Category Manager

The Category Manager in the Mars Snacking Accelerator business is accountable for the understanding and analysis of the category and providing objective, strategic, and tactical category insights and recommendations to retail partners. You will translate insights into actionable recommendations across assortment, shelving, merchandising and modular development to drive category performance. Serve as trusted advisor to the customer while partnering with internal stakeholders to provide reporting, analytics and strategic insights that support business growth and decision making.

You will be responsible for external communication with key retail partners, supporting ad hoc requests, ongoing reporting, strategy reviews, shelf planning and creation, and insight generation using current tools and other industry resources. You will report to the Team Lead.

This role is based in Mississauga with regular in-office collaboration expected. Flexibility is a key enabler—empowering associates to make choices that support both business outcomes and personal needs, including remote work.

What are we looking for?

• Postsecondary education or work experience equivalent
• Minimum 5+ years CPG industry experience Category Management, Sales Strategy, Insights, or related commercial functions.
•  Advanced analytical capabilities with experience leveraging syndicated, POS and customer data sources to develop actionable business recommendations. Experience with Nielsen Discover, Retail Link, Scintilla, JDA/Space Planning Software, Excel, Power Point, etc.
• High level analytical capability. Assimilating and interpreting data from multiple disparate data sources into concise action-oriented recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience translating analytics into strategic insights that drive business growth and support decision-making.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to tailor complex information to audiences with varying levels of expertise.
• Strong ability to teach /consult business insight development through data analytics

What will be your key responsibilities?

Customer Advisor and Category Leadership

• Lead insight-driven category growth strategies that create value for both customer and the organization.
• Act as a trusted category advisor to the customer merchants and category teams, providing data-backed recommendations on assortment, shelving, space allocation, merchandising,
• Lead annual and ongoing category planning by identifying growth opportunities, sizing potential impacts, and developing strategic action plans aligned with customer objectives.
• Leverage retailer, shopper, consumer, and syndicated data to uncover insights, identify performance drivers, and translate findings into clear business recommendations.
• Drive category and space optimization through modular development, assortment analyses, productivity assessments, and post-implementation performance reviews.
• Create and deliver compelling, insight-led presentations for customer meetings, category reviews, business reviews, turning complex data into clear and actionable business opportunities.
• Champion best practices in category management, analytics, reporting, and storytelling to elevate category capabilities and drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with customer and internal omnichannel teams to identify opportunities that improve digital shelf performance, and the overall shopper experience across channels

Internal Strategic Analytics and Reporting

• Develop and maintain internal reporting to provide visibility into key business metrics and objectives.
• Conduct ad hoc analyses to evaluate business performance and unveil opportunities
• Continuously improve reporting processes and analytical tools to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making capabilities.

What can you expect from Mars? 

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles. 

• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today. 

• A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University. 

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

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The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between the below range CAD 99,130.00 - CAD 130,109.00. Please note: This job posting is for an existing vacancy. AI is used as a supporting tool in our recruitment process.