Category Director, Drinks & Cannabis

The Opportunity Calgary Coop is looking for a Category Director to lead our Drinks & Cannabis business. This is a rare chance to lead category strategy end-to-end — from product selection and pricing to vendor negotiation and team leadership — for one of the most dynamic and fast-evolving categories in retail today. You'll set the direction for marketing, programs, and procurement across the division, build and mentor a team of category professionals, and partner closely with senior leadership to shape a business that customers already trust and love. If you're a strategic, people-first category leader who wants real ownership and visibility, this is the role. What You'll Own Set the strategic direction for Drinks & Cannabis — marketing programs, new product offerings, procurement, and pricing — to drive profitability and elevate the customer experience. Own end-to-end category management: product selection, space allocation, competitive costing, pricing strategy, and promotional planning across every Drinks & Cannabis category. Lead weekly flyer planning, forecasting, and item selection, tracking sales and margin performance to keep programs on target. Analyze category and product performance, industry trends, and the competitive landscape to build sales-growth strategies for key products and product families. Shape budget guidelines and store layout/design recommendations that improve efficiency, service, and the bottom line. Drive forecasting accuracy for Limited Time Offerings, warehouse stock, and flyer programs to maximize turns and margin. Own vendor relationships end-to-end — selecting and negotiating with suppliers, optimizing promotional funding, and resolving site-level issues. Establish policies, procedures, and best practices for receiving, inspection, storage, and merchandising across Drinks & Cannabis. Lead business analysis and category reviews, translating insight into marketing plans, sales fundamentals, and business initiatives. Partner closely with Retail Operations on program rollouts, merchandising, pricing, inventory management, store layouts, and audits. Ensure full compliance with company policy and government regulation across product handling, pricing, stock control, and costing integrity. Champion a safe, healthy workplace — modeling HSE standards and ensuring the team understands and follows all related policies and legislation. The Team You'll Lead Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Category Managers and Assistant Category Managers, aligning their day-to-day work with broader company goals. Set clear objectives and KPIs, and hold regular, constructive performance conversations that help the team grow. Build a culture of accountability and engagement — delegating effectively, resolving conflict, and keeping the team motivated through change. Participate in your own annual competency and development planning, continuing to grow as a category leader. What You Bring 5+ years of retail category management experience, including people leadership and budget ownership. Project management experience, with a track record of taking initiatives from concept through to the consumer. Proven experience coaching direct reports and conducting performance reviews. Strong analytical skills, with the ability to draw clear insight from internal and external data sources. Confident, constructive communicator who can set direction and hold two-way dialogue on both work and results. Skilled at resolving conflict and driving employee engagement. Comfortable delegating and distributing workload while maintaining clear accountability. Strong negotiation and problem-solving skills, with sharp attention to detail. Proven ability to work cross-functionally while maintaining strong internal and external relationships. Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint). Comfortable adhering to tight deadlines in a fast-moving retail environment. Equivalent combinations of skills a…

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