Category Management Analyst 1

Category Analyst I

Pikesville, MD (Hybrid after onboarding)

Compensation: $65K–$80K

Position Summary

Our recruiting agency is supporting a confidential distribution client seeking an early‑career Category Analyst who is curious, detail‑oriented, and excited to grow in a fast‑moving product and merchandising environment. This role is ideal for someone with strong analytical fundamentals and excellent communication skills who wants to learn a specialized industry and support smarter assortment, pricing, and product data decisions.

Soft skills, potential, and coachability matter more than deep industry experience. Training provided.

Responsibilities

• Support product data accuracy across categories and customer segments

• Identify SKU gaps, competitive assortment differences, and pricing opportunities

• Analyze sales trends, customer behavior, and market signals

• Collaborate with marketing, purchasing, supply chain, and operations

• Assist with product launches, updates, and lifecycle management

• Build simple dashboards and reports to support decision‑making

• Engage with internal teams to understand product needs and unmet demand

• Learn the industry and grow into a category expert over time

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

• 1+ years in analytics, merchandising, product data, or business analysis

• Strong communication and relationship‑building skills

• High attention to detail and comfort working with large SKU sets

• Proficiency in Excel; familiarity with BI tools is a plus

• Curiosity, eagerness to learn, and a growth mindset

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with product data, pricing, or competitive research

• Exposure to SQL, Power BI, or automation tools (not required)

• Experience in distribution, wholesale, or medical/dental products (not required)