Category Support Specialist

Sysco; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Sysco is seeking a Category Support Specialist to directly support Sysco Merchandising Services and operating companies through category support activities, pricing and analytics that impact sales and financial objectives.

The role involves setting up suppliers/SKUs, deactivating SKUs, data-driven pricing analyses, and cross-functional collaboration. This hybrid role requires on-site presence 3–4 days per week and may adjust with business needs.

Qualifications

• Associates or bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent experience in merchandising, pricing or customer service.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort with data manipulation.
• Proficiency in mid-level Excel (VLOOKUPs, pivots, filters).

Responsibilities

• Lead setup of new suppliers, ship points and SKUs per category leadership guidance.
• Deactivate SKUs and ship points as directed by category leadership.
• Follow up with suppliers on monthly delinquent earned income.
• Communicate updates and escalate issues to Senior Director and category leadership.
• Run reports for product cuttings, ordering samples, and coordinating logistics for evaluation.
• Support CMU customer presentations through sample ordering and setup.
• Serve as first line of support for OpCos and supplier questions or issues.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive actions as needed.
• Act as SME during continuous improvement and escalate issues to leadership.
• Process pricing changes and route reports for approvals to ensure pricing accuracy.
• Handle non-CatMan cost/TP changes and assist pricing execution.
• Collect MRC baseline price points and communicate to leadership.
• Support pricing adjustments and monitor execution accuracy.
• Assist with commodity pricing and data collection for pricing decisions.
• Perform queries and manipulate margin reports to support category activities.
• Coordinate variance reports and collect pricing data to ensure accuracy.
• Drive category and supplier reviews using BI tools.
• Publish targeted selling results to Opcos and suppliers as directed.

Skills

Excel VLOOKUPs

Pivot tables

Data analysis

Education

Associate or Bachelor's degree

Tools

AS240

RME

Sysco Intranet

Business Objects

Job description

This is a hybrid position requiring an on-site presence 3 to 4 days per week. Please note that the number of on-site days may increase based on business needs.

Job Summary

The Category Support Specialist will directly support Sysco Merchandising Services (SMS) departments and Sysco Operating Companies through category support activities, pricing, and analytics that contribute to Sysco's sales and financial objectives.

Responsibilities

• Lead set up of new suppliers, ship points and Stock Keeping Units (SKU) per the guidance of category leadership; communicate with internal cross-functional teams
• Head de-activation of SKUs and ship points per the guidance of category leadership; communicate with internal cross-functional teams
• Direct supplier follow-ups of monthly delinquent earned income.
• Communicate updates and elevate issues to Senior Director and appropriate category leadership.
• Facilitate product cuttings by running reports, lead sample ordering and log-in, coordinate evaluation logistics and equipment needs, as well as assist with the evaluation set up and clean up.
• Participate in Corporate Multi-Unit (CMU) customer presentations through sample ordering and set up.
• Service as the first line of support for Operating Company (OpCo) and supplier questions or issue resolution.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams when their action is necessary.
• Serves as subject matter expert during continuous improvement tasks and elevate issues to category leadership.
• Process non-CatMan supplier or category price list changes, request CSV files from suppliers, route to category leadership for approvals and assist with new pricing execution accuracy by routing variance reports to category leadership for review.
• Process non-commodity, CatMan cost/TP changes and assist with new pricing execution accuracy.
• Collect MRC baseline price points and communicate to category leadership in support of steady-state MRC.
• Assist with pricing adjustments and pricing execution accuracy if adjustments are necessary per category leadership
• Support commodity and "squeeze" pricing, both CatMan and non-CatMan categories, by collecting data points, populating spreadsheets with recommendations for approval by category leadership and monitor new pricing execution accuracy.
• Conduct business objects queries, manipulate total margin reports or scorecards for category assortment activities.
• Coordinating variance reports and collect MRC or squeeze pricing data to ensure pricing accuracy and MRC.
• Category and supplier business reviews through business object query and/or manipulating total margin reports and/or scorecards.
• Targeted selling activities through business objects queries, publish results to Opcos and/or suppliers per the guidance of category leadership.

Education

• Associates or bachelors degree preferred or an equivalent combination of education and Sysco merchandising, pricing and/or customer service experience or equivalent combination of education and foodservice industry experience.

Professional Skills

• Must possess mid-level Microsoft Excels skill sets, specifically Vlookups, manipulating pivot tables, filtering, and sorting functions.
• Knowledge of internal systems such as AS240, Reengineered Mainframe Environment (RME), Sysco Intranet, and Business Objects.

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to sit, stand, walk and use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and telephone to talk and hear.
• Frequently required to sit and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.

Working Conditions

• This position will be performed from the corporate facility.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

NOTICE: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the environment and the level of work being performed by this job. This job description in no way states or implies that the duties and responsibilities listed are the only tasks to be performed by the employee in this job. The employee will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by his or her supervisor.
Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
This job description supersedes prior job descriptions. When duties and responsibilities change and develop the job description will be reviewed and subject to changes of business necessity.