Strategic Category Manager, Hardware & Home Improvement

MissionHires; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

MissionHires is seeking a Category Manager for a growing regional home improvement retailer in Pittsburgh. You will lead strategy and performance for hardlines categories across a 19-store network.

You will own assortment, pricing, promotions, vendor relationships, and inventory productivity, collaborating with merchandising, supply chain, and store teams to drive sales and profitability. A bachelor’s degree and 3–7 years’ experience are preferred.

Qualifications

• 3–7 years of experience in category management, buying, merchandising, procurement, vendor management, or retail operations.
• Experience in hardware, home improvement, building materials, farm and home, or a related retail environment is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of hardware categories, customer shopping behavior, seasonal demand, and retail store execution.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Marketing, or a related field is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies that drive sales growth, gross margin improvement, inventory productivity, and customer satisfaction.
• Manage assortments across assigned hardware and home improvement categories, balancing national brands, private label, opening-price-point, professional-grade, and seasonal products.
• Analyze sales, margin, inventory turns, sell-through, in-stock levels, market trends, and competitive activity to identify opportunities and risks.
• Lead vendor negotiations involving product costs, rebates, payment terms, freight, promotional support, exclusivity, buybacks, new-item launches, and service-level expectations.
• Build promotional calendars, advertising programs, seasonal events, endcap strategies, and special-buy opportunities that increase traffic, basket size, and category profitability.
• Partner with supply chain and inventory teams to maintain appropriate stock levels, reduce out-of-stocks, improve inventory turns, and address slow-moving inventory.
• Collaborate with store operations to support planogram compliance, accurate signage, product knowledge, resets, promotions, and seasonal transitions.
• Evaluate new products, vendor programs, and category expansion opportunities based on customer demand, profitability, operational fit, and competitive positioning.
• Manage product lifecycles, including item introductions, transitions, markdowns, clearance plans, and discontinued inventory.
• Prepare category performance reporting, business reviews, recommendations, and action plans for senior leadership.
• Work closely with merchandising leadership, vendors, marketing, finance, supply chain, inventory management, field leadership, and store teams to deliver profitable and executable category plans.

Skills

Category management

Vendor management

Merchandising

Pricing strategy

Inventory optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Business, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Marketing

Tools

Microsoft Excel

ERP systems

BI/Reporting tools

Job description

MissionHires is seeking a Category Manager for a growing regional home improvement retailer in Pittsburgh. You will lead strategy and performance for hardlines categories across a 19-store network.

You will own assortment, pricing, promotions, vendor relationships, and inventory productivity, collaborating with merchandising, supply chain, and store teams to drive sales and profitability. A bachelor’s degree and 3–7 years’ experience are preferred.