Senior Category Manager - Kroger

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Your Opportunity Are you a highly analytical, customer-focused category management professional who excels at translating complex data into winning business strategies? Do you enjoy uncovering insights, influencing decision-makers, building trusted relationships, and identifying opportunities that drive growth for both customers and brands? If so, Smithfield Foods offers an opportunity to lead category strategy for one of our most important retail partners, Kroger.

As a member of the Kroger Sales Team, the Senior Category Manager serves as the category management leader and strategic advisor for the Kroger business. This individual plays a critical role in strengthening Smithfield's position as a trusted category partner by delivering fact-based recommendations that drive growth across Packaged Meats and Deli categories. Through deep expertise in shopper behavior, consumer trends, category dynamics, retailer strategies, and Kroger-specific data systems, the Senior Category Manager helps identify opportunities that benefit both Kroger and Smithfield.

This role is responsible for leading the analysis and integration of multiple data sources, including Kroger's 84.51° On Demand platform, Stratum, syndicated data, household panel data, assortment and space analytics, shopper insights, market trends, and shipment performance. The Senior Category Manager transforms these insights into actionable recommendations that support assortment optimization, distribution expansion, innovation, merchandising, pricing, promotion, and long-term category growth strategies.

The Senior Category Manager serves as a highly visible customer-facing leader, regularly engaging with Kroger merchants, category leaders, and senior decision-makers while partnering closely with Smithfield Sales Leadership, Marketing, Shopper Marketing, and Insights teams. Through compelling storytelling and strategic business recommendations, this individual influences customer decisions, supports joint business planning initiatives, and helps create mutually beneficial growth opportunities that strengthen long-term retailer partnerships.

Beyond supporting day-to-day business needs, this role is expected to provide thought leadership both internally and externally. The Senior Category Manager serves as a category expert for Smithfield and Kroger, proactively identifying emerging consumer and category trends, developing innovative solutions to business challenges, and shaping the strategic direction of the categories in which Smithfield competes. This individual will also play a key role in advancing category management capabilities across the organization through mentorship, best-practice development, analytical tool enhancement, and knowledge sharing.

Success in this role requires exceptional analytical capabilities, executive-level communication skills, strong business acumen, and the ability to influence decisions through data-driven insights and strategic recommendations. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable conducting complex…