Founded in 1929, Heinen's is a premier grocery store chain noted for its quality products and outstanding customer service. Heinen's has now welcomed the fourth generation of owners into the company, which operates 23 stores (19 in Cleveland, Ohio and 4 in Chicago, Illinois), two distribution warehouses, one food production plant, and a corporate office (all located in Warrensville Heights, Ohio). Culturally, we are an associate-first company that emphasizes quality of life for every associate within the organization. We offer this through a competitive compensation package, professional development and leadership opportunities, paid time off, and balanced work schedules.
Job Summary:
The Packaged Goods Category Manager is responsible for category strategy, assortment planning, promotional planning, program development, and supplier partnerships for specific Packaged Goods categories, primarily focused on Grocery categories. This role is accountable for the financial performance of assigned categories through pre-planning (e.g., financial targets, category strategy, assortment planning) and in-season management (e.g., promotional planning, competitive price reaction).
In addition, this Category Manager supports and positively influences Heinen's Packaged Goods team financial goals, product mix, business relationships, innovation needs and team culture. This position relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals with a wide degree of creativity, risk, and latitude. It requires familiarity with category management concepts, practices and procedures while working with ambiguity.
Responsibilities:
Determines strategic role of the packaged goods category.
Makes pricing decisions for assigned categories.
Manages promotions including promotion planning and post-promo analysis.
Makes product selection for assigned categories.
Supports store product placement with the Merchandisers and Space Planning capabilities.
Conducts ongoing analysis of category performance, trends, competitive assortment, and pricing.
Develops sales, unit, and margin growth tactics.
Identifies innovation trends and attends trade shows to develop new product ideas.
Responds to customer and store inquiries on new product suggestions and other customer feedback.
Builds strong relationships with vendors, reviews products with new and existing vendors, and negotiates product funding (everyday funding & promotional funding).
Owns business review relationship with suppliers.
Maintains accurate cost, promotion contract, retail information, and other item maintenance changes.
Oversees new vendor and product set-up process.
Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree in marketing, business, finance, or a related field of study preferred.
Category management experience in retail or consumer packaged goods is a plus.
experience in Excel applications, with the ability to quickly learn new methods for data manipulation.
to review data, analyze results and draw meaningful business conclusions.
problem-solving, presentation, time management, and prioritization skills.
to build strong working relationships and work in a collaborative manner across all levels and many functions of the organization.
to meet deadlines and maintain a high level of accuracy in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
Effective negotiation skills. Must represent Heinen's with suppliers and negotiate terms which are beneficial for the company.
written and verbal communication skills that can be used across all levels of the organization.
Heinen's, Inc. provides equal employment opportunity to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.