Category Manager

Heartland Food Products Group

Heartland Food Products Group is a Carmel, Indiana–based consumer packaged goods company focused on sugar reduction, better-for-you beverages, and wellness-oriented food products. The company develops, manufactures, and markets low- and no-calorie sweeteners, liquid water enhancers, coffee products, creamers, beverage concentrates, nutritional beverages, and related private-label offerings.

Our best-known brand is Splenda , and our portfolio also includes Java House cold brew coffee and SlimFast . Heartland serves retail, foodservice, e-commerce, business-to-business, contract-manufacturing, and private-label channels, with products distributed internationally across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

In May 2026, Heartland announced a definitive agreement to acquire Whole Earth Brands' Americas business, which includes the Equal, Whole Earth, Swerve, and Chuker brands. The acquisition expands Heartland's sweetener and wellness portfolio across North America and Latin America.

Role Overview

The Category Manager is responsible for driving category growth and consumer value by delivering data-driven insights, assortment, pricing, shelving, and promotional recommendations to retail partners for the full Heartland brands portfolios. This role serves as a trusted advisor to field sales and retail partners, using consumer, shopper, and market data to develop strategies that grow the total category while strengthening the Heartland portfolio.

The ideal candidate combines analytical rigor with storytelling, translating insights into actionable, customer-ready recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

Category & Shopper Insights

Analyze category, brand, and SKU performance using syndicated and customer data
Identify shopper trends, white space opportunities, and growth drivers
Develop category growth hypotheses grounded in consumer and shopper behavior
Monitor competitive activity, innovation, and performance trends

Assortment Strategy

Lead assortment optimization and SKU rationalization recommendations
Support new item launches with assortment and distribution strategies
Evaluate assortment productivity and shelf efficiency
Partner with Sales with line reviews and reset planning

Shelving & Merchandising

Develop planograms, shelf principles, and merchandising strategies
Optimize shelf layout to improve shopper navigation and conversion
Build data-backed shelving recommendations aligned to retailer strategies
Support execution of resets and in-store merchandising initiatives

Pricing & Promotion (Category Lens)

Analyze price tiers, pack sizes, and competitive price gaps
Partner with Revenue Growth Management (RGM) to evaluate promotion effectiveness
Support pricing and promo recommendations that drive sales and share
Partner with RGM and Sales on customer-specific strategies

Customer & Sales Support

Create customer-ready presentations for line reviews, JBP meetings, and business updates
Act as the category expert for assigned retailers
Support Sales with fact-based selling and opportunity sizing

Key Deliverables

Category growth strategies and playbooks
Assortment and shelving recommendations
Planograms and shelf optimization analyses
Retailer-specific category reviews
Executive-ready insight presentations

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, Consumer Insights, or related field
5–8 years of experience in Category Management, Shopper Insights, or Analytics
Strong experience with syndicated data (NIQ, Circana, SPINS, etc.)
Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills
Experience with Power BI
Strong analytical and storytelling capabilities
Proven ability to synthesize large quantities of data into simple, actionable insights
Experience supporting retail line reviews and resets

Preferred

Experience working directly with major retailers
Familiarity with space planning tools (JDA, Blue Yonder, Nielsen Spaceman)
Experience with shopper research and panel data
Exposure to omnichannel or e-commerce category management

Competencies & Attributes

Shopper-first mindset
Strong commercial and retailer acumen
Ability to translate data into clear recommendations
Collaborative, cross-functional partner
Detail-oriented with executive presence

Strong collaboration with Consumer Insights and IT

This role is in Carmel, Indiana and 100% in office.

Apply

Vacancy posted a month ago

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