Strategic Category Advisor - Walmart

Koch, Inc.; Rogers (AR); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Koch Companies' Georgia-Pacific division seeks a Senior Manager, Category Management – Strategic Advisor to serve as a dedicated, objective category advisor for Walmart, owning the long‑term category vision and turning insights into recommendations that grow the category and improve customer experience.

You will lead a Modular Planner and coordinate a broad network of analytics, shopper, digital, technology, legal, and regulatory resources to accelerate signal detection and enhance decision

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 7 years of progressive experience in category management, category advisory or related field.
• Experience supporting Walmart and familiarity with Scintilla/Retail Link.
• Experience using syndicated data (Circana, NielsenIQ, Numerator, Kantar).
• Ability to travel about 10%.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted‑advisor credibility for Walmart with fact‑based recommendations.
• Define long‑term category strategies across physical and digital shelves.
• Lead analytics standards for category performance and reporting cadence.
• Coordinate a Modular Planner and cross‑functional resources.
• Guide AI‑enabled analytics to speed decision making and scenarios.

Skills

Category management

Retail analytics

Executive communication

Strategic advisory

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

JDA/Blue Yonder

Walmart Scintilla

Retail Link

Job description

Georgia-Pacific is seeking a Senior Manager, Category Management – Strategic Advisor to serve as a dedicated, objective category advisor for Walmart, supporting a large and strategically important category with more than $12 billion in annual sales. This leader will be the primary category‑management contact for the Walmart merchant team, own the long‑term category vision and insight agenda, and translate shopper, market, digital, operational, sustainability, and regulatory intelligence into fact‑based recommendations that grow the total category and improve customer experience. The role will lead a Modular Planner / Strategist and coordinate a broader network of analytical, shopper, digital, technology, legal, and regulatory resources.

What You Will Do

• Build trusted‑advisor credibility with Walmart by bringing a category first, supplier‑neutral perspective and clear, fact‑based recommendations.
• Recommend fact‑based category strategies and long‑term growth plans across the physical and digital shelf, anticipating changes in shopper behavior, economic conditions, competitive dynamics, and sustainability.
• Serve as the primary merchant contact, establishing effective working rhythms and translating complex analysis into decision‑ready recommendations and executive‑level stories
• Set analytical standards for measuring category, modular, cluster, item, digital‑shelf, and customer performance; ensure weekly, monthly, line‑review, and ad hoc work is accurate, timely, and actionable.
• Synthesize Walmart Scintilla data with competitive market, customer, and macroeconomic information, working across a variety of sources to identify opportunities and risks.
• Apply artificial intelligence and advanced analytics responsibly to accelerate signal detection, automate repeatable analysis, improve scenario development, and increase the speed and quality of recommendations.
• Lead assortment, clustering, localization, transferable‑demand, space‑allocation, and shelving recommendations. Use planogram tools such as JDA / Blue Yonder to evaluate and guide executable, shopper‑friendly modular solutions.
• Provide strategic oversight to the Modular Planner / Strategist, including prioritization, coaching, quality control, performance development, and coordination of third‑party drawing support during peak modular windows.
• Guide web enrichment and item‑content recommendations that improve findability, content quality, item attribution, conversion, fulfillment, and the connection between Walmart.com and the in‑store experience.
• Develop omni competitive and customer insights, including market‑share trends, assortment gaps, price and promotional context, customer needs, occasions, loyalty, switching, baskets, and market‑level differences.
• Partner with internal experts to incorporate digital, sustainability, regulatory, technology, legal, and shopper considerations into objective category recommendations.
• Monitor emerging regulations and sustainability requirements and translate implications into objective category scenarios and recommendations.
• Drive continuous improvement through post‑modular measurement, test‑and‑learn processes, documented learnings, and regular partnership reviews.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• 7 years of progressive experience in category management, category advisory, retail analytics, merchandising, or a related consumer products discipline.
• Experience supporting Walmart, with demonstrated knowledge of Walmart merchant expectations, category‑management processes, modular and line‑review cycles.
• Experience using Walmart Scintilla and/or Retail Link to evaluate category, item, shopper, store, and omni‑channel performance.
• Experience integrating syndicated and shopper data, including Circana or NielsenIQ, Numerator, Kantar, and other relevant sources, into objective recommendations and persuasive stories.
• Experience using planogram and space‑planning tools such as JDA / Blue Yonder, with working knowledge of assortment optimization, demand transfer, clustering, space allocation, capacity, and modular design principles.
• Experience applying AI‑enabled analytics or business‑intelligence tools to improve reporting, insight generation, scenario analysis, or decision support.
• Experience influencing senior retailer and internal stakeholders through concise communication, executive presence, sound judgment, and compelling visual storytelling.
• Ability to travel approximately 10% based on business needs.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Prior experience serving as a category advisor, category captain, retailer merchant, or senior category‑management leader for Walmart.
• Experience leading a large, complex category and influencing assortment, shelving, omnichannel, digital‑shelf, and customer‑experience decisions.
• Advanced knowledge of paper, household essentials, consumables, or a high‑velocity consumer packaged goods category.
• Experience with customer‑perception research, loyalty and switching analysis, test measurement, price elasticity, digital content health, and competitive assortment analysis.
• Experience leading through a matrix of analytics, insights, digital commerce, sustainability, regulatory, IT, Legal, and third‑party partners.
• People‑management experience, including direct‑report development, work prioritization, performance coaching, and delivery through others.
• Master’s degree in business, analytics, marketing, economics, or a related field.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here .

Who We Are

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here , aquí , or tu ).

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