Assistant Category Manager

Company Description

Dedicated to telling stories and creating experiences, Indigo is always looking for bright, energetic and customer-focused people who can help bring our exciting mission to life in one of our more than 170 Indigo, Indigospirit, Chapters and Coles stores across Canada. We offer a variety of exciting opportunities at our retail stores, distribution centres, and home office for people who share our passions and want to be part of a dynamic and enriching culture.

WHO WE ARE

We love books and all things beautiful
We are Canada's Cultural Department Store
Books are our heart and our soul and Great Books are JUST the Beginning

**We play by the following rules**:
We exist to add joy to our customers' lives each and every time they interact with us and our products
Our job is to create joyful moments for our customers
We treat each other the way we'd treat a valued friend
We inspire each other to do our best work
We seek to ignite creativity and innovation every day
We give back to the communities in which we operate

**Job Description**:
The Assistant Category Manager is responsible for supporting and executing product category strategy, for both online and retail sales channels. This role effectively communicates and engages cross functionally to gain support for execution of product category plans and objectives.

KEY PERFORMANCE METRICS

Sales
Net Margin dollars and rate
Turns
Inventory
Conversion
Traffic
NMROI
Heat ticket resolution

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Functional

Provides direct support to the Category Manager (CM) in the execution and administration of activities associated with the following:
Support the CM to execute the category strategic goals in order to meet and exceed sales, margin and inventory targets.
Support with day-to-day category administrative responsibilities, including item setup, reporting, store issue resolution, sample management and purchase order management.
Support Open-to-Buy (OTB) process, ensuring appropriate stock levels
Assist in product development and assortment planning
Communicate and collaborate with Coordinator, Digital Onboarding as required to ensure timely article setup, online enrichment and publication to site
Communicate and collaborate with online merchandising team to ensure that assortments are properly merchandised online and represented in a manner to maximize sales
Prepare all required briefs for Online Merchandising and Creative Studio in regard to online photography and promotional needs, in a timely and efficient manner
Collaborate with Planning & Inventory Management team to ensure sales and inventory plans are aligned with strategic initiatives
Drive category markdown strategy and execute the markdown process in collaboration with the Planning Manager to maximize sales and margin
Seek out and identify new opportunities to grow and expand category by benchmarking competition and finding new categories, products and best practices
Ensure timely response to all product quality issues and customer issues
Create vendor meeting agendas, analysis and recaps
Act as an advocate for the customer by placing them at the forefront of all decision-making and design processes
Proactively identify and anticipate customer expectations and needs
Embrace and seek out technology that creates high tech and high touch solutions for Indigo's customers
Challenge the status quo by consistently identifying areas for improvement, diagnosing issues and working to resolve them

People

Collaborate with others to drive flexible and iterative solutions, quickly and easily
Share technical knowledge with others and actively seek to learn from those more knowledgeable than yourself
Help others see the impacts of their efforts and proactively engage other functions to get input
Encourage others to freely share their point of view and be open to feedback

Cultural

Model Indigo's beliefs and convey a positive image in everything you do
Celebrate diversity of thought and have an open mindset
Take an active role in fostering a culture of continual learning, taking risks without the fear of making mistakes
Embrace, champion and influence change through your team and/or the organization

SCOPE

**Reports to**: Category Manager

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

**Internal**:
Finance
Planning
Marketing & Online
Retail & Store Teams
Creative Studio
Supply Chain

**External**:
Vendors

**Qualifications**:
Work Experience / Education / Certifications

Post-secondary education in business or related field
Minimum 2 years' experience in buying and category management or related field

Competencies / Skills / Attributes

Proven ability to build productive business relationships with both internal and external partners
Proven ability to negotiate effectively with external business partners
Strong organizational skills with ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously while meeting deadlines and reacting quickly to shifting priorities
Effective communication skills
Passion for product & tr