Category Manager

Post Holdings, Inc.; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Post Consumer Brands Canada is seeking a Category Manager to drive cereal and pet food category growth across key Canadian customers. You will translate brand and innovation strategies into compelling selling stories that boost growth and profitability for our customers and PCB.

Based in Canada with a hybrid work model (3 days in-office per week), you will partner with Marketing, Sales, Insights, and Revenue Growth Management to deliver data-driven recommendations and customer-specific plans

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years in Category Management or related roles in consumer goods.
• Experience delivering category leadership and growth through insights.
• Strong data analytics and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Develop customer and channel-specific category growth strategies.
• Lead assortment, distribution, pricing, and pack-size architecture.
• Translate insights into customer-specific selling stories.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing and Finance for growth planning.
• Lead category reviews and strategic engagements with key accounts.

Skills

Category Management

Category Leadership

Data Analytics

Insights

Trade Marketing

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce/Marketing

Masters preferred

Tools

NielsenIQ

Circana/IRI

Numerator

Job description

Business Unit Overview

Headquartered in Lakeville, Minn., Post Consumer Brands, a business unit of Post Holdings, Inc., is dedicated to providing people and their pets with delicious food choices for every taste and budget. The company's portfolio includes beloved brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats™, PEBBLES™, Grape-Nuts™ and Malt-O-Meal™ cereal and Peter Pan™ peanut butter, as well as Rachael Ray® Nutrish™, Kibbles 'n Bits™ and 9Lives™ dog and cat food. Post also provides private label solutions to customers in pet food, cereal, nut butters and granola. As a company committed to high standards of quality and to our values, we are driven by one idea: To make lives better by making delicious food accessible for all. For more information about our brands, visit www.postconsumerbrands.com and follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook for the latest news.

Location Description

Post Consumer Brands Canadian corporate office is located in Toronto, Ontario.

Responsibilities

It’s an exciting time at Post Consumer Brands (PCB) as we revolutionize how we go to market. As the Category Manager for Canada markets, you will be a critical part of the Commercial Strategy and Execution team and the leader responsible for translating our brand and innovation strategies into compelling selling stories that drive growth for our customers and PCB. We are looking for a dynamic leader who executes with speed, drives focus and clarity, builds strong cross-functional working relationships and develops best in class team and individual capabilities.

Overview:

The Category Manager, Category is responsible for driving Cereal & Pet Food category growth by translating brand, consumer, and commercial strategies into actionable customer plans. This role serves as the strategic link between Marketing, Sales, Revenue Growth Management, and Insights to deliver category leadership, profitable growth, and competitive advantage across key customers and channels in Canada.

The successful candidate will leverage category expertise, advanced analytics, and shopper insights to develop fact-based recommendations on assortment, pricing, promotion, distribution, and innovation. They will lead the development of compelling customer-specific growth strategies and selling stories that drive mutually beneficial business results for both customers and the organization.

Work Location: Hybrid, 3 days per week in office

Key Accountabilities:

• Develop customer and channel-specific category growth strategies that align with Core Brands and PCB business objectives.
• Lead category assortment, distribution, pricing, and pack-size architecture recommendations to optimize category performance.
• Identify growth opportunities, whitespace, and competitive risks through data-driven analysis.
• Own the continuous evolution of category assortment strategy, translating innovation launches, distribution gaps, and core-item opportunities into sales and volume quantified recommendations that drive sustained category growth across the customer base.

Insights, Analytics & Reporting – Turn data into a competitive edge:

• Translate syndicated, shopper, and customer data into actionable business recommendations.
• Monitor category, customer, and competitive performance, identifying drivers of growth and performance gaps.
• Deliver & Develop data analytical reporting dashboards, forecasts, and business reviews that support strategic decision-making and performance management.
• Manage syndicated data partnerships (NielsenIQ, Circana/IRI, Numerator, and retailer platforms) to ensure the organization has best-in-class market and shopper intelligence.

Commercial Planning & Revenue Growth – Drive profitable growth through smart planning:

• Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Growth Management teams to develop profitable growth strategies.
• Evaluate pricing, promotion, and portfolio opportunities to maximize revenue, margin, and market share.
• Support annual business planning for Sales Release, customer Trade Joint Business Planning (JBP), and commercial forecasting processes.

Customer Strategy & Category Leadership – Build winning partnerships through trusted category expertise:

• Develop customer-specific selling stories and category recommendations grounded in market, shopper, and customer insights.
• Lead category reviews, business presentations, and strategic customer engagements.
• Serve as the internal category expert, influencing decisions across commercial and leadership teams.

Innovation & Shopper Growth – Turn consumer insight into category innovation:

• Partner with Marketing and Insights teams to identify innovation opportunities and commercialization strategies.
• Incorporate shopper, consumer, and market insights to ensure customer plans address evolving consumer needs and behaviors.
• Assess the category impact of innovation and facilitate customer sell-in strategies.

Capability & Stakeholder Leadership – Lead through influence, insight and collaboration:

• Build strong cross-functional partnerships across Sales, Marketing, Insights, Finance, and Revenue Growth Management.
• Lead external analytics and data-provider partnerships to continuously improve business intelligence and category capabilities.
• Champion best practices, continuous improvement, and analytical excellence within the organization.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, Business Administration, Marketing or related field; Masters preferred

Experience

• Minimum 3 to 5 + years of experience in Category Management, Category Development, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Data Analytics & Insights experience, Trade Marketing or Sales roles, preferably in the consumer-packaged goods/food industry
• Proven experience in category development, category management, key accounts and market insights analysis and delivering growth through category leadership
• Demonstrated success leveraging data and insights to influence customer and business decisions