Category Manager, Grocery Channel

Shearer's Foods, Inc.; Massillon (OH); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Shearer’s Foods, Inc. in Massillon, OH is seeking a Category Manager for the Grocery Channel to drive category growth through data-based recommendations and strong customer partnerships.

You will analyze syndicated data, develop assortment and shelf strategies, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to support launches, promotions, and category reviews. A focus on storytelling and influencer relations will be essential.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Category Management or related CPG functions.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• Strong proficiency in NIQ, Circana, retailer POS, and data analysis.
• Excellent presentation, storytelling, and influencing abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead category growth initiatives for Grocery Channel and drive data-based recommendations.
• Develop category reviews, assortment recommendations, and growth plans.
• Collaborate with merchandising and cross-functional teams to execute plans.
• Translate insights into customer-facing stories and presentations.
• Support strategic planning and joint business planning with retailers.

Skills

Category Management

Data Analysis

Storytelling

Influencing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Analytics, Finance

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

NIQ / Circana

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Overview

Shearer’s Foods, founded in 1974 and headquartered in Massillon, OH, is a leading manufacturer of salty snacks, cookies, and crackers. Specializing in private label and co-manufacturing, Shearer’s is the largest supplier of private brand salty snacks and second-largest supplier of private brand cookies and crackers.

With a strong focus on innovation, service, quality, and sustainability, Shearer’s has been awarded the food industry’s highest award for environmental sustainability, as well as multiple Supplier of the Year awards.

Operating 16 locations across North America and employing more than 5000 team members, Shearer’s is driven by its core values of People, Grow, Impact and Win. The company mission is to deliver exceptional products and services that make snacking a time to celebrate for our customers, colleagues, and community.

At Shearer’s Foods, we believe in a skills-first approach to recruitment and employment. This means focusing on what you can do and how you can grow, rather than traditional metrics alone. We are committed to adhering to anti-exclusion practices, removing barriers to access, and enhancing opportunities for all individuals based on merit and potential. Your skills, experience, and perspective are valuable—and we want to empower you to make your mark here with us.

Responsibilities

The Category Manager, Grocery Channel is responsible for driving category growth and strengthening Shearer's Foods' position as a trusted strategic partner with Grocery Channel customers. This role leverages syndicated data, shopper insights, market trends, and retailer knowledge to develop fact-based category recommendations that improve category performance, drive sales growth, and create mutually beneficial outcomes for Shearer's Foods and its customers.

The ideal candidate combines strong analytical capabilities with outstanding communication and storytelling skills and can translate complex data into actionable recommendations that influence customer decisions regarding assortment, merchandising, shelving, pricing, promotion, and innovation. Category Managers are expected to function as both category experts and customer advisors while partnering closely with cross-functional teams. Key responsibilities include:

Category Leadership & Customer Partnership

• Serve as the category management expert for assigned Grocery customers and channels.
• Develop and deliver category reviews, business updates, assortment recommendations, and strategic growth plans.
• Establish Shearer's as a category thought leader through fact-based selling and shopper-centric recommendations.
• Partner with customer merchandising and category teams to identify opportunities that improve category performance.
• Build strong relationships with customer decision makers and cross-functional stakeholders.

Insights & Analytics

• Analyze syndicated data sources including NIQ, Circana, retailer POS, loyalty, panel, and shopper data.
• Identify sales trends, category dynamics, shopper behaviors, white space opportunities, and competitive threats.
• Develop actionable insights and recommendations that support business growth.
• Monitor category, brand, and competitive performance to identify risks and opportunities.
• Translate data into compelling customer-facing stories and presentations.

Assortment & Shelf Strategy

• Develop assortment optimization recommendations based on productivity, shopper needs, and category growth opportunities.
• Support item launches, innovation placement, and category reset initiatives.
• Build and present shelving and planogram recommendations.
• Evaluate SKU productivity and provide recommendations regarding distribution gains and rationalization opportunities.
• Recommend category solutions that maximize both retailer and Shearer's performance.

Promotional & Pricing Effectiveness

• Evaluate promotional performance and recommend strategies to improve incremental sales and profit.
• Partner on pricing, promotion, and assortment decisions.
• Conduct pre- and post-event analyses to measure effectiveness and identify learnings.
• Provide insights on market pricing trends and competitive activity.

Strategic Planning

• Support customer business planning processes through category, channel, shopper, and competitive insights.
• Identify emerging snacking, grocery, health and wellness, and consumer trends impacting the business.
• Contribute to annual planning, innovation commercialization, and customer growth strategies.
• Develop forward-looking recommendations that support long-term category growth.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Align category recommendations with customer objectives and Shearer's strategic priorities.
• Support customer meetings, line reviews, innovation presentations, and joint business planning sessions.
• Share best practices and category learnings across the organization.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Economics, Analytics, Finance, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in Category Management, Category Development, Shopper Insights, Sales Strategy, or related CPG functions.
• Experience supporting Grocery Channel customers.
• Strong proficiency in NIQ, Circana, retailer POS, and syndicated data analysis.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Proven ability to analyze complex datasets and develop actionable business recommendations.
• Strong presentation, storytelling, and influencing skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred

• Experience within salty snacks, snacks, food, beverage, or broader CPG categories.
• Experience with space management and planogram tools (JDA/Blue Yonder, Apollo, or similar).
• Experience supporting national grocery retailers and regional grocery chains.
• MBA or advanced business degree.
• Experience leading customer-facing category reviews and joint business planning processes.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.