Senior Specialist Category Development

Staples, Inc.; Framingham (MA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Inclusive culture

Flexible PTO

Discounts

Job summary

Staples, Inc. in Framingham, MA seeks a Senior Specialist, Category Development to transform research into strategic category decisions. You will partner with Merchandising and analytics to strengthen assortments, enable product innovation, and drive margin growth.

You’ll translate complex data into concise, executive-ready recommendations and influence cross-functional teams to act on insights.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, merchandising, analytics, or related field.
• Minimum 2+ years in category management, merchandising, market research, or analytics.

Responsibilities

• Analyze category performance and assortment productivity to identify growth opportunities.
• Benchmark hero products, whitespace, and risks to inform portfolio decisions.
• Support quarterly/annual category reviews with scorecards and analyses.
• Benchmark competitors to inform product development and innovation.
• Monitor competitor assortments and price/value propositions.
• Track reviews and market shifts to identify unmet customer needs.
• Translate research into concise executive-ready presentations and recommendations.
• Collaborate with Merchandising, Product Development, Marketing, and Analytics to drive decisions.
• Maintain competitive intelligence repositories and improve research methods.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communications

Customer-focused mindset

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Marketing or related field

Tools

Excel

Market research tools

Job description

Staples is business to business. You’re what binds us together.

As Senior Specialist, Category Development, you’ll turn customer, market, and competitive research into insights that help shape smarter category and portfolio decisions. Working closely with Merchandising and cross-functional partners, you’ll uncover unmet customer needs, spot emerging trends, and identify opportunities to strengthen assortments, support product innovation, and deliver differentiated growth, sustainable incremental margin, and greater customer value. If you enjoy connecting the dots between data and business strategy and turning what you learn into clear recommendations, this is an opportunity to make your insights count.

What you’ll be doing:

• Support analyzing category performance, assortment productivity, and Owned Brand penetration to evaluate category health and identify growth opportunities.
• Identify hero products, assortment redundancies, whitespace opportunities, and potential risks to inform portfolio decisions.
• Support quarterly and annual category reviews through scorecards, portfolio assessments, trend reports, and opportunity analyses.
• Benchmark competitive products, designs, materials, specifications, and value propositions to support product development and innovation.
• Track competitor assortments, pricing, product features, packaging, innovation, and emerging brands to assess the competitive landscape.
• Monitor customer reviews, ratings, and feedback alongside category trends and market shifts to identify unmet needs and emerging opportunities.
• Translate research and complex data into concise, executive-ready presentations, business cases, and actionable recommendations.
• Partner with Merchandising, Category Development, Product Development, Marketing, and Analytics to translate insights into informed business decisions.
• Maintain shared repositories of competitive intelligence and category insights, improving research methods and reporting tools as needed.

What you bring to the table:

• A curious, customer-focused mindset and an interest in understanding customer needs and purchasing decisions.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to evaluate information from multiple sources and identify meaningful patterns.
• The ability to translate complex research and data into clear, actionable business insights.
• Sound business acumen and an understanding of how category performance, assortment strategy, and margin influence business results.
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to develop polished, executive-ready materials.
• A collaborative approach and the ability to build productive relationships with cross-functional partners.
• Initiative, sound judgment, and organizational skills to manage research independently, balance multiple priorities, and deliver accurate, timely work.

What’s needed- Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Merchandising, Analytics, Market Research, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience in category management, merchandising, market research, consumer insights, business analytics, or a related field.

What’s needed - Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting Private Brand, product development, or innovation initiatives.
• Experience using market research, competitive intelligence, or benchmarking tools.
• Advanced proficiency with Excel and data analysis techniques.
• Experience developing executive-level presentations and business recommendations.
• Knowledge of retail, consumer products, category management, and merchandising practices.

We Offer:

• Inclusive culture with associate-led Business Resource Groups
• Flexible PTO (22 days) and Holiday Schedule (7 observed paid holidays)
• Online and Retail Discounts, Company

The salary range represents the expected compensation for this role at the time of posting.The specific base pay may be influenced by a variety of factors to include the candidate's experience, skill set, education, business considerations, geography, and internal equity.