Category Manager

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

Job summary

Walgreens is seeking a results-driven Senior Merchandiser to lead revenue growth and ROIC optimization across assigned departments. You will manage profit and loss, set pricing, assortments, and vendor strategies, and translate insights into category plans.

Responsibilities include developing plans for sales, gross profit, inventory, and turnover; negotiating terms with vendors; building financial models; and guiding cross-functional teams to maximize category performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 4+ years in retail, procurement/purchasing, merchandising, vendor relations, pharmacy operations, or retail marketing.
• At least 2 years of experience with P&L concepts – revenue, COGS, gross-profit margin, operating expense and income.
• Knowledge of customer centric retailing principles and analytics of customer purchase behavior.
• At least 4 years of experience developing strategic merchandising, vendor relations, and marketing in retail.
• Knowledge of retail business financial concepts, including penny-profit, mark-up, turns and ROI.
• Experience collaborating on 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% for business purposes (within state and out of state).

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.
• Negotiates buying contracts and obtains advantageous pricing; manages vendor relationships.
• Uses market, competitive, and customer analyses to set item price levels.
• Manages category performance by establishing goals and building financial models to predict ROIC.
• Creates and defends planogram category strategies with analytics; delegates tasks to support functions.
• Provides business cases for promotions/ROTO spots including productivity forecasts and performance analyses.
• Translates marketing insights into assortment decisions and leads weekly category meetings.
• Understands Walgreens private brands and works with DMM to project sales and gross-profit.
• Cultivates team morale and provides training, mentoring, and constructive feedback.

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.

Salary Range: $100000 - $175000 / Salaried