Lead, Category & Portfolio Strategy

Position Summary:

Munchkin, Inc. is seeking a Lead, Category & Portfolio Strategy to lead enterprise-wide ownership of our product portfolio and innovation roadmap.

This role oversees a 300–500+ SKU portfolio and leads a team of Category Managers, Directors, and supporting team members. P&L accountability sits with Category Managers and Directors, while supporting team members are responsible for key performance drivers and execution. The VP will define what we build, why we build it, and when it comes to market—ensuring all innovation is aligned to category strategy, consumer insight, and financial performance.

This is a highly strategic leadership role with significant cross-functional visibility, partnering closely with Sales, Brand Marketing, the VP of eCommerce & Digital Growth, and the Executive leadership team to align product strategy with commercial objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Portfolio & Roadmap Leadership

• Own the enterprise product portfolio strategy and multi-year roadmap


• Define category priorities, investment allocation, and launch sequencing


• Lead SKU rationalization efforts to simplify the portfolio and improve productivity


• Ensure all innovation aligns with clear strategic and financial objectives

Innovation Governance

• Evaluate, approve, and prioritize product concepts based on:
  
  
  
  • Strategic fit
  
  
  • Portfolio role
  
  
  • Financial return and margin expectations
  
  
  
  


• Establish and lead stage-gate processes to ensure disciplined decision-making


• Prevent low-value or duplicative product development

 Category Leadership

• Lead and develop a team of category owners will full P&L accountability


• Drive a shift toward performance-based category management


• Establish clear KPIs across revenue, margin, and portfolio productivity

 Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Sales, the VP of eCommerce & Digital Growth, and the C-suite to align category strategies with revenue and channel priorities


• Collaborate with Product Development to guide product direction and ensure alignment with portfolio strategy


• Work with Brand Marketing to ensure positioning and go-to-market plans support category objectives


• Partner with PMO to ensure initiatives are effectively planned and delivered on time


• Partner with Category Managers and Sales to support retail sell-in (strategy, planograms, pricing, decks), with Category Managers owning product strategy presentation in line reviews

 Financial & Business Impact

• Drive margin expansion and profitable growth across categories


• Embed financial discipline into early-stage product decisions


• Improve return on innovation and overall portfolio performance

What You Bring

• 10+ years of experience in CPG category management or portfolio strategy with direct leadership of 8-10 category managers/directors


• Experience leading or managing a large-scale SKU portfolio (300+ SKUs)


• Proven success in SKU rationalization and portfolio optimization


• Strong track record of margin expansion and profitable growth


• Deep P&L ownership experience


• Experience operating in omni-channel environments (retail + digital)


• International experience is a plus


• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence at the executive level

 Who You Are

• A strategic, enterprise thinker with strong business acumen


• Decisive and comfortable making trade-offs and prioritization calls


• Financially rigorous and results-oriented


• Skilled at influencing and aligning senior stakeholders across functions


• Experienced in driving organizational change and operating model evolution