Sr. Manager, Category & Commercial Strategy

We started Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in a yellow truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 with a mission to make good ice cream that makes you feel good.

Nowadays, people can spend so much time on what’s “healthy” they don’t stop to consider what’s healthy. As far as we’re concerned, happiness is healthiness. We strive to ensure every scoop, store and employee feels and creates one community to contribute to the overall brand.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is hiring a full-time Senior Manager, Category & Commercial Strategy. This is a great opportunity for an experienced individual to work closely with the growing team of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream as the company embarks on its next stage of accelerated growth across retail brick and mortar and CPG. The ideal candidate is someone who is data-driven, CPG savvy, and can thrive in a fast-paced environment (and loves ice cream!). 

The Senior Manager, Category & Commercial Strategy will bridge strategy and execution across category, pricing and in-market activation. This role is the commercial architect of how we win at shelf. The role will own the development and execution of best-in-class category, pricing, promotion and merchandising strategies that drive velocity, profitable growth, and retailer alignment across all channels of trade. The role will work cross functionally among Sales, Marketing, Finance and Customers to ensure we win at shelf and online.

This role can be fully remote and based anywhere in the United States. Strong preference would be candidates based in markets where VL has retail outlets (CA, CO, TX, IL, FL, GA, NC, TN, PA, NJ, NYC, CT or MA).

Job Responsibilities

• Category Strategy & Insights – Define how Van Leeuwen shows up within frozen dessert. Provide a clear POV versus competitors (premium vs ultra-premium vs better for you) and retailer-facing category decks that earn distribution.
• Key Outputs:
  • Define Category roles: Dairy Pints, Non-Dairy Pints, Novelties
  • Assortment architecture by channel (Natural, Food, Mass, Club)
  • Shelf strategy (SKU count, segmentation, price tiers)
  • White space identification (flavor, format, pack size)
• Pricing/Promotion Strategy and Merchandising Standards – Execute repeatable playbooks across channels of trade.  Establish consistent pricing ladder across customers, reduce margin leakage and a clear good/better/best promo strategy.  Define how our brand shows up on shelf physically and digitally.
• Key Outputs:
  • Everyday pricing (EDLP guardrails by channel) and Promo architecture
  • Depth, Frequency & Mechanics focused on Trade spend guardrails + ROI expectations
  • Establish and execute shelving and merchandising standards
  • Develop and own innovation launch playbooks and Seasonal/ LTO calendars
• Commercial Execution Support & Performance Analytics – Ensure our strategy translates into real-world execution and optimize trade investments.
• Key Outputs:
  • Distribution tracking and reset readiness support
  • New item sell-in tools (data driven decks)
  • Trade Calendar tracking
  • Post Promotionnel Analyses – Lift, ROI, Incrementality

Job Requirements

• 6 to 10+ years in Category management (CPG) and Trade marketing / shopper marketing 
• Experience with Frozen or perimeter categories, distributor environments (UNFI, KeHE), and high-growth emerging brands
• Experience in pricing & promo strategy (NRM-lite capability) and turning data and insights into a selling story
• Proven record of crafting comprehensive storytelling to be used in retailer sell-in
• Comfortable with imperfect data environments, building resources and tools from scratch and ability to pivot and adjust quickly
• Ability to sustain high accuracy and work performance
• Technical aptitude and ability to quickly learn new applications
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively, self-prioritizing work load in a fast paced, team-oriented work environment
• Strong comprehension and problem-solving skills
• Must be comfortable working in-store scoop shifts as needed, while adhering to DOH guidelines

Compensation + Benefits

$115,000.00 - $140,000.00 annual compensation depending on experience, paid weekly 

Eligible for annual 10% bonus

• Employee Scoop Card (Enjoy Ice Cream from any of our scoop shops nationwide)
• Medical, Dental + Vision Insurance with 70% Employer Contribution
• 401k with up to 4% Employer Match
• Cell Phone Reimbursement Plan
• Wellness Reimbursement Plan 
• Flexible Time Off - No accrual required
• Paid Sick Time
• Yearly