Category Manager (Beer, Beverage and Coffee)

Company: Jobot
Location: Upland
Posted on: January 12, 2022

Job Description:

This Jobot Job is hosted by: Emily KlopfensteinAre you a fit? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Apply Now" button and sending us your resume.Salary: $85,000 - $115,000 per yearA bit about us:Our client has been family owned and operated for more than 20 years. They have been working with independent retailers to provide the best fuel and highest level of service to communities throughout California. Over the years, the company has grown by buying and selling stations, converting bays into convenience stores, adding car washes, partnering with fast food brands, and building ground up new to industry locations. This growth has provided us experience from the perspective of a buyer, seller, lease dealer, open dealer, franchisee, owner, contract operator, and wholesale distributor . . . virtually all classes of trade within the gasoline retailing industry.Why join us?Our management team includes former Large Oil Company Executives who know and understand "big oil" and how to grow fuel volume and increase retail business. The management team has more than 70 years of industry experience. Our goal is simple: Invest, design, improve, communicate, track, expand and monetize everything. Our client understands what it takes to be successful and are looking forward to working with dealers that want to generate more revenue. They continue to be a consistent top performer for Large Oil companies when it comes to image, customer service, and volume growth.Job DetailsThe Category Manager ensures that the retail strategy is documented, communicated to field personnel, and executed. The Category Manager manages & analyzes their assigned category, (beer/beverage/coffee) starting with setting up the products, providing a cost breakdown, and retail setup based on acceptable margins. The Category Manager is responsible for planning assortment, developing pricing strategy, planning promotional activity, and managing key supply chain relationships within their assigned category. They will contribute to the profitability of their categories by driving and optimizing sales to meet set margin targets. The Category Manager will also support merchandising efforts and support Buyers to execute replenishment.RESPONSIBILITIESAct as subject matter expert in assigned categories, providing thought leadership to organization.Reevaluate sourcing standards as a team to ensure alignment with company mission and category assortment needs.Ensure items are setup correctly in Pricebook and within our acceptable margins.Send communications if any changes and coordinate with the field merchandisers, regarding price changes, updating tags, and verify items are scanning on the register.Full knowledge of all contracts, rebates, discounts, QD's and coordinate billing with Controller.Analyze internal and external data to develop category strategy aligned with industry and consumer trends.Manage onboarding and offboarding of products within time-bound category review schedule in accordance with sourcing standards.Foster trusting, win-win partnerships with producers and other supply chain partners.Work with producers and suppliers to resolve any reliability, compliance, and quality issues.Negotiate costs, distribution and delivery terms with suppliers and execute pricing strategy to meet margin targets for assigned categories.Examine competition to determine trends and pricing bandwidth.Work with Buyers and Merchandisers to implement successful exit strategies for stagnant items from inventory.Coach, develop and directly supervise team members to support overall Category Management Team functions.Manages, improves and recommends the product assortment for the stores on a national basis for assigned category.Develops annual category plans which include current situation analysis, vision/strategy, and specific category plans.Plans include assortment and positioning, product improvements and development plans, projected revenues and gross profit, display, price, promotion and communication to stores.Drill plans down into seasonal calendars, monthly implementation plans and recurring assortment change calendars.Performs monthly analysis and verification of plans.Provides explanations for variances in budgeted sales and gross profit and provides projection for upcoming months.Develops an in-depth understanding of the key strategic initiatives and policies of merchandising and ensures assigned category strategies are within Merchandising and Corporate strategy and policy.Develops pricing strategy for assigned categories.Develops recommended retail pricing guidelines (which are subject to executive committee approval) for the stores to optimize category profitability and establishes suggested retail prices within these guidelines.Reviews competitor pricing information gathered by Zone Merchandisers and pricing group and recommends pricing.Works with merchandising leadership on advertising/promotions for assigned category.Works on POP, co-op agreements and promotion timetables and strategies.Develops cost/benefit analysis to determine return on advertising and promotional dollars. Vendor or Supplier Relationships / Supply Chain Management.Identifies leverage opportunities with vendors and negotiates contracts (working with Procurement), supply agreements and/or programs to achieve the lowest possible acquisition costs (cost of goods) for products selected for the categories on an ongoing basis.Works with suppliers to stabilize product supply through forecasting of key products to solve issues.Reviews and works with manufacturers to resolve out-of-stock issues.Develops and maintains effective working relationships with representatives and senior management of national suppliers.Meets with national vendors on a regular basis to discuss new product development and ways to lower costs.Owns the strategic Product Assortment direction and guidelines for assigned categories.Guides Merchandisers in the development of the schematics.Gathers input from the Merchandisers into regional assortment needs.Performs narrowing (SKU rationalization) of assigned categories and works with suppliers to narrow products supplied to stores.Manages the product develop process for assigned categories (including Team Merchandising)Manages the implementation of field tests for new products and categories.Oversees verification of tests performed by Merchandisers and determines next course of action based upon verification results.Reviews solicitations from potential suppliers to determine if potential product is viable for the company.Conduit for communication.As lead for the assigned categories, owns communication of key strategic initiatives across the organization.Manages day to day communication of key messaging to assigned categories across Merchandising, Marketing, Operations and other related groups.Weekly category review of all items per category, monitor price changes and exception reports.Other duties as assigned.QUALIFICATIONS3+ years relevant work experience in category management, preferably in the designated categoryStrong negotiation skillsStrong analytical and problem-solving skillsOutstanding communication and time management skillsBachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing or related field, or related experience2+ years of managing and developing staff preferredExperience managing relationships with external partners of various scale, demonstrating a commitment to flexibility without compromising business objectivesExperience purchasing in assigned categories preferredDeep understanding of margins and profitabilitySubject matter expertise for products within assigned categories; category retail experience a plusExperience negotiating pricing and capturing trade spend to fund promotional activities with producers, suppliers, and brokersUnderstanding of quality standards, certifications, regulations, trends within assigned categoriesExcellent written and verbal communication skillsProficiency in Google and Microsoft Office suite software (i.e. spreadsheets, presentation, and word processing software)Experience analyzing reports and utilizing databases, SQL skills a plusInterested in hearing more? Easy Apply now by clicking the "Apply Now" button.

Keywords: Jobot, Upland , Category Manager (Beer, Beverage and Coffee), Hospitality & Tourism , Upland, California