Field Category Manager - Drug Channel - Boston, MA

At Ghirardelli, we're proud to have reached a major milestone as a one billion dollar brand. We want to be every consumer's first choice of premium chocolate, and we believe we can do that through our products and the way we do business, which are all inspired by our brand commitment to Making Life A Bite Better. We are a company committed to both personal and professional growth and believe that each employee contributes directly to Ghirardelli's growth and success.

The Drug Channel Category Manager is responsible for driving category growth by partnering directly with retailer stakeholders in a non-biased captaincy capacity while also supporting the Drug Channel field sales team. The position leads retailer specific category strategy, planogram and merchandising recommendations, and insight driven solutions, while also ensuring strong activation and execution through the sales organization.

This role acts as a key connector between the retailer, the field, and headquarters by bringing forward customer needs, market trends, competitive insights, and growth opportunities to shape future strategy and deliver best in class category leadership.

This position owns the category perspective for the retailer and helps develop and activate strategic plans that drive premium chocolate growth through category leadership, shopper insights, planogram optimization, and strong cross functional collaboration.

Retailer Category Leadership and Advisory

• Lead the planning and development of retailer specific category insights and strategies that support the retailer's goals and drive category growth
• Serve as a category thought leader with the buyer and key retailer stakeholders through category reviews, insights, and strategic recommendations
• Develop a deep understanding of retailer strategies, initiatives, and performance to proactively identify opportunities and risks
• Guide retailer partners in developing long term category plans, including the strategic vision for premium chocolate
• Lead with proactive thought leadership, by anticipating business needs, challenging the status quo and introducing innovative solutions
• Provide strategic leadership in seasonal planning sessions to support, develop and optimize the retailer's total chocolate strategy

Planogram, Space, and Merchandising Leadership

• Lead evaluation and activation of retailer category strategies and 4P solutions with a focus on planogram optimization and merchandising execution
• Own planogram and assortment recommendations, including reset timing, accuracy, and improvement opportunities
• Identify opportunities related to macro space planning, fixture improvements, feature strategy, merchandising standards, and shelf productivity
• Develop clear, actionable recommendations that can be executed through sales and field teams

Field Sales Partnership and Activation

• Partner closely with field sales leaders and sales analysts to identify retailer-specific gaps and convert insights into executable growth plans
• Embed category opportunities into sales planning processes and ensure alignment between category recommendations and selling priorities
• Support key customer meetings and work sessions by providing insights, recommendations, and story driven materials
• Assist in the development of materials that support JBPs, LRPs, SPD, and customer planning discussions

Insights, Reporting, and Storytelling

• Apply syndicated data, internal sales data, shopper insights, and retailer specific POS or loyalty platforms to develop strong recommendations
• Create fact-based presentations to support key initiatives such as assortment, promotion strategy, planogram performance, and display execution
• Identify and share category trends, competitive insights, and marketplace opportunities to support internal strategy development

Cross Functional Influence and Team Enablement

• Serve as a key voice of the customer and voice of the field by bringing learnings back to internal partners such as marketing, customer marketing, and R&D
• Train and support field category managers, sales analysts, and broader teams on category tools, processes, and best practices
• Help improve tools, templates, and deployment processes by gathering field feedback and partnering with HQ teams to continuously improve effectiveness

Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years in Consumer Packaged Goods industry.
• Minimum 7 years in Shopper Insights or Category Management.
• Experience in retailer relations preferred.
• Experience as a category captain or advisor preferred.

Skills:

• Comfortably assert perspective in fastpaced or ambiguous situations.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, adapt to changing priorities, respond with urgency to requests and remain focused on strategic imperatives.
• Advanced collaboration skills with a team-player mindset
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Strong planogram and space management software skills
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence retailer and internal stakeholders
• Strong syndicated data experience (IRI or Nielsen)
• Shopper loyalty and retailer data experience preferred (example: Luminate, dunnhumby, 84.51)
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

Some examples of working conditions:

• Must be able to travel up to 25% of time
• Works in a home office
• Occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
• Required to regularly sit
• Must be able to work seated or standing for at least 8 hours
• Must be able to concentrate for extended periods of time paying close attention to detail

Salary: $137,534-$178,804 / year