Sr. Manager Category

Schwan’s Consumer Brands, North America, Inc., is one of the largest branded food companies in the United States, operating with high visibility in the retail frozen food aisle. We are the exclusive providers of Tony’s, Red Baron, Freschetta, Mrs. Smith’s and Edwards products in retail grocery outlets.

 

We plan to grow our business, but we cannot do it without you!

 

Sr. Manager Category

Bloomington, MN

 

GENERAL PURPOSE

This position is responsible for delivering strategic insight in support of business plans through identification, development and activation of knowledge based selling stories and customer presentations; clients can include Sales, Customer Marketing, Marketing, Market Research, & New Products team.

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Provides daily tactical leadership to the department coordinating the efforts of the category managers, developing and managing action plans for the department, and facilitating prioritization of work and escalating disconnects to the Director Manages the ROI of third party data providers such as Nielsen, providing leadership through establish expectations, setting priorities, managing resources available and score-carding success of each vendor, and negotiating contracts and annual reviews of vendors Represents the Department within the industry serving on industry task forces and leading the development of Schwan foods category management capabilities Identifies business opportunities and proposes both strategic and tactical solutions Utilizes fact-based data measures to develop solutions focused on category management basics: market shares, opportunity gaps, volumetric trends, trade promotion factors, pricing, and distribution Compiles and analyzes market level data to identify opportunities to expand our business and presents findings and solutions to Schwan's Sales and/or Retail Customers Provides monthly category/brand updates to sales team, leveraging syndicated data Prepares assortment optimization analysis, merchandising effectiveness & efficiency measures Analyzes and proposes shelf position changes to maximize schematic key metrics Creates, writes, and publishes best practice principles supporting Marketing strategies Prepares and submits statistical reports, graphic illustrations of findings, and action plan recommendations to sales management for identified customers and markets Directs and conducts the training and development of Field Sales personnel and Category Analysts Consults on strategic positioning for New Product launches and development of presentations for Retail, evaluates sales, distribution and support of new products Directs and manages the development and maintenance of syndicated data reports and tools Supports/directs the commissioning of category management research Directs, creates, and maintains department software tools/reports, Field Sales training, and Department training

 

QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Years of Related Experience: 8-10 years related experience

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities: Ability to influence and lead peers; ability to make decisions including the prioritization of projects, allocation of department resources and acceptable risk levels; must be able to interact with industry personnel and represent the company well; must be a self starter and able to lead the department on a daily basis; highly proficient/expertise in retrieval and manipulation of syndicated data and its dimensions; ACNielsen NITRO, IRI Analyzer; competent in understanding traditional statistical formulas and mathematical measurements; strong abilities to graphically illustrate complex relationships from disaggregated data; experience and working knowledge of secondary research, market research methodologies and processes; ability to interpret and leverage Homescan Panel purchase dynamics; above average skills in MS PowerPoint and Excel; competent in using Space Management Software, Spectra, Word, and Outlook; ability to research multiple and unknown data sources and synthesize large amounts of data; identifies cause and effect within data relationships to isolate issue drivers; clearly communicate orally and in writing with all levels of management.

 

To apply go to http://www.schwansjobs.com/ Click Search Jobs>>Key Word Search: Sr. Manager Category or Requisition Number: 08-08-39819.

 

EOE