Director, Category Growth Intelligence & Retail Strategy- Strategic Accounts

Job Description

The Director, Category Growth Intelligence & Retail Strategy is a transformational leader responsible for driving long-term category growth across physical stores, ecommerce, and omnichannel retail environments. This role combines advanced analytics, shopper insights, macro-space planning, inventory intelligence, and store-level performance insights to develop strategies that deliver sustainable growth for both retailers and the enterprise.
 

Reporting to the VP of Category Leadership & Shopper Insights, the Director leads a team of Associate Directors, Leads, Senior Advisors, and Advisors, serving as a strategic partner to internal teams and retail customers. This leader develops and executes a 1–3 year category growth strategy, leveraging real-time data, predictive analytics, and collaborative retailer partnerships to drive measurable outcomes across sales, profit, market share, and category productivity.

The Director acts as a trusted advisor to senior retailer leadership, delivering insights and strategic recommendations that improve category performance across in-store, digital shelf, and omnichannel fulfillment environments.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Category Growth & Retail Partnerships
 

• Partner with senior retailer leaders to develop long-term category growth strategies across store and e-commerce environments
• Lead joint category planning and strategic initiatives that drive profitable growth for both the retailer and the enterprise
• Identify retail solutions through deep understanding of shopper behavior, category trends, and store-level insights
• Serve as a strategic advisor to internal commercial teams on category performance, risks, and growth opportunities
   

Omnichannel Category Strategy
 

• Develop and execute integrated category strategies across physical shelf, digital shelf, and omnichannel fulfillment models
• Optimize category performance across in-store merchandising, digital discoverability, and online shopper conversion
• Partner with Digital Commerce and Retail Media teams to ensure category insights inform digital merchandising and media strategies

Data, Analytics & Category Intelligence

• Leverage advanced analytics, AI-enabled insights, and real-time data platforms to inform category strategy
• Translate complex data—including shopper card data, syndicated data, digital shelf analytics, and store-level POS insights into actionable growth strategies
• Utilize predictive modeling and demand forecasting to guide store level assortment strategies

Inventory & Availability Optimization

• Integrate inventory analytics and supply chain insights into category planning to ensure optimal product availability
• Identify out-of-stock risks and collaborate with retailers and internal teams to improve on-shelf and digital fulfillment availability
• Use demand signals and sell-through data to improve inventory productivity and reduce lost sales

Store-Level Insights & Execution

• Analyze store-level and regional performance to identify localized assortment and merchandising opportunities
• Partner with retailers to implement targeted category strategies that reflect shopper demand at the store level
• Ensure enterprise category strategies translate effectively into store-level execution

Space & Assortment Strategy

• Lead macro-space planning initiatives to optimize shelf allocation, assortment productivity, and category roles
• Develop data-driven assortment strategies that improve category productivity across physical and digital environments

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing category leadership team, fostering a culture of curiosity, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Serve as a player-coach, developing future category leadership talent across the organization
• Partner cross-functionally with Business Units, eCommerce, Insights, Supply Chain, and Marketing teams to drive category success

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in CPG, retail, or category management leadership
• Proven experience leading and developing high-performing teams
• Strong experience leveraging advanced analytics, shopper insights, and data platforms to drive category strategy
• Experience with omnichannel retail, digital commerce, and store-level retail dynamics
• Knowledge of macro-space planning, assortment optimization, and category strategy development
• Experience utilizing inventory analytics and demand forecasting to improve availability and category productivity
• Strong