Sr. Category Manager

At Lindt, we are a global fast-growing consumer goods company, enchanting the world with premium chocolate. We are driven by our passion for excellence and go the extra mile ensuring that every Lindt experience is nothing short of exceptional. Our collective efforts are geared towards making a positive impact, not only in the world of premium chocolate but also in the lives of our employees, customers, and communities. Our company embraces a culture defined by the core values of Excellence, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Responsibility, and Collaboration, fostering a dynamic and collaborative environment where these principles drive our success.

Position Purpose:

The Sr. Category Manager is responsible for organizing and analyzing market trends, shopper behavior intelligence, and competitive trends within the Lindt Premium Candy categories at Walmart. This position plays an integral part in the identification of insights-based category opportunities and execution of strategic sales growth on our largest customer. As a top-focus customer team at Lindt, this role will also advance our Lindt Category reputation through a focus on excellence with data, actionable insights, and thought leadership - expanding our external reputation for best-in-class insights at Walmart and elevating our internal processes and teams as we continually advance our category department.

This is a hybrid role in our Rogers, AR office.

Category Management

• Lead the development of a strong foundational understanding of our WMT Everyday, Seasons, and Checklane shoppers, leveraging multiple sources of data such as Scintilla, Circana, Numerator, and Kantar,
• Bring best in class insights-based opportunities to Walmart, to support customer strategy and Lindt initiatives, drive growth, and deliver increased market share.
• Identify and monitor sales trends, competitive threats, and marketplace activity through regular reporting, analysis, and sharing of syndicated and panel data.
• Act as a consultant and strategic partner to Walmart providing unbiased recommendations to drive overall category growth.
• Develop strategic planogram recommendations, combining proven merchandising theory, space-to-sales data,and Lindt strategy to improve category performance and shed light on store-level and regional opportunities.
• Lead the creation of compelling category insights for Everyday line reviews, Seasons reviews and Checklane reviews.
• Play a leadership role in providing category insights, analyzing business issues, and providing business insights and recommendations in the areas of assortment, pricing, and promotion to improve business results.
• Present skillful analysis, trend information, and category recommendations directly to Walmart, building a strong relationship directly with the buyers to support customer strategy and Lindt business opportunities. Meeting examples are: Line Reviews, QBR,

Leadership

• Provide thought leadership to internal business teams and positively influence the Wholesale decision-making process.
• Closely partner with Digital teams to provide shopper-based understanding of customer trips and basket shifts
• Proactively engage with sales leads to understand business goals, item issues & opportunites, and gain important business context for your analytical work.

Research and Analysis

• Lead the development of a Scintilla research agenda and manage the budget balance through the calendar year
• Define the insights strategies for customer meetings and integrate learnings and compelling insights to elevate engagement
• Be the information expert and power user for Scintilla, syndicated data, and household panel data,

Qualifications & Requirements:

Mentality:

• You like challenges. You're a creative problem-solver and you're not deterred easily when you face a barrier or setback.
• You're comfortable with change and are an agile, continuous learner.
• You're proactive and have strong time management, comfortable with having multiple plates in the air and different deadlines.
• You're highly curious and skilled at connecting the dots.
• You know the "why" is important and you're comfortable drilling down to identify a root cause.
• You're collaborative and can thrive in a team-based culture.

Skills & Expertise:

• Proficiency in Scintilla is mandatory
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills; advanced knowledge of Excel charting and formulas, and PowerPoint
• Proficiency in syndicated data via Circana and/or Nielsen required; will leverage multiple data sources in-role
• Demonstrated analytical and critical thinking ability; must be able to link strategies and objectives to develop compelling stories
• Strong time management and personal organization skills; must have demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously and stay on track with deadlines
• Strong oral communication and presentation skills at the executive level; must be able to communicate confidently and effectively with team members and customer, and tailor information to the audience
• Strong written communication skills; must be able to organize complex data and details into topline information that is clear and concise
• Category management and analytical experience
• Ability to connect the dots and turn insights into an actionable recommendation
• 5+years category/shopper insights experience
• CPG experience
• Previous experience on a Walmart or Sam's Club account

Education:

• Bachelor's degree required; Masters preferred

Other Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 20% (seasonal)