Category Specialist

SUMMARY

Our client is seeking a 6-month contract Category Specialist to join its marketing team in south Mississauga. This role is responsible for supporting category management activities, product lifecycle management, market research, strategic planning, and marketing execution across a portfolio of industrial products. The successful candidate will work closely with Category Managers and business segment leadership to drive growth, improve product portfolio performance, support commercialization initiatives, and ensure effective execution of marketing programs. This position is ideal for a marketing professional who combines strong analytical skills with project management capabilities and enjoys working in a collaborative, business-focused environment. The role offers exposure to product strategy, market intelligence, customer engagement initiatives, and cross-functional stakeholder management within a large industrial organization. This position will be Monday to Thursday in office, and Fridays from home.

QUALIFICATIONS

- 3-10+ years of B2B marketing, product marketing, category management, or related experience.
- Undergraduate degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Experience supporting product lifecycle management, SKU management, or portfolio optimization activities.
- Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
- Experience working with CRM platforms, marketing automation systems, and sales enablement tools.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze data, identify trends, and support business decision-making.
- Experience collaborating with external vendors, agencies, and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to engage business stakeholders at multiple levels.
- Advanced analytical skills and data-driven decision-making capabilities.
- Experience with SAP and reporting tools such as Business Warehouse is considered a strong asset.
- Knowledge of specialty products, chemical products, industrial manufacturing, or related sectors is an asset.
- Experience supporting lead generation, demand generation, and marketing campaigns is preferred.
- Ability to translate technical product information into customer-friendly marketing content.
- Strong market research and competitive analysis capabilities.
- Self-motivated, highly organized, and able to work independently with limited supervision.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Lead and coordinate market research initiatives to identify customer needs, industry trends, and market opportunities.
- Support product portfolio management activities, including product lifecycle management, SKU optimization, SKU rationalization, and product line reviews.
- Assist with reporting on business performance, category results, and product line effectiveness.
- Coordinate and manage product development discussions, project updates, and commercialization activities with cross-functional teams.
- Initiate and support product line changes and SKU deletion processes.
- Manage and continuously improve speed-to-market processes to support efficient product launches.
- Support annual volume, margin, and long-term planning activities for assigned categories and business segments.
- Track, manage, and report progress on strategic marketing initiatives from concept through implementation.
- Support the creation of marketing materials, sales enablement tools, training content, webinars, customer presentations, packaging, and labeling initiatives.
- Assist with campaign planning, execution, market mapping, customer segmentation, and lead generation activities.
- Develop and coordinate creative briefs for external agencies and marketing partners.
- Support category budgeting, expense tracking, and competitive intelligence activities.
- Ensure packaging and labeling programs comply with applicable industry and regulatory requirements.
- Support marketing process governance, internal audits, external audits, and continuous improvement activities.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across marketing, sales, research and development, operations, and leadership teams.
- Contribute to delivering an exceptional customer experience for both internal and external stakeholders.

APPLICATION

If you are a driven marketing professional with experience in B2B environments, product portfolio management, market analysis, and cross-functional project leadership, we encourage you to apply. This is an opportunity to join our client on a contract basis, and play a key role in supporting category growth, product innovation, and strategic marketing initiatives within a dynamic industrial business. Only qualified candidates will be contacted. Thank you.