Strategic Category Manager - Procurement & Growth

Swish-Maintenance; Peterborough; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extended Health & Dental Care

RRSP contributions

EFAP

Rewards & Recognition program

Employee discounts

Extensive training and development

Job summary

Swish, a proudly Canadian, family-owned cleaning supplies company, is seeking a Category Manager in Peterborough, Ontario. You will oversee assigned product categories from purchasing and merchandising perspectives, balancing availability, supplier performance, cost, margin, and customer needs.

You will analyze sales, margins, inventory, and data to drive growth, build supplier relationships, and support Sales, Marketing, e-Commerce and Operations.

Qualifications

• Post-secondary education in Business, Supply Chain, Merchandising or related field preferred.
• 3–5 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, merchandising, category management or related role.
• Experience with ERP systems; Epicor P21 is a nice-to-have.
• Strong analytical and commercial skills including costing, margin, inventory and product performance.
• Advanced Excel and/or Google Sheets skills (PivotTables, lookup functions).
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, negotiation and supplier-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute strategies for assigned product categories.
• Review product performance and make SKU additions, rationalizations, substitutions, and product alignment recommendations.
• Analyze sales, margin, inventory, supplier, and product data to identify growth opportunities.
• Manage purchasing activities to support product availability and inventory objectives.
• Build strong supplier relationships and negotiate pricing, terms, rebates, and programs.
• Monitor supplier performance, lead times, backorders, pricing, and product availability.
• Identify alternative products and suppliers to reduce supply risk.
• Maintain accurate product, supplier, costing, and purchasing data in ERP system.
• Support new product setup, SKU management, system coding, and PIM enrichment.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, e-Commerce, Operations, Finance, and Branch teams on category initiatives.
• Develop and maintain category and purchasing metrics, reports, and KPIs.
• Identify opportunities to improve margin, inventory productivity, data quality, processes and customer service.
• Maintain understanding of products, suppliers, customers, competitors, and market trends.
• Perform other duties and participate in departmental initiatives as assigned.

Skills

Category management

Purchasing

Merchandising

Data analysis

Excel/Google Sheets

Communication

Negotiation

Supplier management

Inventory

Problem solving

Education

Post-secondary education in Business, Supply Chain, Merchandising

Equivalent work experience considered

Tools

Epicor P21

Job description

Swish, a proudly Canadian, family-owned cleaning supplies company, is seeking a Category Manager in Peterborough, Ontario. You will oversee assigned product categories from purchasing and merchandising perspectives, balancing availability, supplier performance, cost, margin, and customer needs.

You will analyze sales, margins, inventory, and data to drive growth, build supplier relationships, and support Sales, Marketing, e-Commerce and Operations.