Category Analyst III

The Category Analyst III provides advanced analytical support for assigned customer accounts by analyzing sales, customer, and market data, identifying business trends and opportunities, and developing insights to support account performance. This role serves as a subject matter resource for assigned accounts, independently manages complex analytical projects, and partners with Sales and cross-functional teams to provide recommendations that support merchandising initiatives, business planning, and sales objectives.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Sales Analysis and Reporting

• Serves as the category and analytical subject matter expert for assigned customer accounts.
• Leads complex sales, shipment, and market analyses to identify business trends, opportunities, and risks.
• Develops data-driven recommendations to support merchandising initiatives, account planning, and sales strategies.
• Designs, enhances, and oversees analytical reports, dashboards, and reporting processes.
• Evaluates competitive market trends and communicates business insights to Sales and leadership.
• Leads post-promotional analyses and provides recommendations to improve future performance.
• Develops pricing, merchandising, assortment, and space planning recommendations to support business objectives.
• Leads complex merchandising projects and monitors progress against established business plans.
• Provides in-depth brand performance analyses for company-owned and licensed brands, including advertising ROI, marketplace assessments, retailer positioning, promotional effectiveness, and competitive benchmarking.
• Identifies opportunities to improve analytical processes and partners with leadership to implement process improvements that enhance team efficiency.

Sales Support

• Serves as the primary analytical resource for assigned customer accounts.
• Anticipates business needs and proactively provides analyses, recommendations, and decision support with minimal direction.
• Develops analytical content and presentation materials for customer meetings, business reviews, and sales presentations.
• Participates in account planning and sales strategy discussions by providing analytical insights and recommendations.
• Leads complex account-related analytical projects and serves as a resource for other analysts.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partners with Sales to support account planning, customer meetings, business reviews, and sales presentations.
• Prepares executive-level analysis and presentation materials for customer meetings and strategic business discussions.
• Collaborates with the Forecasting team to identify inventory risks and opportunities and support business planning.
• Partners with Product Development to develop product assortments, product proposals, and competitive analyses.
• Collaborates with Marketing to support packaging, product messaging, merchandising initiatives, planograms, and product renderings.
• Participates in customer meetings, conference calls, and sales strategy discussions as needed.
• Communicates analytical findings and business recommendations to cross-functional teams and executive leadership.
• Provides guidance and technical expertise to junior analysts and promotes best practices across the team.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Sales, Marketing, Finance, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 4-6 years of experience in category management, sales analysis, business analytics, merchandising, or a related analytical role.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing complex sales, customer, and market data to develop business insights and recommendations.
• Proven ability to independently manage multiple analytical projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience developing and delivering presentations and communicating analytical findings to cross-functional teams and leadership.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data into actionable recommendations.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel; experience with reporting, data visualization, or category management tools preferred.
• Experience with space planning software and planogram development preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships and effectively partner with cross-functional teams.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Ability to withstand prolonged periods of time sitting at a desk.
• Frequent use of upper extremities to perform keyboard functions.
• Ability to occasionally stand/walk.