National Category Director

Albertsons Companies; Boise (ID); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Albertsons Companies in Boise, ID seeks a senior National Category Director to lead category strategy and merchant teams across divisions. You will drive pricing, assortment, and promotional strategy while partnering with suppliers and cross-functional leaders.

You will manage category pods, develop data-driven insights, and negotiate terms with national suppliers, shaping national and divisional plans with a focus on growth, profitability, and market share.

Qualifications

• Deep category management experience.
• Entrepreneurial spirit with a track record of leading high-functioning teams.
• Analytical mindset with data-driven problem solving.
• Collaborative in presenting analyses and influencing decisions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage merchandising strategy for assigned categories at national and divisional levels.
• Lead category pods, collaborating with division merchants to plan and execute initiatives.
• Negotiate supplier terms, costs, and assortments to maximize value for the organization.
• Leverage data to drive category decisions, tracking sales, profit, and market share.

Skills

Category management

Leadership

Negotiation

Data analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Why choose us?

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Join us for an exciting opportunity at Albertsons Companies, where innovation and customer service go hand-in-hand!

At Albertsons Companies, we are looking for someone who's not just seeking a job, but someone who wants to make an impact. In this role, you'll have the opportunity to lead, innovate, and contribute to the growth of a company that values great service and lasting customer relationships. This position offers the chance to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment that's constantly evolving.

What you will be doing

Albertsons Companies has an exciting opportunity to strategically manage a category(s) nationally for the entire organization. You will play an integral part in our growth and transformation as a company, as we seek to provide industry leading customer experience and grow our market share. In this role you must be comfortable as both a team leader and team player.

What does it take to be successful here?

You have deep category management experience. You have an entrepreneurial spirit and a successful track record of managing high-functioning teams. You have an analytical mindset and can determine data- driven solutions to complex problems. You are a collaborative team member used to presenting analyses and insights to your peers and having discussions to resolve challenges. You are a passionate and proven negotiator. You are decisive in your actions, yet collaborative in your approach. You want to be part of a team that will build category expertise and an amazing culture to drive the overall success of the company. If that's you then what are we waiting for? Let's do this!

Main responsibilities:

The National Category Director will report to the National Category Vice President (and up through the Senior Vice President of Merchandising) and will be responsible for developing and managing merchandising strategy for a given category(s). As a Category Director, you will serve as the leader of a category pod, a team made up of merchants from each division with whom you will collaborate and lead merchandising planning activities for your assigned category(s).

The position will be in our national headquarters (Boise ID). Some travel will be required to interact with division merchandising teams and national suppliers.

This is a significant opportunity to make a difference in retail transformation at scale. As the leader of your category pod, you will work closely with national and division merchandising leadership to determine category strategies. You will develop deep category expertise, including understanding of category trends, innovations, consumer preferences, nuances by geography and customer segments, and competitor activity. You will negotiate with national suppliers on behalf of the divisions.

Category Management - Strategically manages category(s) to meet sales, profit, and market share targets at the national and division level. Creates and implements category strategy, pricing strategy, promotional strategy, and assortment strategy for each assigned category, based on a detailed and analytically driven planning process, relying on significant collaboration with divisions and functional leaders. Leads the merchandising planning process with national and division merchants within the category pod to maximize category performance across all of Albertsons and within each division. Serves as the company's Subject Matter Expert (SME) for assigned category(s). Researches category trends, innovations, competitors, and regional preferences. Directly responsible for making critical decisions for the category, while working with division leads and functional teams to consider division nuances and drive to the right answer.

Supplier Relationships / Negotiations - Conducts all company-wide negotiations with suppliers of assigned categories, including cost, assortment, funding, and replenishment & contract terms, taking into consideration division inputs and commitments. Acts as the primary contact for all vendors in assigned categories. Meets with vendors on a consistent basis for deal negotiation and business updates. Attend key vendor meetings. Develops supplier joint business plan by leveraging scale of the organization to achieve the best possible cost of goods. Evaluates supplier performance, working with divisions and procurement team as needed. Communicates negotiations outcomes to divisions to enable them to plan and execute promotional events and local ads.

Data & Analytics - Leverages data to drive all decision-making. Maintains weekly, quarterly, and yearly scorecards to track sales, profit, and market share of each category. Oversee the utilization of merchant tools to conduct category data analysis. Works closely with functional team members and division merchants to collect and synthesize inputs (e.g., division promotional funding, local assortment considerations, Own Brands considerations, eCommerc