Associate Category & Product Manager

Kids2; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Kids2 seeks a Category & Product Manager to grow Europe-focused home product lines, aligning consumer insights with global product teams. You'll drive category strategy, manage the European portfolio, and work with Sales, Marketing, and Design to deliver market-relevant products across stores and channels.

The role requires analytical acumen, commercial mindset, and fluency in English, with the ability to travel and collaborate across teams in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, finance, product management, or related field.
• Strong consumer and commercial orientation and analytical/problem-solving skills.
• Able to execute effectively in a fast-paced environment with strong prioritization.
• Fluent in English; additional European language capability is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the European category strategy with emphasis on Home.
• Act as eyes-and-ears resource in Europe monitoring consumer behavior, trends, competition, and price points.
• Conduct ongoing market analysis to identify category trends, gaps, and product opportunities for European consumers.
• Translate insights into actionable recommendations for global teams in Category, Product Development, Design, and Innovation.
• Support product briefs by gathering consumer insights, benchmarks, pricing, and European market considerations.
• Help manage the European product roadmap including new opportunities and regional adaptations.
• Monitor portfolio health using sales, margin, distribution, inventory, and SKU productivity data.
• Suggest SKU rationalization, lifecycle management, and assortment changes.
• Collaborate with European Sales and Marketing for retailer presentations and line reviews.
• Develop sell-in materials, competitive comparisons, category stories, and retailer presentations.
• Support European go-to-market plans with relevant positioning and assets.
• Gather retailer/internal feedback and communicate to global organization.
• Assist pricing and assortment analysis including benchmarks and value-based pricing.
• Track new product launches and performance for early corrective actions.
• Coordinate cross-functional product development with Design, Engineering, Packaging, Ops, Demand Planning, Sales, and Marketing to meet European needs.
• Maintain knowledge of European retail landscape across channels and travel.
• Participate in trade shows and retailer meetings to stay abreast of market.

Skills

Analytical skills

Commercial mindset

Presentation skills

English fluency

Collaboration

Curiosity about consumer trends

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, finance, product management, or related field

Equivalent experience

Tools

Circana

Profitero

Excel

PowerPoint

Mac OS

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Job description

We are seeking a Category & Product Manager to support the growth and development of Kids2’s product portfolio in Europe, with particular focus on strategic growth categories within the Home segment.

This role will serve as a key on-the-ground resource for the European business, connecting European consumer needs, market trends, retailer feedback, and competitive activity with Kids2’s global product development and category management teams.

Working closely with the Sr. Category & Product Manager – Europe, this position will support category strategy, portfolio management, product development, and go-to-market execution. The role will help translate European market insights into actionable product opportunities while ensuring the existing portfolio remains productive, competitive, and relevant to European consumers and retail partners.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical and commercial skills with curiosity about consumer behavior, product trends, design, and retail. This person should be comfortable moving between market analysis, product development, sales support, and execution.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Support the Sr. Category & Product Manager in developing and executing the European category strategy, with particular emphasis on strategic growth categories within Home.


• Serve as an important eyes-and-ears resource in Europe, continuously monitoring consumer behavior, emerging trends, competitive products, design trends, price points, retail activity, and category developments.


• Conduct ongoing competitive and market analysis to identify category trends, whitespace opportunities, assortment gaps, and potential product innovation opportunities specific to European consumers.


• Translate European consumer, retailer, and market insights into actionable recommendations for the global Category, Product Development, Design, and Innovation teams.


• Support the development of product briefs by gathering consumer insights, competitive benchmarks, pricing information, feature requirements, and European market considerations.


• Partner with the Sr. Category & Product Manager to help manage the European product roadmap, including new product opportunities, product refreshes, regional adaptations, and portfolio priorities.


• Monitor the health of the existing European portfolio using sales, margin, distribution, inventory, consumer feedback, and SKU productivity data.


• Develop recommendations for SKU rationalization, product lifecycle management, assortment changes, product refreshes, and add/drop decisions.


• Work closely with European Sales and Marketing teams to support retailer presentations, assortment reviews, line reviews, trade shows, and customer-specific opportunities.


• Help develop compelling sell-in materials, competitive comparisons, category stories, product positioning, and retailer presentations that clearly communicate the value of Kids2 products.


• Partner with Marketing to support European go-to-market plans, ensuring global product positioning and marketing assets are relevant and effective for European consumers and retailers.


• Gather structured feedback from key retailers, distributors, sales teams, and marketplace partners and communicate insights back to the global organization.


• Support pricing and assortment analysis, including competitive price benchmarking, good/better/best architecture, channel positioning, and price/value recommendations.


• Track new product launches and in-market product performance, identifying early successes, challenges, consumer feedback, and opportunities for corrective action.


• Support cross-functional product development activities with Design, Engineering, Packaging, Operations, Demand Planning, Sales, and Marketing to ensure European requirements are understood and incorporated into projects.


• Maintain strong working knowledge of the European retail landscape across specialty, mass, omni-channel, marketplaces, and D2C.


• Participate in relevant European trade shows, retailer meetings, store visits, competitive shopping, and consumer research to maintain a current understanding of the marketplace.


• Prepare recurring category reviews and market updates highlighting trends, competitive activity, portfolio performance, innovation opportunities, and recommended actions.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• 2+ years of experience in category management, product management, brand management, merchandising, marketing, or related consumer products roles.


• Experience within consumer products, juvenile products, home products, consumer durables, or lifestyle brands preferred.


• Strong understanding of European consumers, retail environments, and market dynamics.


• Demonstrated ability to identify consumer and marketplace trends and translate those insights into commercial or product recommendations.


• Experience supporting product development and/or commercialization of consumer products.


• Familiarity with both online and brick-and-mortar retail in Europe.


• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales, category, competitive, consumer, and financial information.


• Commercial mindset with an understanding of revenue, margin, pricing, assortment, and SKU productivity.


• Strong appreciation for product design, consumer experience, branding, and price/value.


• Experience working within a global organization and across multiple functions and geographies preferred.


• Highly collaborative with the ability to influence teams without direct authority.


• Must be fluent in English. Additional European language capability is a plus.

EDUCATION & SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, finance, product management, or related field, or equivalent experience.


• Strong consumer and commercial orientation.


• Naturally curious with a passion for understanding consumers, products, competitors, and emerging trends.


• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.


• Able to execute effectively in a fast-paced environment.


• Strong prioritization skills amid shifting priorities.


• Strong written, oral, and presentation communication skills.


• Comfortable presenting recommendations and insights to cross-functional teams and senior leaders.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Proficient in PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.


• Strong Excel and analytical capabilities.


• Familiarity with category, retailer, marketplace, and consumer data tools such as Circana, Profitero, Scintilla, retailer POS data, or similar platforms preferred.

COMPUTER/TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Must be proficient in MAC operating systems, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In-Design, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat. Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Sutie–Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Must have excellent hand mock-up skills.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• While performing the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to talk or listen.


• The team member frequently is required to sit; have flexible use of hands; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, or crouch.


• The team member is occasionally required to stand and walk.


• The team member must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move heavier product samples.


• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• General office environment with regular European and occasional international travel, approximately 15%