At Arterra Wines Canada, we love inspiring the big and small moments that happen when our products are shared and enjoyed. For us it’s not just about what’s in and on the bottle, it’s what happens in people’s lives when we’re a part of them that keeps us thirsting for more and not resting on our laurels as Canada’s largest and most enjoyed wine company. We put the consumer at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for people who do the same.

Reporting to the Director of Sales Strategy and Category management, the National Category Development Manager will own the category management agenda for AWC, ensuring coast to coast alignment in best practices, developing the category for both our customers and AWC. This person will lead the Canadian category team leadership and vision, guiding the team toward and through high impact category projects and joint business plans. The National Category Development Manager will also own and lead our category captaincy (and advisor) status and drive best in class category leadership solutions that should include shopper and category insights across assortment, shelving and merchandising principle.

Key Responsibilities

• Coach, educate and motivate direct reports team of category management analyst to become future Insights leaders, to increase productivity and responsibility. Lead team to turn insights into action, develop thought-leading initiatives and educate cross- functional departments on how to capitalize on category opportunities.
• Develop and cultivate business relationships with customer senior leadership, (Liquor boards, grocery & on-premise) and establish AWC as the indispensable partner for all category management needs.
• Own the category management process at key customers by developing and delivering fully integrated shopper, category and marketplace insight to guide customer strategic choices and tactical execution.
• Develop ‘Best-in-Class’ process for Category Management and leverage the analytics across the business through story selling that supports market dynamic situations and new products on a regional and customer basis.
• Fully understand shopper insights data sources and coach team to become the internal experts leveraging all shopper insight through 3rd party data, customer loyalty data (Loblaw, Metro and Sobeys, Liquor Board) to determine shopper trends at key customers and find ways to grow penetration, baskets and trips that drive category sales for AWC.
• Manage the data acquisition budget and negotiation with 3rd party for current and future insight needs.

What you bring:

• University Degree
• 10-12 years of experience including leading Category Management team experiencewith 8-10 years CPG Experience in analytics roles and a minimum of 3-5 years leading team experience
• In-depth knowledge of the CPG industry and Canadian Retail Industry.
• Strong planning/organizing skills; the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and create structure and process where it does not currently exist
• Strong understanding of industry and global/national category management and shopper insight trends, frameworks and best practices
• Planograms building expertise (JDA Space Planning experience or other planogram software experience preferred)
• Strong relationship builder, retailer relationships as well as sales team partnerships.
• Strong joint business planning capabilities with retailers.
• Exceptional communication skills – verbal, written & presentation
• CPSA (Certified Professional Strategic Advisor) certification
• Experience managing relationships with third party agencies including brokers and data and insight providers an asset
• Strong experience with Excel and Power BI Power with working knowledge of syndicated data platforms : Nielsen, Dunnhumby, IRI, Precima

What we offer:

• Competitive salary and bonus
• Benefits and Pension Plan
• Product Allowances & Safe Ride Home Program
• An organization that cares about Corporate Social Responsibility
• Tuition reimbursement
• Training & Development Programs
• An opportunity to learn about the world of wine

#LI-Hybrid #LI-KT1

We are committed to establishing a qualified workforce that reflects the diverse population it serves and we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. We are also committed to preventing and removing barriers to employment for people with disabilities, and we invite you to inform us should you have any accessibility or accommodation needs.