Center of Plate Category Manager

Key Responsibilities & Qualifications:

• Lead regional protein category strategy across Beef, Pork, Poultry, and Seafood to drive sales growth, margin improvement, and market share expansion.
• Develop and execute pricing, assortment, and category growth strategies based on market conditions, customer needs, and profitability opportunities.
• Partner with suppliers, processors, packers, brokers, and internal cross-functional teams to optimize category performance and execution.
• Provide product expertise, market insights, and strategic support to sales teams to enhance customer growth and category penetration.
• Analyze category performance, customer buying trends, and market dynamics to identify growth opportunities and manage commodity market challenges.
• Leverage data, analytics, and commercial insights to support business planning, decision-making, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships while influencing adoption of key category programs and initiatives.
• Requires demonstrated protein category expertise, strong financial and commercial acumen, pricing and margin management experience, supplier relationship management skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively across sales, supply chain, merchandising, and operations teams.

Brief Role Description:

• Responsible for driving profitable sales growth of the Center of the Plate categories, Beef, Pork, Poultry & Seafood within a region
• Collaborates cross functionally (Sales, Supply Chain, Revenue Management) and across entities (Market, Corporate, Specialty)
• Category expert that provides training, product information, regulatory guidance, and market cost guidance to internal and external customers in support of the center of the plate category.

PRIMARY AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Category Strategy
  • Align with SSMG teams to execute strategies
  • Identify business development opportunities, coordinate with sales teams (leaders, specialists, sales consultants) to propose new business
  • Compliance with SSMG standard assortment and on-going assortment related opportunities
  • Analyze data and market insights to understand consumer needs and wants
  • Research competitors and suggest appropriate pricing
    • Manage site specific market cost decisions on a weekly basis
    • Collaborating with Regional Revenue Management Director and Regional VP of Merch, utilize available contract programs and resources to provide customer specific pricing for key Regional customers.
  • Communicating with corporate led beef replenishment teams about products and strategies
  • Provide field feedback on strategies including advising on marketing materials to improve sales
• Provide planning team with forecasts for product demand trends
  • Coordinating new customer on boarding activities
  • Addressing the needs and concerns of key TRS/CMU/LCC customer contacts within the Region
• Assortment Management
  • Providing product assortment and SKU rationalization recommendations that are aligned with your Region demand.
  • Ensure product availability
  • Design exit strategies for unsuccessful products
• Category Training
  • Providing SC support through business reviews, customer insight encounters with targeted training and education.
  • Schedule and manage category sales training of Sales Consultants.
  • Provide timely and effective communication with Sales force including but not limited to market conditions, product quality and availability, new items and applications.
• Product Quality/Quality control
  • Develop and monitor SOPs ensuring that pick locations are checked daily.
  • Collaborating with Operations and Food Safety teams
  • Maintain accountability with Operations leadership to ensure aging specifications are being adhered to on boxed beef assortment.
  • Works with inventory control to manage expiration dating through SWMS reports.
• Mitigate Expense/Shrink
  • Works with inventory control to manage expiration dating through SWMS reports.
  • Works closely with Quality Assurance lead(s) and in conjunction with Operations and Transportation Management
  • Establish and maintain accountability that all inbound product is inspected thoroughly
  • Collaborate with QA and Product Support Advisors to ensure quality and integrity of all inbound and outbound Center of the Plate products
  • Support region adherence to HAACP and other regulatory guidelines

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in lieu of degree sufficient to successfully perform essential job functions required. Master’s degree a plus.
• 3+ years management/professional experience required (5+ years preferred). Significant produce industry experience, sales, merchandising and/or operations experience within a retail, wholesale or distribution environment preferred.
• Strong written & verbal communications skills required
• Strong excel skills preferred
• Ability to manage & implement innovative strategies to maximize sales & gross profit potential while driving customer loyalty & MA engagement

Skills:

• Ability to build high performing teams and enable best practice sharing and support culture
• Ability to motivate high-performing teams & enable a culture of best practices
• Ability to manage conflict and reach quick resolution with facts and dialogue
• Ability to work cross functionally and build relationships across the organization/enterprise
• Ability to communicate effectively with individuals of different backgrounds
• Collaborative change leader who uses multiple influencing styles to drive change
• Analytical thinker who can draw sound business conclusions based on a strong fact base
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment