SUMMARY: The Category Manager develops the overall strategy for a product category and research new product options to drive sales and achieve targets. They are responsible for purchasing all of the lines in the assigned category.--ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:--Purchasing--Purchase all lines in assigned category.--Responsible for approximately 1,500 stock items from approximately 120-125 vendors.--Forecast sales volume to maximize inventory turns.--Category Strategy--Develop strategies for new or updated products based on customer demand and product trends.--Works with the marketing team and sales to promote products.--Builds industry partnerships to promote a category's products.--Develops a category strategy to reduce costs and increase product sales.--Analyze market trends and apply this knowledge to make insightful buying decisions.--Manage Inventory--Monitors inventory levels, procures additional stock, and develops strategies for working with sales, brokers, marketing, and manufacturers to get rid of excess or unwanted inventory.----Helps to optimize warehouse storage for products.--Creates regular reports on product availability.--Monitor Performance--Monitors the performance of both individual products and category overall.--Uses available data to determine the best- and worst-performing products, create profit and loss statements, and assesses performance against competitors.----Assess their product and category strategies and develop solutions to improve performance.--Handle Vendor Contracts--Evaluates vendor performance, quality, and costs.--Chooses the best suppliers for the category's products.----Negotiate deals, promotional and food show allowances, and manufacturer support to ensure prices and products are competitive.--Communicates marketing requirements to the Marketing department.--Monitors vendors' adherence to contractual terms throughout the relationship.--Lead Employees--Working with a cross-functional team of marketing, procurement, and sales professionals, provides leadership to execute the category's strategies throughout the organization to achieve company goals.--Inform team members of category and product goals, assigns roles and responsibilities, and works together to drive performance.--SKILLS REQUIRED:--Must have previous purchasing experience.--Must have strong decision-making and people management skills.----Must understand the product life cycle and how to turn their product ideas into goods that are efficiently made available or delivered to customers.--Must be organized.--Must be a self-starter who requires limited day-to-day direction.--Must be able to apply financial analysis techniques to analyze reports, determine product and category performance, and seek ways to cut costs and improve sales.--Must be a strong negotiator who can persuade vendors to offer better contract terms.--Must have strong analytical skills.----Experience in supplier management software. Experience in E3/Blue Yonder a plus.--Experience in enterprise resource planning software.--Experience in productivity software (Microsoft Office).--QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:----A bachelor's degree in business or supply chain management or the equivalent experience.--At least 5 years of experience in a category management role.--A food service distributor background is a plus, but not required.--DESCRIPTION OF EMPLOYER: Founded in 1901, Feeser's, Inc. is a family owned and operated full-line foodservice distributor located in Harrisburg, PA servicing the Mid-Atlantic region.-- Feeser's provides an expansive offering of dry, refrigerated, and frozen products to a diverse customer base comprised of restaurants, healthcare facilities, educational facilities, and other institutions.--Powered by JazzHRPI664f7fac1bee-25660-34530577
