JOB TITLE: Category Manager
DEPARTMENT: Merchandising & Procurement
REPORTS TO: Sr. Category Manager
LOCATION: St. Petersburg, Florida (SalonCentric National Operations Center)
ABOUT US:
SalonCentric, a subsidiary of L’Oréal USA, is the premiere distributor in the United States of professional salon products. Through its hundreds of stores, national field sales force and sub-distribution network, SalonCentric promotes the finest professional beauty brands and educates stylists on the latest products and trends.
SUMMARY:
The Category Manager is responsible for the P&L management, assortment planning, promotional planning, strategic development, and overall communication/collaboration with brands in a specific category segment. This position plays the key role in developing and maintaining relationships with manufacturer partners with a key focus on growing our Essentials category. The Category Manager is the main contact between partner brands and SalonCentric. The position is also accountable for collaboration amongst cross-functional SalonCentric partners, including but not limited to: Demand Planning, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and Sales Channels.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:
· Brands and SalonCentric Internal teams:
o Foster an environment that welcomes change and promotes high levels of integrity, ingenuity, creative thinking, risk tolerance and collaboration.
o Drive increased efficiencies via process improvement and workload reduction.
o Provide clear, accurate and timely information within SalonCentric to keep all areas up to date and informed of changes, progress, issues, and opportunities.
o Conduct brand meetings and provide the data and information needed to grow sales and margin.
· Drive Profitable Sales, Deliver Margins and Meet Inventory Objectives:
o Responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of business to maximize sales and margin, while managing inventory objectives for select brands.
o Develop strategic opportunities to ensure long term sustained growth and gain market share.
o Fully participate and contribute in business planning meetings.
· Provide promotional/item/brand strategy based on sales goals, historical analysis, trends, future product launches and seasonal events:
o Research and analyze customer insights from both internal & external sources to create the best customer experience.
o Identify new brands, trends, innovation within the industry and update assortments to fulfill the changing needs of the marketplace.
o Proactively provide assessment/recommendation for promotions, new launches based on analysis and collaboration with brands and Demand Planning team.
o Negotiate exclusive promotions and prioritize brand promotional submissions to provide the greatest return while controlling risk.
o Ensure accuracy of all printed/digital communications to include pricing, deal content, material set up and pagination.
o Measure sell-through and the effectiveness of each promotion with Demand Planning to ensure promotions are meeting thresholds.
o Build tiered product assortments to drive assortment productivity within store channels.
· Provide Leadership within the SalonCentric Organization:
o Proactively provide guidance and communication to cross-functional teams regarding updates/changes/launches/introductions/strategies by your brands.
o Take on additional duties as requested by management.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS:
· Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent job experience required.
· Detail-oriented with excellent analytical and quantitative skills.
· Strong organizational skills with attention to detail.
· Strong communication and interpersonal skills, able to interact effectively and professionally with peers and management.
· A team player with an ability to work in a team environment and independently.
· Minimum 2-3 years’ experience in business management, marketing or similarly related professional.
· Experience in merchandising or buying products is highly desirable.
· Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Power Point.
· Must have long-term authorization to work in the U.S.