Senior Category Manager

Vita Coco; New York (NY); Remote; USD 130,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Vita Coco is seeking a Senior Category Manager to lead data-informed strategy across Grocery, Natural, and Drug channels. This role focuses on driving growth, coaching a team, and shaping retailer opportunities with compelling storytelling.

The position emphasizes collaboration with Sales and other functions to deliver category insights, optimize shelving, and build best-in-class retailer partnerships. This remote role reports to the Senior Director of Category & Consumer Insights.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business or related field is required.
• 7–10 years of category management experience required.
• Experience with 84.51, Circana, NIQ and Numerator data sources.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to turn data into insights.
• Experience with space planning software (e.g., JDA).

Responsibilities

• Tell data-driven stories to elevate retailer opportunities.
• Partner with Sales to strengthen retailer partnerships and drive growth.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with departments to ensure category growth.
• Coach and develop a team of direct reports.
• Own the category look for Grocery, Natural, and Drug channels and shelving designs.

Skills

Storytelling

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Team leadership

Communication

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

Tools

84.51

Circana

NIQ

Numerator

JDA

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Vita Coco is the leading coconut water brand in the world, built on a simple idea: bring better-for-you, natural hydration to more people. Since starting in 2004, we’ve grown into a global business with teams in New York, London, and Singapore, and we’re now publicly traded on NASDAQ under COCO.

As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp, we’re committed to supporting farming communities, sourcing responsibly, and building products that are better for people and the planet. We move fast, stay scrappy, and care deeply about doing the right thing.

We’re now looking for someone who’s excited to join a growing, purpose-driven company and help shape what comes next.

Our Values

• Human First: We lead with inclusivity, transparency, and empathy.
• Nothing is Impossible: We experiment, learn, and keep moving forward.
• United by Our Will to Win: We stay aligned, work collaboratively, and push toward shared goals.
• Part of Something Bigger: We’re committed to uplifting the communities we’re connected to locally and globally

What You’ll Do

The Senior Category Manager is a motivated self-starter and creative storyteller who thrives in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. They are a strategic thinker with the hustle to effectively solve problems when the answers are not easy to find. They are a collaborative and flexible team player with a strong desire to make an impact. They have exceptional communication skills (both written and verbal), keen attention to detail, and a high level of personal accountability.

The Senior Category Manager will be an expert in The Vita Coco Company businesses across Grocery, Natural, and Drug retailers, with direct ownership of Kroger, Albertsons, and the Drug Channel. This person will play an instrumental role in our growth acceleration in those channels and will be responsible for coaching and developing a team of direct reports.

This remote role will report to the Senior Director of Category & Consumer Insights.

How You’ll Do It

Storytelling

• Embrace a true storytelling mindset, shifting from presenting data to bringing the audience along on a data-based story journey
• Know your audience and how to adapt presentation style/content accordingly to achieve maximum impact
• Elevate presentations from the “what” to the “so what” and the “now what”
• Navigate ambiguity and connect the dots for audiences, using insights to drive action

Relationships

• Become a close partner to the Sales team, working arm-in-arm to enhance business management capabilities, identify opportunities, and cement Vita Coco’s position as a best-in-class partner to retailers
• Influence through collaboration and negotiation, and operate with the understanding that relationships are built on mutual trust
• Collaborate cross-functionally with team members across departments to drive business success
• Establish and cultivate relationships with external Insights partners (vendors, KDP counterparts, etc.) via recurring connects
• Act as a trusted category advisor to retailers, presenting retailers with opportunities and insights that they are unable to see themselves

Leadership

• Manage the development of channel and retailer-specific selling materials
• Own the crafting of the category look of success for Grocery, Natural, and Drug retailers, including making recommendations to retailers on best-in-class shelving designs to capture future category growth
• Coach and develop your team of direct reports, including prioritizing full team workload to maximize business impactDrive strategy and thought leadership with outside-the-box thinking

Analysis

• Maintain a close pulse on business performance via ongoing evaluation with Sales counterparts
• Synthesize multiple data sources into compelling and concise fact-based stories
• Establish and track KPIs to measure progress and success in achieving channel objectives
• Analyze shelving, pricing, assortment, and merchandising variables to identify account and channel-specific growth opportunities
• Take on special projects as business needs warrant

What You’ll Bring To Vita Coco

• Bachelor’s degree in a business-related field required
• 7-10 years of category management experience required
• Experience with 84.51 required
• Significant experience with scanning data sources, such as Circana or NIQ
• Strong mastery of panel data sources, such as Numerator, Circana, and/or retailer-specific data sources
• Experience with JDA or other space planning software
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• A natural curiosity for and expertise in natural + functional beverage trends and strategy
• A continuous improvement mindset rooted in a genuine desire to understand what’s working and what’s not
• Proactivity and the desire to go above and beyond to achieve results

This is a reasonable estimate of the current pay range for this position. The base pay actually offered may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

US Pay Range: $130,000 USD - $140,000 USD

Privacy Policy