The Opportunity We're seeking Category Advisor to deliver data-driven insights and strategic recommendations for a major national retail account. In this role, you will translate complex datasets into clear category stories, influence merchandising decisions, and act as a trusted advisor to retail stakeholders. Your work will directly impact assortment strategy, shelf optimization, and long-term category growth.
This is a rare opportunity to operate at the center of analytics, retail strategy, and execution, working on high-visibility category initiatives that drive measurable performance. You'll partner closely with cross-functional teams to deliver fact-based recommendations that align retailer priorities with brand objectives.
If you have experience in category management, syndicated data analysis, and retailerfacing advisory work, and a track record of turning insights into action, we want to hear from you.
As part of our team, you'll support category strategy for nationally significant retail business, influence real decisions at shelf, and help shape the future of data-driven merchandising. The role offers strong growth opportunities, exposure to senior stakeholders, and the chance to build a career at the forefront of modern category management.
What you'll do - Compiling and analyzing data over time to forecast sales trends
- Reviewing past sales data to determine trends in productivity
- Preparing accurate reports using data from internal and external sources
- Evaluating third-party data to determine best practices for company success
- Presenting actionable information and insights to team members and management
- Gathering and analyzing data in order to understand problems and address them proactively
- Utilizing retailer POS data to compile & interpret in-depth customer analysis and provide support for internal forecasting, to ensure sales targets are met and minimize lost sales
- Assisting with the facilitation of category strategies and initiatives and implement effectively
- Identifying and tracking current and future sales trends and market share results relative to the appropriate portion of the marketplace
- Identifying and implementing sales analysis that will meet the information needs of the customer and influence the decision-making process of product listings
- Analyzing planograms to optimize assortment based on productivity, pricing, promotions, product, or placement
- Building, developing, and maintaining planograms for business strategies to maximize sales and productivity
- Maintaining the confidentiality of the Client category and competitive data
- Other ad hoc tasks as requested by management or the Client
Qualifications - 5+ years of hands-on experience applying category management principles to drive measurable growth
- Working knowledge of managing portfolios of 100-1,000+ SKUs across complex retail environments
- Advanced expertise navigating retailer systems, tools, and operational processes for large national accounts
- Experience using JDA space planning tools to build and analyze planograms across multiple categories
- Hands-on experience using Retail Link to extract POS data, analyze store and item performance, and generate retailer-ready insights that support assortment
- decisions, category strategy, and merchandising optimization.
- Advanced proficiency in Nielsen and syndicated datasets, with experience analyzing multi-million-dollar categories
- Expert-level Excel capability (pivot models, Power Query, advanced formulas, large dataset handling)
- Proven ability to synthesize data from 5+ sources into actionable business insights
- Demonstrated success managing 3-5 concurrent category projects under tight timelines
- Strong analytical problem-solving skills applied to real revenue, margin, and shelf optimization decisions
- Experienced presenter delivering insights to senior stakeholders and retail decisionmakers
- Track record of building and maintaining long-term strategic client relationships
- Expertise in large-scale data management and insight generation to support highimpact recommendations
- Strong project management discipline overseeing end-to-end category initiatives
- Excellent cross-functional collaboration with sales, supply chain, and marketing teams
- Applies critical thinking and commercial judgment to influence measurable business outcomes
