Job Description

Our family of 131,000 employees and franchise affiliates share a collective passion for delivering exceptional shopping experiences and amazing food to all our customers. Our mission is to nurture the things that make life better - great experiences, families, communities, and our employees. We are a family nurturing families.A proudly Canadian company, we started in a small town in Nova Scotia but we are now in communities of all sizes across this great country. With over 1,600 stores in all 10 provinces, you may know us as Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawtons Drug Stores or another of our great banners but we are all one extended family.Ready to Make an impact?Sobeys is full of exciting opportunities, and we are always looking for passionate new talent to join our team! Our Lawtons Drugs teammates are currently looking for a Category Manager (General Merch) to support our growing business unit. If you love drug store products, are excited to work in an Atlantic team, and have the ability to coach teammates in executing with excellence this role is for you.Here\'s where you\'ll be focusing:Category Leadership

• Develop and implement category plans to deliver merchandising strategies and to achieve sales/profit targets for the overall region.
• Incorporate customer insight, market analysis, and store and market visits to identify category opportunities.
• Lead, coach and manage direct reports including: selection, orientation/development, performance management/strategy alignment, succession planning and compensation

Profitability

• Ensure banner profitability; develop and execute forecasts to attain all financial targets
• Review annually and manage CORE agreements

Product Life Cycle

• Manage effective product life cycle
• Manage inventory levels
• Monitor sell through performance/performance of promotional and seasonal programs
• Maximize category performance through the introduction of new and innovative products

Pricing

• Develop/manage category; item pricing subject to pricing philosophy loyalty program data
• Determine ad item selection/pricing based on banner financial criteria and event calendar

Promotions

• Develop and execute promotional plan; ensure all ads are correct/delivering category strategies; work with Merchandising to develop effective promotions
• Negotiate event participation and review HEAT ticket requests
• Determine retails, loyalty promotions, forecast volume and gross profits for all ad product
• Participate in the development and coordination of plan-o-grams and layout schematics based on store model (section sizes), plan-o-gram philosophy and the category plan
• Ensure product placement is based on consumer decision trees and trends in order to maximize profitable sales

Vendor Relations

• Manage all vendor interaction and negotiations to maximize customer and category insight; develop productive, proactive and consultative business relationships
• Optimize vendor investment to deliver on sales targets (marketing and trade spends)

Communication/ Employee Engagement

• Ensure effective communication within the department and with all other departments

What you have to offer:

• Ability to work independently, communicate effectively, work under pressure, and prioritize tasks effectively to meet deadlines
• Excellent organizational and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple projects with demonstrated flexibility and adaptability
• Demonstrated problem solving, decision making, and negotiating skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and be a team player
• Excellent communication skills (both oral and written)
• Demonstrated strong success and experience influencing, motivating and coaching for results
• An Undergraduate Degree and a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience
• Merchandising or retail experience; grocery preferred
• Successful experience managing the category/department at Retail, as applicable, including managing product launches
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office Suite

We offer teammates competitive total compensation packages that will vary by role and location. Some websites share our job opportunities and may provide salary estimates without our knowledge. These estimates are based on similar jobs and postings for general comparison, but these numbers are not provided by or monitored for accuracy by our organization. We look forward to discussing the specific compensation details relevant to this role with candidates who are selected to move forward in the recruitment process.Sobeys is committed to accommodating applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process and will work with applicants requesting accommodation at any stage of this process.While all responses are appreciated only those being considered for interviews will be acknowledged.We appreciate the interest from the Staffing industry however respectfully request no calls or unsolicited resumes from Agencies.

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