth in Canadian Retail (working together with the rest of the Category Leadership team)
Strong working relationships with key cross-functional partners in Sales, Marketing, Finance, etc.
**KEY QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCES**:
Minimal Undergraduate degree
Minimum of 3-5 years of experience working in CPG
Preferred 1-2 years of relevant work experience in a customer facing role
Analytically savvy, fast-learner focused on continuous improvement
Ability to work independently and contribute to team projects
Strong working knowledge of Nielsen syndicated data
Comprehensive experience in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
Experience with Customer POS and shelf management software is a plus
Ability to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment
Proven ability to build collaborative relationships internally and externally
OTHER
**Key internal relationships**: Category Development team, Customer Development teams
Key external relationships - key customer Category Buyer and their team
Limited travel; 2-4 domestic trips per year
Job is primarily performed in a standard office environment (Hybrid)
The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to con