Senior Category Strategy Manager

Senior Category Strategy Manager
 

Position Summary

At Lewis Bakeries, our Category Development team plays a critical role in shaping how we win with consumers, customers, and within the evolving bakery category. We are committed to understanding shoppers deeply, delivering data-driven insights, and developing strategic category perspectives that fuel future growth.

We partner closely with Sales, Marketing, Innovation, and Leadership to guide long-term category direction, identify emerging opportunities, and drive decisions that elevate our brands and the overall bakery experience.

The Sr. Category Strategy Manager is a key contributor to this mission. This role serves as a strategic insights partner across the organization, helping define Lewis Bakeries’ category strategy, innovation roadmap, assortment architecture, and whitespace growth opportunities. The position leverages advanced analytics, shopper insights, syndicated data, and competitive analysis to inform internal strategy and support customer-facing selling stories.

The ideal candidate is a compelling storyteller—able to transform complex data into clear insights, clear insights into strategies, and strategies into actionable recommendations. This individual operates with minimal supervision and can confidently represent category insights to internal leaders and cross-functional partners.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Vision

• Develop Lewis Bakeries’ internal category strategy using insights from shopper behavior, competitive trends, market performance, and customer dynamics.
• Identify emerging trends within bakery, specialty breads, buns, and related fresh categories.
• Support long-term growth planning, including category segmentation, portfolio positioning, and white space opportunities.

Insights & Analytics

• Analyze syndicated, shopper, panel, and retailer data to diagnose category and brand performance.
• Translate data into actionable insights that influence strategic decisions across Sales, Marketing, and Innovation.
• Build dashboards, summaries, and strategic reports that highlight key opportunity areas and performance drivers.

Innovation & Whitespace Development

• Partner with Innovation, R&D, and Marketing teams to identify product gaps, platform growth opportunities, and consumer-led innovation territories.
• Use category insights to guide the stage-gate process, innovation prioritization, and concept refinement.
• Evaluate product ideas, portfolio needs, and competitive threats to inform future roadmap decisions.

Assortment, Merchandising, & Shelf Strategy

• Provide recommendations on assortment architecture, pack sizes, pricing strategy, merchandising tactics, and store-level execution best practices.
• Evaluate retailer planograms, shelf flows, and category sets to identify growth opportunities and optimize space productivity.
• Support selling stories with fact-based category rationale for new items and portfolio optimizations.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as the category expert across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and Leadership teams.
• Collaborate with sales teams to provide insights for business reviews, presentations, and customer planning sessions.
• Support strategic initiatives such as pricing strategy, trade optimization, and portfolio strategy.

Qualifications

• 3 years of CPG experience in category management, category leadership, shopper insights, market research, or commercial analytics
• Strong experience with syndicated data (Circana/Nielsen), shopper panel data, and retailer/shopper insights
• Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and data visualization tools (Power BI preferred)
• Ability to synthesize large datasets into clear, persuasive business stories
• Strong knowledge of category management principles including space, assortment, and merchandising fundamentals
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills
• Project management skills with the ability to work independently and prioritize effectively
• Experience in grocery, fresh bakery, deli, or perimeter categories is a plus

Work Environment & Schedule

• Remote eligible
• Must be able to work a salaried/exempt schedule to meet business priorities
• Light travel may be required for internal meetings, customer visits, or market research (approx. 5–10%)
• Must be able to work at a computer and analyze data for extended periods of time

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting and working on a computer (~100% of work schedule)
• Occasional lifting of samples or materials (up to 20 lbs)
• Travel as needed

About Lewis Bakeries

Founded in 1925, Lewis Bakeries is a family-owned company producing high-quality breads, buns, and rolls under trusted brands including Bunny Bread®, Lewis Bake Shop®, and Healthy Life®. With operations across Indiana and Tennessee, we are committed to innovation, reliability, and investing in our people.

Why Join Lewis Bakeries

• Family-owned and operated since 1925
• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, 401(k), and company-paid life and disability insurance
• Paid vacation and holidays
• Growth and development opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lewis Bakeries is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Drug-Free Workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check, drug screening, and reference check.

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