Director of Category Management

Position Overview

The Director of Category Management leads the category management division and oversees a team of Category Managers and Analysts. This role is responsible for setting strategic direction across multiple product categories and leading new category development efforts. It blends hands-on leadership with team management, cross-departmental collaboration, and ownership of strategic projects that influence sales and operations approaches to category strategy. A successful candidate will be strategic, energetic, and driven, with strong partnerships among buyers and manufacturers, and a talent development focus, all while maintaining a customer-oriented perspective, especially given partnerships like that with Target.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Category Managers and Analysts, define goals, give feedback, and cultivate a high-performance collaborative environment
• Manage hiring, onboarding, and performance evaluations for the category management team
• Support category managers' and analysts' professional growth and readiness for succession
• Prioritize team workload and capacity aligned with business demands and deadlines
• Collaborate with buyers to craft and implement category strategies
• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with buyers and manufacturers to align category goals with overall business objectives
• Deliver executive-level presentations on category performance, integrating merchandising strategy, sales data, brand impact, consumer insights, and market trends
• Create and validate optimized assortment plans meeting growth targets
• Promote innovative ideas, promotions, and purposeful changes to meet company goals
• Guide planogram strategy, trend evaluation, and identifying market opportunities
• Conduct competitive analysis online and in markets for benchmarking, price optimization, and innovation insights
• Manage the analysis of guest data to refine assortment decisions
• Monitor market conditions, sales patterns, and promotional behaviours, providing strategic leadership recommendations
• Oversee digital analytics to offer comprehensive category and market insights
• Use technology and market tools to recommend assortments, marketing aesthetics, and shelf optimizations
• Present clear, persuasive data-driven recommendations to senior leaders
• Develop cohesive narratives from diverse data sources to inform strategic choices
• Identify and evaluate new category opportunities aligned with growth plans
• Build business cases for category entry including market sizing, competitor analysis, and financial potential
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to introduce and scale new categories
• Lead special projects for sales and operations teams and drive cross-functional initiatives to results
• Oversee category consistency and best practices across teams
• Lead multi-member teams on special projects ensuring accountability and measurable success
• Act as escalation resource for complex category challenges
• Promote company values and culture in all interactions

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Retailing, Management, Sales, or a related discipline; MBA is advantageous
• Over 7 years of relevant Category Management experience, preferably with Captain or Validator responsibilities
• Minimum of 2 years’ hands-on team management and development experience
• Proficient in industry-specific analytical tools and planogram software (e.g., JDA, DOMO)
• Experience working with Target is strongly preferred

Skills and Attributes

• Strong strategic leadership skills to inspire and align teams
• Proven people management including coaching and performance oversight
• Advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability to work autonomously and collaboratively across teams
• Capability to manage numerous projects and priorities in dynamic environments
• Effective executive communication and influencing abilities
• Energetic, motivated, and positive disposition