Director Category Marketing

The Marzetti Company; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Marzetti Company, a leader in foodservice portions of the Marzetti portfolio, seeks a Director of Category Marketing to shape category strategies and drive sustainable growth in our Foodservice business. You will own category planning, P&L, pricing strategy, portfolio management and innovation, partnering with Sales, Customer Marketing and Finance to execute plans.

This role requires strategic vision, strong analytics, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams in a fast-paced

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or related field; MBA preferred.
• 10+ years in CPG marketing or category/brand/product roles; foodservice preferred.
• Strong financial acumen with P&L management and forecasting.
• Experience leading strategic planning, portfolio management, and commercialization.
• Ability to use secondary/syndicated research and manage agency partners to drive objectives.

Responsibilities

• Lead annual and longer-term category strategies, defining growth priorities and where-to-play/how-to-win choices.
• Translate category, customer, consumer and competitive insights to identify opportunities, risks and recommendations.
• Establish category objectives, key initiatives and measures of success.
• Partner with Customer Marketing and Sales to translate category priorities into customer and channel opportunities.
• Own category financial performance across volume, revenue, margin and profitability.
• Partner with Finance, Trade and Pricing to establish category margin targets and decision thresholds.
• Lead portfolio profitability, pricing/mix and margin-improvement decisions.
• Oversee category marketing budgets.
• Lead Marketing's IBP process and align demand planning with Sales.
• Understand capacity, supply and inventory implications; make category and portfolio recommendations.
• Partner with Supply Chain on constraints, risks and capacity planning with business cases.
• Ensure innovation and customer initiatives are represented in business plans.
• Develop and lead category innovation and renovation funnel with business cases and financial expectations.
• Lead SKU optimization and rationalization; identify value engineering opportunities.
• Lead category architecture/brand positioning and translate strategies into channel activation.
• Monitor trends to identify risks and growth opportunities.
• Build and nurture a high-performing Category Marketing team.

Skills

CPG marketing

Category management

Brand management

Strategic planning

P&L management

Forecasting

Cross-functional leadership

Agency management

Analytical skills

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing or related field

MBA preferred

Job description

Overview

The Director of Category Marketing plays a key leadership role in shaping and executing category strategies for Marzetti Foodservice that deliver sustainable growth and profitability . T his role is responsible for driving category planning, P&L and margin management, portfolio strategy, integrated business planning /forecasting , value engineering, innovation, and category/brand marketing for assigned categories.

Responsibilities → What You'll Do

Category Strategy & Planning

• Lead annual and longer-term category strategies, defining growth priorities and where-to-play/how-to-win choices.
• Translate category, customer, consumer and competitive insights to identify opportunities, risks and recommendations.
• Establish category objectives , key initiatives and measures of success.
• Partner with Customer Marketing and Sales to translate category priorities into customer and channel opportunities.

Category P&L & Margin Management

• Own category (Branded & Customer SKUs ) financial performance across volume, revenue, mix, margin and profitability.
• Partner with Finance, Trade and Pricing to establish category margin targets and decision thresholds .
• Lead portfolio profitability, pricing/ mix and margin-improvement decisions.
• Oversee category marketing budgets.

Integrated Business Planning

• Lead Marketing's category perspective within the IBP process.
• Own the business assumptions behind the demand outlook and align inputs from Sales and Customer Marketing with Demand Planning.
• Understand capacity, supply and inventory implications and make category , customer prioritization and portfolio recommendations as required .
• Partner with Supply Chain on constraints, risks and longer-term capacity requirements including capital and business case development .
• Ensure innovation, customer initiatives and portfolio changes are represented appropriately in business plans.

Category Innovation

• Develop and lead the category innovation and renovation funnel .
• Establish business case, value proposition and financial expectation for category innovation.
• Lead cross-functional alignment for category-driven projects through Stage Gate and commercialization . Provide approval for customer S tage G ate projects .
• Partner with Customer Marketing on customer-driven opportunities to ensure alignment with strategy, margin expectations and portfolio priorities.

Portfolio & Value Engineering

• Develop portfolio assortment strategy and SKU productivity balancing customer needs, operational complexity, capacity and financial performance
• Lead SKU optimization and rationalization decisions.
• Identify and prioritize value engineering, quality improvement, renovation opportunities and r egulatory requirements with cross-functional teams .

Category / Brand Marketing

• Lead category architecture / brand positioning and value propositions
• Partner with Customer Marketing to translate category strategies into channel and customer activatio n ; guide development of selling tools and agency support .
• Monitor category, competitive, and marketplace trends to identify risks and growth opportunities

People & Organizational Leadership

• Build and nurture a high-performing Category Marketing team .
• Create clarity around priorities, decision rights and accountability.
• Communicate category performance, opportunities, risks and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Build strong general-management , financial and category management capabilities across the team.

Qualifications → What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing , Business, or related field required ; MBA preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in CPG marketing, category /brand/product management or related roles; foodservice experience preferred.
• Strong financial and business acumen, including experience with P&L management and forecasting .
• Demonstrated experience leading strateg ic planning , portfolio management, innovation and commercialization.
• Experience leveraging secondary, syndicated and custom research to inform strategy, and leading agency partners to deliver business and marketing objectives .
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence effectively without direct authority.
• Strong analytical and decision‑making skills, with the ability to translate insights into action and operate effectively in a fast‑paced, evolving business environment.
• Excellent storytelling and presentation skills .
• Collaborative, growth-oriented leader with strong ownership, curiosity and a passion for food, customers and innovation.