Customer Category Development Manager - Toronto

Do you have a passion for Category Development? This is your chance! Join the Arla Commercial Excel-lence team as our Customer Category Development Manager! This exciting role will be the perfect oppor-tunity for you to be part of an exciting team and a dynamic, world-class Consumer Packaged Goods and Dairy Manufacturing company.

As our Customer Category Development Manager, you will ensure Arla’s growth plans and initiatives are converted into brilliant execution that drives growth, positively impacts shopper behaviours and continues to build our credentials within the industry. This includes tailoring the Category & Channel Strategies, Brand Plans and NPD sell-ins to the sales Teams and at customer level and work in collaboration with the Sales teams to plan and execute. In collaboration with the Insights Manager, you will be the market expert in shopper behaviour, trends & inspiration, combining market, shopper and customer insights to identify growth opportunities and execute these through outstanding category leadership initiatives.

This role is based out of our Maple, Ontario (329 Shipwill Street) office, and we work in a hybrid way of working (2-3 days in office per week).

About the role
Reporting to the Manager, Commercial Excellence, you will:

• Lead customer Joint Business Plans and key category (CATMAN) projects with customers ensuring a shopper and category first approach
• Develop strong independent relationship with customers and become the trusted partner of choice through pro-active insight delivery
• Provide clear, useful and unique insights both internally and externally from advanced analysis, gener-ating growth driving ideas or address underperformances
• Champion the customer/category vision and contribute to the annual planning process, clearly guid-ing the strategic direction
• Tailor and implement the areas for growth across the 4 P’s - promo, pricing, placement, range/display across all channels and customers, identifying bespoke areas of growth for the custom-ers through interrogating category/shopper data and execute delivery within your retailer plans
• In collaboration with the Insights Manager, track category and customer performance providing ongo-ing pro-active insights to internal stakeholders and externally to customers, that translate into growth plans
• In collaboration with the Insights Manager, provide quarterly holistic external insights, trends and per-formance KPI’s (Shopper, Consumer, Retailer, Food) to internal Stakeholders
• Collaborate within the function to manage learning and training activities for the sales team related to continual learning of Arla Canada systems and processes, as well as customer and consumer insights
• Coordinate and execute Shopper Marketing plans in partnership with Marketing, Sales Supervisors, agencies, and the National Retail Team, ensuring programs are effectively planned, activated, and measured to drive shopper engagement, trial, conversion, and sales
• Grow Arla’s share of the category in each customer/channel

Who are you?
You are Shopper and Category Obsessed with a Genuine passion for understanding the shopper and using this understanding to drive a competitive advantage. You are curious by nature with a detective mindset rather than a historian! You are a Storyteller, who can create the context of ‘Why’ and ‘How’ succinctly from multiple complex data sources. You have a Performance Mindset and are results driven. You will have a at least 3 years of experience working within the FMCG industry in a category / commercial / strategy / in-sights role. You also bring hands-on experience coordinating shopper marketing, in-store sampling and POS execution, with strong cross-functional organization and attention to detail to ensure plans are practi-cal and aligned from strategy through execution.

Fully conversant in all data sets (Nielsen, Numerator, Kantar, LDIA, Circana etc.), you will have experience with pricing and promotion analysis and making recommendations with a focus on finding insights, and using those to execute on category and shopper visions. You will either have experience working in a cus-tomer facing role, or have the skillset and drive to gain this experience with us. You also hold a B.S. or B.A. degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.

What do we offer?
The compensation range for this role is $105,000-$115,000; in determining the pay for the position, we take into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions includ-ing, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.

This posting is for a current vacancy. We use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with aspects of our re-cruitment process. AI supports our process; however, all hiring decisions are made by people based on human review and judgment.

In pursuing this exciting opportunity, the selected individuals will be awarded with a competitive compen-sation package.

At Arla, we strive to unlock the highest potential in each other while working together to create the future of dairy. We push each other to keep our cooperative at the forefront of the dairy industry, so we can cre-ate Good Growth and bring health and inspiration to the world, naturally.

We do so much more than make some of the world’s favorite dairy products. We give babies the best start in life, make the family dinner unforgettable and mornings worth getting up for. Every single one of us plays an important role and together we build and help establish our position as one of the largest dairy companies in the world.

Application and contact
Interested and qualified candidates are invited to submit their resume. Arla foods is committed to provid-ing equal opportunities for all applicants and employees regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, col-our, ethnic or national origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, record of offences (for which a pardon has been granted), disability, marital or family status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you require an accommodation in order to participate in the re-cruitment process, please contact us at the email address above to provide your contact information. While we appreciate all resume submissions, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

While we appreciate all applications, only applicants that are legally authorized to work in Canada will be considered for this role.

Shape the Future of Dairy
Arla is a global leader in the dairy industry, committed to enabling good food choices that make life better, providing people with nourishment, while taking care at every step to ensure Arla is a choice they can feel good about. If you are looking to shape the future with an ambitious global cooperative that truly cares about your growth, where everyone feels valued and empowered, and collaboration is the core of culture, Arla is a choice you can feel good about.

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