Remote Strategic Category Lead, Foodservice & Vending

Mars; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 108,000 - 149,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates is seeking a Manager of Category Foodservice and Vending/Unattended Retail to lead category insights and strategic recommendations across assortment, shelving, and merchandising. You will translate insights into actionable actions, partnering with internal teams to drive growth and decision-making with key foodservice and vending partners.

The role emphasizes external communication with partners, ad hoc reporting, strategy reviews, shelf planning, and

Qualifications

• Post secondary education or work experience equivalent.
• Minimum 5+ years CPG industry experience in Category Management, Category Strategy, Insights, or related commercial functions.
• Advanced analytical capabilities with syndicated, POS and customer data sources (Nielsen Discover, Circana, IRI, etc.).
• High level analytical capability: synthesize data into concise, action-oriented recommendations.
• Experience translating analytics into strategic insights that drive business growth.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills for varied audiences.
• Strong ability to teach/consult business insight development through data analytics.

Responsibilities

• Act as Customer Advisor and Category Leader.
• Lead insight-driven category growth strategies that create value for customer and Mars.
• Provide data-backed recommendations on assortment, shelving, space allocation, merchandising.
• Lead annual and ongoing category planning with growth opportunities and strategic action plans.
• Use distributor, operator, consumer, and syndicated data to uncover insights and translate findings into recommendations.
• Create and deliver compelling, insight-led presentations for customer meetings and reviews.
• Champion best practices in category management, analytics, reporting, and storytelling.
• Partner with Sales and customers to identify growth opportunities and Joint Business Planning.
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop insights and opportunities for growth.
• Conduct ad hoc analyses to evaluate performance and unveil opportunities.

Skills

Analytical capabilities

Data analytics

Communication skills

Presentation skills

Teaching / consulting

Education

Post secondary education or work experience equivalent

Tools

Circana Discover

Nielsen Discover

Excel

PowerPoint

POS data sources

JDA / Space Planning

Power BI

Job description

Mars, Incorporated and its Affiliates is seeking a Manager of Category Foodservice and Vending/Unattended Retail to lead category insights and strategic recommendations across assortment, shelving, and merchandising. You will translate insights into actionable actions, partnering with internal teams to drive growth and decision-making with key foodservice and vending partners.

The role emphasizes external communication with partners, ad hoc reporting, strategy reviews, shelf planning, and