Category Manager

District Partners; Bentonville (AR); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Flexible schedule

Competitive compensation

Job summary

District Partners is seeking a Category Manager to join a Bentonville-based team supporting a major Walmart supplier. You will collaborate with Walmart merchants, translate data into strategic recommendations, and influence assortment and growth opportunities across a high-revenue category.

The role emphasizes independent ownership, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to drive actionable insights through analytics and storytelling. A flexible, hybrid model is available in Bentonville.

Qualifications

• Experience understanding large retailers’ merchandising and assortment decisions.
• Ability to translate data into actionable recommendations for merchants and leaders.
• Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint to build compelling analyses.
• Familiarity with retailer data platforms and analytics tools.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Walmart merchant teams on category strategy, assortment, and growth opportunities.
• Analyze Walmart data and syndicated sources to spot trends and risks.
• Turn data into clear recommendations that move the business.

Skills

Category Analytics

Merchandising

Data-driven decisions

Excel

PowerPoint

Retail partnerships

Independent work

Tools

Scintilla

Luminate

Retail Link

Circana

NielsenIQ

Job description

District Partners has been engaged by a leading strategic supplier to Walmart looking for a Category Manager to join its Bentonville-based team and support a significant, established business with one of the world's largest retailers.

Despite the title, we are not exclusively looking for someone who is already a Category Manager, Captain, etc. This could be an exceptional next step for someone who has built their career inside the Walmart ecosystem (not currently employed there) and understands how merchants think, how assortment decisions get made, and how data can be turned into a compelling recommendation.

You may have worked in merchandising, buying, planning, modulars, replenishment, analytics, or another role that gave you a front-row seat to how Walmart operates. You may currently work for a supplier supporting Walmart. You may even be looking to return to the corporate world after spending time away from it.

You DO NOT need to have previously held a Category Manager title. In fact, this could be an excellent opportunity for someone who has been supporting this type of work and is ready to own it. What matters most is that you understand retail, are analytically strong, and can become a credible partner to Walmart's merchant teams.

In this role, you'll help shape the strategy behind a business representing approximately hundreds of millions in annual retail sales. You'll work closely with Walmart merchants and internal business leaders to understand what's happening in the category, identify opportunities, and translate data into recommendations that can actually move the business.

What You'll Be Owning:

• Partner directly with Walmart merchant teams on category strategy, assortment, merchandising, and growth opportunities
• Analyze Walmart and syndicated data to identify trends, opportunities, risks, and changes in shopper behavior
• Turn large amounts of information into clear, persuasive recommendations for merchants and business leaders
• Support Line Reviews, modular planning, assortment decisions, QBRs, and other key Walmart planning processes
• Evaluate item productivity, assortment gaps, pricing, space allocation, competitive activity, and category performance
• Help develop recommendations around what should be added, removed, expanded, repositioned, or tested within the category
• Build presentations and analyses that tell the story behind the numbers rather than simply reporting them
• Develop reporting and dashboards that make it easier for the business to identify opportunities and make decisions
• Work cross-functionally with Sales, Planning, Product, Merchandising, Marketing, and other teams to execute against Walmart's priorities
• Become a trusted resource to Walmart merchants by bringing an informed, objective point of view to the business

What You Bring to the Table

There isn't one perfect résumé for this role. We're interested in people with experience across the Walmart ecosystem, particularly those who have worked in areas such as:

• Buying or Assistant Buying
• Modular Planning or Modular Execution
• Category Analytics
• Business Analytics
• Assortment Planning
• Shopper or Customer Insights
• Customer Development

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• A strong understanding of how large retailers make merchandising and assortment decisions
• The ability to look at data, figure out what actually matters, and explain it in a way that drives action
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint capabilities
• Experience with retailer data and analytics platforms
• Familiarity with tools such as Scintilla, Luminate, Retail Link, Circana, NielsenIQ, or similar platforms is highly valuable
• Understanding of assortment, modulars, space, pricing, planning, or merchandising processes
• Confidence communicating with merchants, senior leaders, and cross-functional partners
• Intellectual curiosity. You naturally want to understand why something is happening rather than simply report that it happened
• Strong business judgment and the willingness to develop and defend a point of view
• The ability to operate independently while still being a collaborative teammate

A Few Things Worth Knowing:

• Previous experience (NOT current) with Walmart or Sam's Club is highly valued
• We are particularly interested in candidates who previously worked within Walmart or Sam's Club corporate functions such as Merchandising, Buying, Planning, Modulars, Replenishment, Analytics, or related areas and are now interested in bringing that experience to the supplier side.
• Experience supporting Walmart from within a supplier, agency, consulting, or category advisory organization is equally relevant
• We also recognize that great careers are not always perfectly linear. Candidates returning to the workforce after a career break are encouraged to apply. If your earlier experience gave you a strong understanding of retail merchandising and the Walmart ecosystem, we would like to hear from you.

Why This Role

• This isn't a role where you'll spend your week producing reports that disappear into someone's inbox. You'll be supporting one of Walmart's largest softlines categories, working closely with Walmart, and helping influence decisions around how a major retail category evolves.
• At the same time, the position offers an unusually flexible schedule for a Bentonville-based Walmart-facing role: 4 days working remotely and possibly 1 day each week at the Walmart Home Office.
• For someone who understands Walmart and is ready for greater ownership, or someone who wants to bring that experience back into their career, it's a compelling opportunity to step into a highly visible role without having to check every traditional "Category Manager" box. Anyone with relevant experience that is looking for a very stable career, great salary and benefits, a great company and culture, and a longtime home, this is for you.