Senior Category Analyst – Kroger

Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces; Walnut Creek (CA); Hybrid; USD 115,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Kinder’s in Walnut Creek, CA or Cincinnati, OH seeks a Senior Category Analyst to drive Kroger analytics and data storytelling. You’ll partner with Sales & Strategy to shape assortment, marketing initiatives, and buyer presentations while turning data into actionable insights.

The role balances Customer Analytics and Data Storytelling, with a hybrid office schedule and cross-functional collaboration across banners and regions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, market research, or related field.
• 3–5 years of experience in category management, sales analytics, insights, or related field within the CPG industry.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to analyze complex data sets and derive actionable insights.
• Experience with Kroger data tools and syndicated data (Circana, NIQ, SPINS) and household panel data.

Responsibilities

• Lead analytics for Kinder’s Kroger businesses and track performance.
• Provide insights to shape assortment, marketing, and presentations.
• Develop data-driven stories for internal and buyer meetings.
• Partner with Sales & Strategy to optimize assortment across banners.
• Prepare Kroger performance reviews highlighting differences by items/regions.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Presentation skills

PowerPoint

Excel

Education

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, market research, or related field

Tools

Kroger data tools (84.51 Stratum, OnDemand)

Circana

NIQ

SPINS

Planogram software

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

BUILT ON FLAVOR. FUELED BY PEOPLE.

What’s it like to work at Kinder’s? Well, there’s a lot of snacking and geeking out over what we all cooked over the weekend. Beyond that, there’s also plenty of hard work. Because we don’t just like flavor, we’re obsessed with it.

With over 100 products sold nationwide, we’re now a top-five brand in multiple flavor categories at Costco, Walmart, Whole Foods, and more. We’re not your typical CPG company. Privately held and founder-led, we like to think of ourselves as a pirate ship in a sea of cruise ships. Our crew is adventurous and fearless. We chart our own course and chase big ideas to make food unforgettable.

As we expand globally and approach $1 billion in revenue, we need more smart-and-scrappy, flavor-obsessed people to come aboard. If you’re looking for a place where you can see the real impact of your work... this is it! Every day, you’ll be part of a journey to add flavor to millions of meals and lives.

About The Role

The Senior Category Analyst will support sales and category analytics across key customer accounts, delivering actionable insights that drive brand and category growth. This role will partner closely with the Sales team to shape strategies for assortment, marketing, customer presentations, and other growth initiatives. The ideal candidate brings strong analytical skills and the ability to turn data into compelling stories. If you are passionate about driving growth through actionable insights, we want to hear from you!

The role can be done in either our Walnut Creek, CA office or a location in or near Cincinnati, OH.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Support analytics for Kinder’s key customer partner, Kroger. Drive growth across categories by uncovering opportunities for customer and Kinder’s. Role will balance Customer Analytics and Data Storytelling.

Customer Analytics

• Lead analytics for Kinder’s rapidly growing Kroger businesses.
• Track and report sales performance of Kinder’s key initiatives, such as innovation launches or in-store marketing programs.
• Lead advanced customer analytics leveraging Kroger data resources (84.51 Stratum, OnDemand).
• Utilize variety of data sources to answer key business questions including innovation success, promotional strategy, assortment opportunities, etc. (Circana, Nielsen, Numerator, etc.)
• Work cross-functionally with Sales & Strategy teams to optimize assortment across banners.
• Post-event analysis of customer strategies and tactics, including pallet and display activity during key seasonal windows

Data Storytelling

• Build comprehensive presentations with strong data visualization. Share insights, findings, and recommendations across Kinder’s organization, and externally in buyer meetings.
• Advance internal reporting and communication across internal stakeholders.
• Lead recurring Kroger performance review highlighting performance differences across items and regions.

What Success Will Look Like

• Senior Category Analyst becomes a trusted partner for Kinder’s dedicated Kroger team.
• Lead internal sales, assortment, and innovation reporting for the customer.
• Improve Kinder’s customer presentations with strong visualization and synthesized analysis.
• Own cross functional communication of analytic findings and opportunities.
• Uncover regional and banner specific opportunities to drive growth for Kinder’s & Kroger.
• Partner with sales, marketing, supply chain, etc. to deliver internal and external sales targets.

Qualifications

Education / Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, market research, or related field.
• 3-5 years of experience in category management, sales analytics, insights, or related field within the CPG industry.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to analyze complex data sets and derive actionable insights.
• Experience with Kroger specific data tools and resources (84.51 Stratum, etc.)
• Syndicated data experience (e.g., Circana, NIQ, SPINS) and household panel data (e.g., Circana, Numerator).
• Planogram software experience preferred.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to distill complex information into clear and concise insights and tell stories with data.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.
• Proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel

Personal Characteristics

• Strategic thinker with the ability to connect insights to business strategy and decision-making.
• Collaborative team player with strong leadership skills and the ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Business builder who owns and drives results.
• Growth mindset with an excitement to learn (and teach).
• Thrive in a dynamic, lean, and agile environment with proven record of completing projects on time in full through excellent cross functional team. management, leadership, communication and influence
• Self-starter who takes initiative and speaks their mind.
• Excited to be part of a fast-moving team with the ability to be a leader and a follower.
• Enjoy making decisions and finding ways to say ‘yes’ as often as possible to impactful and important priorities.

Location and Travel

The position will be based onsite in Walnut Creek, CA or Cincinnati, OH. We strongly believe in the power of culture and community and have a hybrid work structure with 4 days in the office on a weekly basis to encourage collaboration and personal connections that will allow us to better serve our customers and consumer and to have more fun. Fridays are flex days with employees having the opportunity to choose to be either in the office or to work from home based on what makes most sense for them.

Pay Transparency

The expected starting salary range for this role is $115,000- $125,000 per year.The salary range posted for this role reflects the good-faith base pay range Kinder’s reasonably expects to offer at the time of posting and may vary based on the location of the role. Individual compensation within the posted range will be determined based on factors such as relevant education, experience, qualifications, skills, and business needs.

Seasoned For Success

• No two days here are the same.
• We try to be good team members and good communicators, but we don’t live by hierarchy and structure – everyone is a difference maker here.
• We make a lot of decisions in the face of incomplete information – our team embraces ambiguity and tries to make good decisions fast rather than great decisions slow.
• We believe our job is to take smart risk, not to eliminate risk.
• We believe in growing our skills and becoming a better company with more managerial expertise, but we are an entrepreneurial company at heart.
• We aren’t trying to be average – we want to do exceptional things, and we are willing to work hard to achieve them.

Benefits That Bring More To The Table

We offer a range of total rewards that may include paid time off, 401k, bonus / incentive eligibility, equity grants, competitive health benefits, and other family-friendly benefits, including parental leave. Kinder’s benefits vary based on eligibility and can be reviewed in more detail during the interview process.

Our Recipe For Balance

We believe great culture starts with people. We’re a people-first company built on connection, collaboration, and balance. Most of our work happens in the office to spark creativity and community, but we also offer flexibility so team members have the autonomy to work outside the office when needed to support their work-life balance and personal commitments.

Where Every Ingredient Matters

Kinder's is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need any accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, please reach out to us at [e-mail]