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.

• Salary Range: $91,500 - $119,000
• Annual Bonus Eligibility
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Paid Time Off
• 401k & Company Match

The Category Manager is a category management professional who specializes in shelving/assortment management and analytics, with a deep understanding of consumer and category trends. This role is insight-driven and focuses on the best interests of the category. The Category Manager is part of a dynamic and diverse team working to enhance the utility of various category management tools through training, process establishment, and sharing best practices.

This role is crucial in the broader customer team and aims to create both short- and long-term value for the customer and BBU.

• Category Management Initiatives: Lead initiatives that drive category growth, increase sales, share, and profits by interpreting shopper and category insights, optimizing product assortment, evaluating product placement, and proposing solutions to improve overall category performance.
• Customer Relationship Management: Build and maintain long‑term relationships with the customer account and Sales Planning team. Develop persuasive fact‑based sales presentations using customer, industry, market, and competitive information.
• Performance Analysis: Analyze category performance, understand performance drivers, and recommend corrective actions proactively. Assess the effectiveness of business strategies and develop performance benchmarks.
• Space Management Projects: Lead and deliver space management projects for the customer business. Review and analyze shelf space opportunities, current business trends, and category performance within the market and industry.
• Cross‑Functional
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Communicate and work with Customer Teams, Brands, Sales Operations, and Revenue Growth Management on assortment opportunities, including void closures, at‑risk items, innovation, and core assortment.
• Training and Development: Provide guidance, leadership, and category/brand expertise to Account Executives. Assist in training, distribution, and execution of category management tools with the field.
• Communication: Maintain frequent and fluid communication with internal and external stakeholders regarding projects, insights, and opportunities. Build and maintain reporting, and communicate findings.

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Sales, Marketing, or a Business‑related field. An advanced degree is preferred.
• Experience: 5+ years of customer‑facing experience in the CPG industry and Category Management. Experience in the Grocery and Mass channel is preferred.
• Skills: Strong problem‑solving and analytical skills. Proven experience converting data into logical, actionable strategies. Effective written and verbal communication skills. Comfortable presenting to customers and senior executives.
• Technical Proficiency: Advanced knowledge of Circana is required. Thorough understanding of POS and Panel data, and experience with retailer shopper card data sets. Strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite of products, i.e., Excel and PowerPoint, and space management software, i.e., JDA or Apollo. Experience creating Power BI dashboards is a plus but not required.
• Travel: Ability to travel up to 25%.
• Management
  
  Experience:
  
  Experience managing people, including the creation of development plans and defining accountabilities.

• Proactively identify needs and…