Category Manager

Walgreens; Deerfield (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Walgreens in the United States is seeking a senior merchandising leader to drive revenue, understand P&L dynamics, and optimize ROIC across assigned departments. You will shape assortment, display, pricing, and promotional strategies while managing key vendor relationships.

You will translate market insights into actionable merchandising decisions, lead cross-functional teams, and mentor staff to achieve ambitious financial goals. This role requires travel up to 10% and strong analytical skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 4 years of experience in two or more of: retail, procurement/purchasing, merchandising, vendor relations, pharmacy operations, or retail marketing.
• High School Diploma/GED with at least 7 years of experience in two or more of the same categories.
• At least 2 years of experience working with P&L concepts (revenue, COGS, gross-profit margin, operating expense).
• Experience developing strategic merchandising programs and vendor relations in retail.
• Knowledge of retail financial concepts including ROI, mark-up, and turns.

Responsibilities

• Plans and accounts for sales, gross-profit, inventory, and turnover objectives for assigned departments.
• Develops merchandising, display, advertising, and sales plans for items.
• Negotiates buying contracts and manages vendor relationships.
• Sets prices using market analyses and customer insights.
• Manages category performance and builds ROIC-focused financial models.
• Leads with planogram strategies and analytical delegation.
• Prepares business cases for promotions and productivity forecasts.
• Translates consumer insights into assortment decisions and supports weekly category meetings.
• Forecasts sales and gross-profit levels with the DMM and tracks merchandising programs.
• Mentors the team and fosters performance goals and constructive feedback.

Skills

P&L concepts

Retail analytics

Leadership & team

Pricing & promotions

Education

Bachelor’s degree

High School Diploma/GED with 7+ years experience

Job description

Job Summary

Responsible for managing revenue and overall profits and losses (P&L). Manages ongoing business through insight-led decision making, assortment optimization, category marketing, visual merchandising, and vendor management to optimize ROIC.

Job Responsibilities

• Plans, develops, and is accountable for sales, gross-profit level, inventory control, and merchandise-turnover objectives for the assigned department(s) and item(s).
• Develops and determines merchandising, display, advertising, distribution, packaging and sales plans and programs for assigned items and merchandise departments.
• Negotiates buying contracts and obtains most advantageous pricing. Manages day-to-day vendor relationships and growth opportunities.
• Uses market, competitive, and customer perceptions analyses to set and adjust item price levels.
• Aggressively manages category performance by establishing category goals and building financial models to predict ROIC.
• Demonstrates category ownership by creating and defending all planogram category strategies and decisions with sound analytics. Delegates analytical tasks to key support functions and synthesizes results.
• Provides Divisional Merchandise Manager (DMM) with business case for promotions/ROTO spots, including promotional productivity forecast and product performance sensitivity analyses.
• Manages the translation of marketing and consumer insights into assortment merchandising decisions. Champions the weekly category meetings with merchant support to manage category performance.
• Maintains an understanding of Walgreens and WBA private brands, including assortment and projected sales forecasts, gross-profit level, and merchandising and promotional programs. Works with the DMM to project sales forecasts and gross-profit levels within the assigned categories.
• Cultivates team morale, motivation, and loyalty through continuous training and mentorship, setting obtainable performance goals and provides clear communication and constructive feedback.

About Walgreens

Founded in 1901, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) serves nearly 9 million customers and patients each day across its approximately 8,500 stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and leading omni channel platforms. Walgreens has approximately 220,000 team members, including nearly 90,000 healthcare service providers, and is committed to being the first choice for retail pharmacy and health services, building trusted relationships that create healthier futures for customers, patients, team members and communities.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 4 years of experience in two or more of the following categories: retail, procurement/purchasing, merchandising, vendor relations, pharmacy operations, or retail marketing OR a High School Diploma/GED and at least 7 years of experience in two or more of the following categories: retail, procurement/purchasing, merchandising, vendor relations, pharmacy operations, or retail marketing.
• At least 2 years of experience working with P&L concepts – revenue, COGS, gross-profit margin, operating expense and income
• Knowledge of customer centric retailing principles and the analytics of customer purchase behavior.
• At least 4 years of experience developing strategic programs in merchandising, vendor relations, and marketing in the retail business.
• Knowledge of retail business financial concepts, to include penny-profit market, mark-up percent, turns and ROI.
• Experience collaborating on analysis for market-potential evaluation, pricing, and promotions.
• Knowledge of marketing and promotional strategies and methods.
• At least 2 years of experience contributing to financial decisions in the workplace.
• At least 2 years of direct leadership, indirect leadership and/or cross-functional team leadership.
• Willing to travel up to 10% of the time for business purposes (within state and out of state).

Preferred Qualifications

• Project management experience.
• At least 2 years of experience in negotiating deals.

We will consider employment of qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

The Salary below is being provided to promote pay transparency and equal employment opportunities at Walgreens. The actual hourly salary within this range that you will be offered will depend on a variety of factors including geography, skills and abilities, education, experience and other relevant factors. This role will remain open until filled.

Salary Range: $100000 - $175000 / Salaried