Category Manager

Have you ever enjoyed Arnold®, Brownberry® or Oroweat® bread? A Thomas’® English muffin or bagel? Or perhaps snacked on a Sara Lee®, Entenmann’s® or Marinela® cake or donut? If the answer is yes, then you know Bimbo Bakeries USA!

More than 20,000 associates in bakeries, sales centers, offices and on sales routes work to ensure our consumers have the freshest products at every meal. In addition to competitive pay and benefits, we provide a safe and inclusive work environment that appreciates diversity, promotes development and allows our associates to be their authentic selves.

Come join the largest baking company in the world and our family of 20,000 associates nationwide!

• Salary Range: $86,900 – $113,000
• Annual Bonus Eligibility
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Paid Time Off
• 401k & Company Match

The Category Manager’s primary accountability is end-to-end ownership of the assortment process, deliverables, and results with one of our most important retail partners. This includes leadership, execution, and optimization of distribution (existing and new items), shelving (POG and other merchandising), and key internal and retailer processes to drive growth and efficiency for our joint businesses. This role also owns day-to-day collaboration and relationship development with the retailer’s Assortment Manager and their key data and space planning partners.

The Category Manager reports directly to BBU’s Insight Team Lead, and will work alongside Customer Team Lead and other functional partners to uncover and deliver against insights, opportunities, and/or risks in pricing, promotion, shoppers, stores, digital/e-commerce, and other areas of category management.

This role is part of a dynamic and diverse cross-functional team, working to increase the utility of productivity tools through training, establish efficient processes, and share best practices. Ultimately, this role exists to create short- and long-term value for BBU and our retail partner.

• Effective Data Management
  :
  Gather, synthesize, optimize large datasets across multiple consumption-based and operational sources and systems.
• Insights to Action
  :
  Turn complex data/analytics into simple but powerful insights that uncover opportunities and/or risks -- leading to activations that advance joint BBU-retailer household engagement, sales and profitability.
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  :
  Connect direction and inputs across multiple BBU HQ and retailer team internal partners, with jointly agreed strategies and processes.
• Clean Execution, Clear Communication
  :
  All necessary process steps, forms, outstanding needs or roadblocks, opportunities for efficiency, and completion or assignment of follow-ups throughout entire retailer assortment and planogram cycles (pre, during, and post) -- with all key stakeholders internal and external.
• Results Focus and Measurement
  :
  Timely, accurate, comprehensive analysis and presentation of merchandising changes -- and further needs for action -- to both BBU and retailer senior leadership.

• 5+ years experience in Consumer Goods Category Management;
  Grocery and/or DSD related a plus.
• 3 years minimum experience specifically working through major U.S. retailers’ assortment processes.
• Expert in managing large/complex datasets, savvy pivot capabilities and summarizations.
• Expert-level proficiency: 8451 On-Demand/Stratum, JDA, Shelf IQ, Salsify and/or One-World Sync, MS Excel.
• High-level proficiency:
  Circana/Nielsen suites (scan and HH panel), other MS Office products, Power BI (user)
• Pluses:
  Power BI (development), Tableau or Think-cell, Kantar Richmix.
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred:
  Analytics, Statistics, Marketing, Sales, Retail Management or related fields.
• Very strong problem solving and analytical skills.
• Proven experience converting data into logical, actionable strategies.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Ownership mindset and demonstrated leadership capabilities.
• Self-starter with an ability to proactively identify needs and opportunities, then establish a plan to meet them.
• Strong ability to effectively create and…