Category Manager - Grocery / Household / General merchandising

Job Purpose:

Reporting to Senior Director, Category Management, the Category Manager will support developing and implementing category strategies to drive sales and profit growth for categories defined by senior management as most critical to achieving the annual financial and merchandising objectives for Rexall. The incumbent will be responsible for achieving and delivering complete P&L budgeted results for specific categories and its contribution to total Front Store P&L.

Job Dimensions:

DIRECT REPORTS: 1-3 Category Specialist (Grocery / Household / General merch)

FINANCIAL: Managing P&L of Category Portfolio with annual sales ~ $20-70+ million

OTHER: N/A

Principal Responsibilities:

Budgets

• Review category budgets at a required frequency and report back to management remedial action required to achieve budget
• Lead the profitability of category sales as well as the costs and pricing to deliver on sales and margin with cross-functional teams and vendors
• Partner with vendors to invest in marketing, loyalty and promotions
• Negotiate co-op rates and supervise revenues and expenses against budget
• Negotiate the annual trade agreements with all assigned vendors to improve all Rexall revenue streams including co-op and over/above promotional activities.
• Present at weekly & periodic sales meeting on performance of Category Portfolio – progress to date, opportunities for improvement and share strategies to accelerate or close sales / margin gaps.

Strategic Category Plans

• Develop and supervise category strategies and plans for all elements of the merchandising mix, i.e. product mix, pricing strategies, promotional mix, promotional events, corporate brand strategies.
• Analyze Nielsen market data and Homescan data to measure category trends to support opportunities and measure Rexall’s performance to market.
• Research, determine and maintain efficient product mix for Planograms, i.e. core retail listings, delists and private brand penetration.
• Generate and supervise micro strategy data and disseminate information to pertinent staff.
• Facilitate listings of new products and communicate product changes to vendors, Private Brands team & stores.
• Establish pricing tactics and monitor implementation to ensure compliance to Corporate policies.
• Schedule and contribute to periodic business reviews with pertinent vendors to monitor and track performance to date.
• Generate revenues for co-op advertising (including promotional flyers, proprietary magazines, special events), loyalty, Launchpad etc.
• Proactively lead shrink and outdates with Operations, cross-functional teams and vendors, where applicable.
• Prepare and deliver special presentations as required.

Private Brand Development & Plans

• Collaboratively work with Rexall Corporate Brands team to:
• Define Private Label role & intent within Category portfolio strategy;
• Identify new products for investigation &/or development;
• Assist Corporate Brand team with negotiations, costing, product specifications / requirements, minimums / viability / volume estimates & shipping considerations;
• Provide feedback & decision to Corporate Brand team on listing & delisting products within category assortment and execute on these decisions;
• Define pricing of Private Label products to achieve Private Brand penetration, sales & margin goals for category; and
• Develop & execute Private Label promotional plan.

Promotional Management

• Manage promotional flyers, in-stores and special event programs by following critical path schedules.
• Lead all aspects of editing of promotional flyers and make appropriate changes.
• Negotiate vendor participation in various Rexall global promotional events (e.g. Anniversary, Mega, etc.).

Administration

• Collaboratively work with all cross-functional areas to execute on category plans – Merchandising Operations, Promo & Pricing, Private Brands, Finance, Operations and Marketing.
• Negotiate vendor participation in various Rexall corporate events (e.g. annual vendor conference, fundraising events, grand openings etc.).
• Coordinate communications to stores on all functional issues including planogram changes.
• Respond promptly and efficiently to all partner inquiries and address any issue.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support Rexall Pharmacy Group Ltd.

Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field
• 2-3 years’ experience as a Category Manager managing relevant product category or 3-5 years’ experience as an Assistant Category Manager or Buyer with demonstrated progressive expansion of responsibilities
• Strong eye for business, ability to see big picture while leading day-to-day and accountability to results
• Outstanding problem-solving skills and ability to work with ambiguity
• Excellent communication both written and verbal
• Superior organizational skills
• Strong leadership, coaching and mentoring skills
• Excellent corporate oriented planning and negotiation skills
• Financial analysis and planning skills
• Technical skills (i.e. Excel, PowerPoint, MicroStrategy etc.)
• Ability to effectively collaborate with internal & external partners
• This role is filling an existing vacancy on the team.

Context and Environment:

Supporting the Senior Director, Category Management work collectively with the Category team to develop and implement category strategies that drive sales and profit growth. The ability to perform in a fast paced, sophisticated business, attention to detail and ability to successfully work on a number of different assignments at the same time are critical to achieving desired results. All aspects of the job require a high degree of confidentiality.

Internal Communications:

• Merchandising teams (all levels)
• Corporate Brands (all levels)
• Advertising team (all levels)
• Operations (District Managers & store personnel)
• Senior Management
• Finance (Accounts Receivable)

External Communications:

• Vendor Community

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Rexall Pharmacy Group is committed to providing an accessible environment for all of our customers, employees, and job applicants. Rexall Pharmacy Group will make available to any selected applicants’ accommodations and/or accessible formats should they require. Candidates are encouraged to discuss any accommodation they may need in order to allow for the most effective selection process.