Protein Category Manager
Amherst, Nova Scotia
Responsibilities
Strategic Opportunity Buys
- Make fast purchasing decisions on time-sensitive offers from vendors and strategic alliances to gain market advantages.
- Track market trends and commodity fluctuations to keep pricing competitive for the sales team.
- Sourcing unique opportunity buys to drive customer interest and incremental sales.
Risk & Inventory Management
- Assess volume, distribution center (DC) capacity, and market volatility before placing high-risk forward buys.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Merchandising, Sales, Supply Chain, and Revenue Management to ensure smooth sell-through.
COP Contracting Program Management
- Lead supplier-side contracting with key partners to secure optimal volume and pricing for category growth.
- Oversee customer-side protein contracts, aligning costs with sales commitments to safeguard margins and distribution.
- Monitor vendor and division contract compliance, escalating performance issues as needed.
Portfolio & Vendor Leadership
- Source across national, regional, specialty, and local suppliers to maintain market-relevant inventory.
- Negotiate contracts with new regional suppliers and balance national category goals with local market demands.
- Forward-buy and secure supply ahead of seasonal demand spikes and commodity cycles to prevent inventory gaps.
Sales Partnership & Customer Engagement
- Serve as the protein subject-matter expert for sales teams, participating in client meetings and business reviews.
- Educate and coach sales representatives on market trends, product details, and selling strategies to boost margin growth.
Requirements
- Protein Expertise: 3+ years of deep knowledge in beef, lamb, seafood and poultry is a must-have, including quality standards and supply chain dynamics.
- Commodity Market Fluency: Extensive knowledge of market fluctuations and the ability to interpret data to make timely buying decisions.
- Must have experience in the Atlantic market specific to protein categories
- Financial & Analytical Acumen: Strong grasp of Margin, Pricing and DC capacity metrics in a perishable goods environment.
- Collaboration & Influence: Proven ability to work across multiple teams and influence stakeholders at both the regional and national levels.
- The "Intrapreneur" Spirit: A creative thinker who can inject fresh perspectives into the category and drive brand goals.
- Tech Savvy: Bachelor's degree preferred; SAP experience is a significant asset for managing complex inventory and procurement data.
- Must be comfortable being in office 4 days a week, in addition to 10-20% travel a year.