Category Manager

Description A Taste of Who We Are: Backed by a tireless commitment to high quality, innovative culinary offerings and unparalleled client and guest services, Continental consistently ranks among the top contract dining and refreshment providers in the nation according to Food Management Magazine, the industry’s source for food service news and trends. Our Mission Delight our guest. Every meal. Every day. Our Core Values Exceptional – We recruit and retain phenomenal people who consistently go the extra mile to deliver results that lead the industry. Hospitality – We are tirelessly committed to providing the highest quality food, beverages, and service by anticipating our guests' needs so they can count on memorable experiences every time. Collaboration – We prioritize working together with a shared vision and effective & transparent communication, we unite as one team to achieve remarkable experiences. Responsibility – we hold ourselves accountable to be there for our team and clients, to deliver what we say we will, when we say we will and check in on progress along the way. Innovation – We are forward-thinkers always looking for new processes, technologies, and techniques to increase efficiencies and scalability to improve our services. The Experience You’ll Create: The Category Manager is responsible for developing and executing category, assortment, pricing, supplier, product lifecycle, and promotional strategies across assigned Refreshment Services Group channels. This role uses customer insights, market trends, supplier capabilities, and item-level performance to improve sales, gross margin, product mix, waste, and the guest and client experience. The Category Manager sets the commercial direction, approved assortment, pricing, supplier, product lifecycle, and promotional strategy. Merchandising owns planogram strategy and creation, product swaps, new-business planograms, resets, replenishment settings, and field execution. Category Strategy & Planning Develop category plans for assigned vending, micro-market, office coffee services, and adjacent channels. Define category roles, customer needs, growth priorities, product architecture, and financial objectives. Use customer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, and performance data to identify growth opportunities. Translate strategy into clear assortment, pricing, promotional, financial, and execution requirements. Recommend regional or channel variations when supported by customer demand or operating needs. Assortment, Planograms & Product Lifecycle Manage approved assortments, product mix, SKU productivity, and lifecycle decisions. Evaluate products using sales velocity, margin, cost trends, waste, stockouts, customer preferences, and operational requirements. Lead new item introductions, tests, substitutions, rationalization, discontinuations, and approved exceptions. Coordinate approved product transitions with Merchandising, Operations, Procurement, suppliers, and other affected teams. Lead client and healthy program management, including approved assortments, nutritional information, product requirements, program standards, performance, and ongoing optimization. Pricing, Promotions & Margin Execute enterprise pricing strategy within assigned categories and maintain appropriate price architecture and tiers. Monitor gross margin and recommend pricing, assortment, mix, cost, or supplier actions to achieve financial goals. Evaluate supplier cost changes, rebates, incentives, and purchasing programs with Procurement and Finance. Develop promotional recommendations, including products, price points, timing, funding, and expected outcomes. Review promotional results and improve waste economics through pack size, shelf life, supplier terms, and assortment decisions. Performance, Compliance & Analytics Maintain category scorecards covering sales, units, margin, mix, SKU productivity, waste, availability, promotions, com…

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