Job Overview
We are seeking an experienced and strategic Senior Category Manager specializing in Health Retail to lead category development, optimize product assortments, and drive sales growth within our health-focused retail division. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of health and wellness products, retail market trends, and supplier management. This role offers an opportunity to influence product strategies, enhance customer experience, and contribute to the company's overall success in the health retail sector.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Category Leadership
- Develop and execute long-term category strategies that align with Wellwise's business objectives, customer needs, and financial goals.
People Leadership
- Lead, coach, and develop Category Managers, Category Coordinators, and other merchandising team members to build a collaborative, high-performing team.
- Establish clear goals, provide regular coaching and performance feedback, and support professional development.
- Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Business Leadership
- Own the overall financial performance of assigned categories, including sales, gross margin, inventory productivity, profitability, and vendor income.
- Analyze business performance and develop strategic action plans to achieve and exceed financial targets.
- Present category strategies, business reviews, and recommendations to senior leadership.
Vendor & Partnership Leadership
- Build and maintain executive-level relationships with key vendor partners.
- Lead negotiations for annual agreements, pricing, promotional funding, marketing support, product exclusivity, and strategic partnerships.
- Drive collaborative business planning to deliver mutual growth opportunities.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Lead cross-functional initiatives by partnering with Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Operations, Digital Commerce, and Store Operations.
- Influence stakeholders and ensure alignment across departments to successfully execute merchandising initiatives.
- Champion organizational change and process improvements that enhance the customer experience and operational efficiency.
Customer & Market Leadership
- Leverage customer insights, market research, competitive analysis, and healthcare trends to develop innovative category solutions.
- Identify assortment gaps and lead product innovation initiatives that differentiate Wellwise within the healthcare retail market.
Operational Excellence
- Ensure effective inventory management, product lifecycle planning, forecasting, and promotional execution.
- Continuously evaluate processes and implement improvements to increase efficiency and category performance.
- Lead annual category planning, including sales, margin, assortment, promotional, and inventory strategies.
- Identify new business opportunities and emerging healthcare trends to expand category growth and market share.
Experience
Leadership
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Category Management, Merchandising, Buying, or Product Management.
- 3+ years of experience leading, coaching, or mentoring high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive cross-functional initiatives.
Strategic Thinking
- Proven ability to develop long-term business strategies that drive sustainable growth.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen with experience managing multi-million-dollar categories.
Vendor Management
- Extensive experience negotiating strategic vendor partnerships and annual business plans.
Analytical Excellence
- Advanced analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and translate insights into actionable business strategies.
Communication & Influence
- Exceptional presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
- Comfortable presenting recommendations and business cases to executive leadership.
Technical Skills
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
- Experience with merchandising systems, ERP platforms, Power BI, SAP, or similar retail planning tools is considered an asset.
Requirements
- Proven experience in retail category management within the health or wellness sector.
- Strong analytical skills with proficiency in data analysis tools and retail analytics platforms.
- Excellent negotiation, communication, and relationship-building skills with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
- Ability to develop strategic plans and translate them into actionable initiatives.
- Knowledge of health regulations, product safety standards, and compliance requirements is preferred.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, or related field; advanced degrees are a plus.
- Demonstrated leadership abilities with experience managing cross-functional teams.
- Passion for health and wellness products with a customer-centric approach to retail strategy.
Pay: $95,000.00-$105,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental care
- Employee assistance program
- On-site parking
- RRSP match
- Vision care
Work Location: In person
