National Category Director

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Join us for an exciting opportunity at Albertsons Companies, where innovation and customer service go hand-in-hand! At Albertsons Companies, we are looking for someone who’s not just seeking a job, but someone who wants to make an impact. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to lead, innovate, and contribute to the growth of a company that values great service and lasting customer relationships.

This position offers the chance to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment that’s constantly evolving.

The National Category Director – Check Stand will report to a Vice President - National Merchandising (and up through the Group Vice President Center Store) and will be responsible for developing and managing category development strategies for Check Stand. As a National Category Director – you will collaborate with Division merchants & functional partners and lead category planning activities for your assigned categories.

The position will be in our national headquarters (Boise ). Some travel will be required to interact with division merchandising/replenishment teams and suppliers. This is a significant opportunity to make a difference in retail transformation  the leader of your categories, you will work closely with the national and divisional merchandising/replenishment leadership teams to determine category strategies. You will develop deep category expertise, including understanding of category trends, innovations, consumer preferences, nuances by geography and customer segments, and competitor activity.

• Category Management – Strategically manages Check Stand categories to meet sales, profit, and market share targets at the national and division level. Creates and implements category strategy and tactics, including but not limited to pricing, promotion, and assortment strategy for each assigned category, based on a detailed and analytically driven planning process, relying on significant collaboration with divisions and functional leaders.
  
  Leads the category planning process with national and division merchants to maximize category performance across all of Albertsons and within each division. Serves as the company’s Subject Matter Expert (SME) for assigned category(s). Research category trends, innovations, competitors, and regional preferences. Directly responsible for making critical decisions for the category, while working with division leads to consider division nuances and functional teams and drive to the right answer.
• Supplier Relationships/Negotiations / Sources of Supply – Conducts, with the National Director of Replenishment, all company-wide negotiations with suppliers of assigned categories, including but not limited to annual planning cost, funding, supply agreements, etc. while collaborating with division input and preferences. Acts as the primary contact for all vendors in assigned categories as it relates to category strategies and tactics. Meets with vendors on a consistent basis for category and product updates.
  
  Attends key vendor meetings. Develops supplier joint category development plan (where applicable) by leveraging scale of the organization to achieve the best possible cost of goods. With the National Director of Replenishment, evaluates supplier performance, collaborating with division merchandising and replenishment team as needed. Communicates negotiations outcomes to divisions to enable them to plan and execute promotional events and local ads.
  
  Collaborates with the National Director of Replenishment planning of source of supply and rotations of supply throughout the year.
• Data & Analytics – Leverages data to drive all decision-making. Maintains weekly, quarterly, and yearly scorecards to track sales, profit, and market share of each category. Oversees the utilization of merchant tools to conduct category data analysis. Works closely with functional team members and division merchants to collect and synthesize inputs (e.g., division promotional funding, local assortment considerations, Own Brands considerations, eCommerce strategy, and competitor benchmarking sets) to be used during…