Associate Category Manager (California)

Ace Hardware Corporation; California (MO); Remote; USD 65,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking an Associate Category Manager to drive profitable sales in the California region. This dynamic role involves developing product assortments, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and executing marketing strategies. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in merchandising, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Join a company that values service, teamwork, and integrity, and contribute to a team dedicated to meeting customer needs while driving business success.

Qualifications

• BS/BA Degree in Business Management preferred or equivalent experience.
• Solid understanding of retail operations and merchandising strategies.

Responsibilities

• Support vendor assortments, sourcing, and merchandising strategies.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for category initiatives.

Skills

Merchandising

Relationship Sales Skills

Analytical Thinking

Project Management

Interpersonal Skills

Retail Operations Knowledge

Business Fundamentals

Organizational Skills

Self-Motivation

Education

BS/BA Degree in Business Management

Tools

Microsoft 365

Excel

Job description

Associate Category Manager (California)

Associate Category Manager (California)

Apply locations HOME (WLA) time type Full time posted on Posted Yesterday job requisition id REQ-26897

About Ace Retail Holdings

Ace Retail Holdings (ARH), the division of Ace Hardware Corporation that owns and operates the Great Lakes and Westlake Ace Hardware chains, is one of the largest hardware retailers in the United States. ARH has been in operation for over a century and operates over 220 neighborhood stores located throughout the United States. Great people make ARH stand out in our industry, and we are looking for individuals who strive for personal and professional growth, and who want to work with a company dedicated to serving our customers and communities.

Service, Passion, Respect, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence

Job Title: Associate Category Manager

Department: Merchandising

Reports To: Senior Category Manager, Merchandising

Exemption Status: Exempt (Salaried)

General Job Summary

The Associate Category Manager supports the Senior Regional Category Manager in managing direct vendor assortments, sourcing, and merchandising strategies to drive profitable sales for California region. This role collaborates closely with cross-functional teams, including inventory, marketing, and merchandising, to ensure alignment and execution of category initiatives. This is a remote role based out of CA, Southern CA preferably.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

1. Assortment Strategy and Management:
   • Develop quality product assortments that drive sales and profitable growth.
   • Provide strategic direction for the development of advertising and marketing initiatives to drive sales and transaction growth.
   • Identify localized opportunities to ensure a merchandise assortment that meets the needs of the varied consumer base where appropriate.
   • Support Nursery assortment planning, pre-season ordering, and vendor management.
   • Analyze and monitor sales, trends, and economic conditions within a specific category to anticipate consumer buying patterns.
   • Maintain strong understanding of the competition, the marketplace and industry. Monitor competitors’ sales activities, product assortments, and pricing by reviewing daily/weekly print and electronic advertisements, as well as store visits.
2. Financial Accountability:
   • Negotiate costs, discounts, rebates, VPP (Vendor Partnership Program) and freight terms for assigned categories.
   • Support Nursery Department by evaluating Key Performance Indicators.
3. Sourcing and Procurement:
   • Establish and maintain strategic supplier relationships, aligning suppliers, products, and services to meet the needs of the business.
   • Work in collaboration with inventory management to determine demand forecasts for everyday and promotional opportunities.
   • Attend trade shows to identify product opportunities and enhance business relationships.
   • Support Senior Regional Category Manager in the identification of new nursery partners in the development and execution of plant orders and grower relationships.
4. Leadership and Management:
   • Define and implement departmental strategic objectives with both short and long-term plans developed.
   • Strategic and tactical ownership, accountability, and execution for the assigned product category Line Review process.
   • Demonstrate effective presentation skills of merchandising strategies to ensure buy-in and engagement across the entire organization.
   • Serve as project manager for merchandising-driven initiatives in support of key categories.
5. Partnership and Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams:
   • Store Operations on the understanding of market and customer needs.
   • Inventory management to ensure optimal in-stock levels and exit strategies.
   • Marketing/Visual Merchandising to deliver improved in-store presentation, Point-of-Purchase materials, and marketing strategies.
   • Develop strong working relationships with Ace counterparts to fully leverage available product assortments, customer research and partner on strategic initiatives to further category performance.
   • Support the Nursery Category Manager position in a collaborative environment.

Other Essential Requirements

Ability to exhibit and incorporate our Core Values into daily decisions and interactions with others:

1. WINNING – In business, money is the score. To win, we must perform, compete, and have fun. At Ace, we win through people- our strength is being helpful.
2. EXCELLENCE – Excellence honors God and inspires people. We aspire to be the best, to continuously improve and to inspire others by giving the team our very best.
3. LOVE – Love the people, love the work and love the results.
4. INTEGRITY – For Ace to win, we need to be able to trust each other. And trust will require us to be honest, reliable, caring, of high character and of unquestioned ethics.
5. GRATITUDE – We recognize that we are blessed to be in the business of serving others.
6. HUMILITY – We strive for greatness with a humble, modest and respectful attitude.
7. TEAMWORK – We will fight the natural tendency for control and credit in favor of collaboration and mutual success, recognizing that…Together, we are Ace.

Minimum Skills, Requirements and Qualifications

1. BS/BA Degree in Business Management preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
2. Interest or past work in Merchandising or Buying.
3. Solid understanding of retail operations, relationship sales skills, business fundamentals, merchandising strategies and assortment planning.
4. Knowledge of the neighborhood hardware store B2B and DIY customer.
5. Preferred background in Nursery industry.
6. Refined interpersonal skills to engage with others both written and verbal.
7. Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic business environment.
8. Demonstrated organizational skills and attention to detail.
9. Ability to work independently, be highly self-motivated.
10. Familiarity with modern marketing techniques in electronic, digital, and social media platforms.
11. Proven ability to successfully lead teams backed with strong project management skills.
12. Analytical thinker, team player, customer-focused, business minded.
13. Understanding of Microsoft 365 programs; Excel, Word, Teams, Power Point.
14. Strong working knowledge of Excel (charts, VLOOKUP’s, data manipulation and macro execution).
15. Travel as required.
16. Standing, walking, lifting (up to 25lbs) and climbing.

Compensation Details

$65000/year

For a full list of benefits and open positions, please visit us at: Ace Hardware Careers

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Equal Opportunity Employer
Westlake Ace Hardware is committed to a policy of promoting equal employment opportunities. The company recognizes the importance of diversity and leveraging the skills and talents of all people to the mutual advantage of each individual and the organization. The company is committed to the prevention of employment discrimination related to race, religion, color, sex (including sexual harassment), gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, disability and military discharge, or any other action covered by federal or state laws.