Category Manager

Category Strategy & Assortment Management 
•    Develop and execute short-term and long-term category strategies that align with company objectives, customer needs, brand direction, and merchandising priorities. 
•    Create and maintain category assortments that optimize customer choice, sales performance, profitability, inventory productivity, and market share.  
•    Evaluate customer insights, industry developments, product trends, and competitive activity to identify assortment gaps, growth opportunities, and strategic initiatives.  
•    Develop category pricing, promotional, and product placement strategies that support financial objectives and enhance the customer experience.  
•    Lead category line reviews and assortment planning activities to ensure alignment with business objectives and customer demand.  
•    Identify and execute category expansion, localization, digital merchandising, product innovation, and other growth opportunities.  

Financial Management & Business Performance 
•    Own the financial performance of assigned categories, including sales, gross margin, profitability, inventory productivity, inventory turns, and budget attainment.  
•    Develop annual and seasonal sales, margin, inventory, and assortment plans in partnership with inventory management and finance teams.  
•    Monitor category performance and adjust assortment, pricing, promotional, and inventory strategies to maximize results and mitigate risk.  
•    Analyze category performance using sales, profit, inventory, customer, vendor, and market data to identify trends and support strategic decision-making.  
•    Present business reviews, category performance updates, forecasts, and strategic recommendations to leadership.  
 

Vendor Relationship Management 
•    Develop and maintain strategic vendor relationships that support category growth, innovation, profitability, operational performance, and long-term business objectives.  
•    Lead negotiations related to product costs, pricing, contract terms, service expectations, vendor funding, product quality, and performance metrics.  
•    Evaluate vendor performance and implement actions to improve service, product availability, profitability, and execution.  
•    Collaborate with vendors on product development, assortment opportunities, promotional plans, packaging improvements, and new business initiatives. 
•    Resolve vendor-related issues involving inventory, product quality, pricing, packaging, logistics, and customer experience.  
 

Inventory, Pricing and Promotional Management 
•    Partner with inventory management and supply chain teams to develop inventory plans, demand forecasts, replenishment strategies, and receipt schedules.  
•    Monitor inventory performance and execute corrective actions to optimize stock levels and improve inventory productivity.  
•    Approve pricing recommendations, promotional strategies, and markdown activities that support profitability and customer value objectives.  
•    Evaluate promotional effectiveness and implement adjustments based on performance results and changing business conditions.  
 

Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution 
•    Collaborate with marketing, digital, pricing, inventory management, supply chain, finance, visual merchandising, and store operations teams to execute category strategies.  
•    Lead the cross-functional execution of category initiatives, product launches, assortment transitions, and promotional events.  
•    Ensure category plans are implemented accurately and effectively across all channels and customer touchpoints.  
•    Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance merchandising effectiveness, operational efficiency, reporting accuracy, and customer experience.  
 

Team Leadership & Talent Development 
•    Lead, coach, and develop Assistant Category Managers, Senior Assistant Category Managers, and other supporting team members.  
•    Establish priorities, communicate expectations, provide performance feedback, and support professional development.  
•    Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and business ownership within the merchandising team.  
•    Support succession planning by preparing team members for increasing responsibility and future leadership opportunities.  
 

Operational Excellence and Governance 
•    Ensure the accurate execution of category processes, including item maintenance, promotional setup, product launches, vendor documentation, and reporting activities.  
•    Maintain compliance with company policies, merchandising standards, vendor agreements, and operational requirements.  
•    Identify and implement opportunities to improve systems, workflows, reporting, controls, and category management processes.  
•    Exercise sound business judgment and make decisions that balance customer needs, financial objectives, vendor partnerships, and operational requirements.