Director of Category Management

Job Summary

The Director of Category Management will lead strategic initiatives within these critical product categories, focusing on enterprise-wide category management and maximizing sales growth. This role will drive profitable growth by aligning with sales, merchandising, and supplier partners to develop and execute targeted strategies for product lines within category responsibilities, ensuring alignment with the unique demands of food service distribution.

Essential Job Functions

• Drive category growth by increasing exclusive brand penetration across all divisions.
• Recruit, train, and develop top talent with expertise in category management.
• Collaborate with sales and margin management teams to optimize profitable sales growth in the non- foods categories.
• Coordinate regional sales blitzes focused on category product lines, partnering with local sales teams.
• Develop and execute promotional activities within category responsibilities in collaboration with division leadership.
• Implement brand strategy initiatives by working closely with merchandising to enhance product offerings.
• Identify and close product voids by converting accounts to exclusive brands and expanding product lines.
• Develop category-specific training programs for local leadership to boost expertise in Non-Foods offerings.
• Present strategies and results to senior leadership while working cross-functionally across the organization.
• Enhance customer retention and penetration efforts by partnering with sales leadership to target existing customers.
• Support acquisition integration efforts to ensure smooth onboarding of new suppliers, maximizing synergy across the enterprise.
• Negotiate marketing programs with key suppliers, collaborating with merchandising teams.
• Participate in RFP processes specific to assigned categories to secure advantageous supplier contracts.
  
  

Key Responsibilities

• Sales growth within non-Foods categories
• Exclusive brand penetration by capturing product voids and converting customer accounts
• Marketing income improvement by negotiating supplier programs and expanding exclusive brand lines
• Increase cases per drop and lines per drop for street accounts
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships to ensure competitive pricing and product availability
  
  

Minimum Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• 10 years of progressive experience in merchandising, with a focus on foodservice and category management.
• Expertise in private brand product development.
• Experience with sourcing products from different regions of the world.
• Strategic thinker with a proven ability to execute against financial targets
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present to executive leadership
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Tableau
• Willingness to travel as needed to support regional sales teams and supplier meetings
  
  

Ferraro Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer

MON - FRI | 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM