Director, Category Insights

Job Description:

The Director, Category & Insights leads the North America Category Center of Excellence (COE), responsible for defining and deploying Mars Pet Nutrition’s category vision, insights frameworks, and growth strategies across channels and customers.

This role owns the development of a 3–5 year category vision, shopper-led growth strategies, and a standardized category toolkit, enabling field category and customer teams to deliver best-in-class execution and retailer engagement.The Director will also lead the SLIC (Shopper Learning & Innovation Center) as a strategic, customer-facing capability to bring category insights, innovation, and growth stories to life with retail partners.

As a key leader within the Category Leadership team, this role drives a ONE Category Management operating model, connects insights to commercial activation, and ensures Mars is positioned as the category thought leader across brick & mortar and omni environments.

This role is based in Franklin, TN with regular in-office collaboration expected. Flexibility is a key enabler—empowering associates to make choices that support both business outcomes and personal needs, including occasional remote work.

What are we looking for?

• Lead the creation of category growth stories and retailer-facing narratives that enable sales teams to sell total category solutions.

• Define the “perfect store” and “perfect digital shelf” picture of success across channels.

• Establish frameworks for assortment, shelving, pricing, promotion, and activation that drive category growth.

• Ensure strategies reflect both brick & mortar constraints, including space and merchandising, and omnichannel dynamics such as search, personalization, and the digital shelf.

• Define and implement the ONE Category Management operating model in partnership with sales leadership, and embed COE capability into Business Management Teams (BMTs) to enable a ONE Demand mindset.

• Partner with AOE Customer Excellence, Marketing, SRM, and Insights to ensure integrated category strategies.

• Own the development of a best-in-class category toolkit that includes a shopper insights foundation, category vision and growth platforms, the role of brands in category growth, distribution, activation and PPP (price-pack-promo) strategies, and a total category picture of success across both brick & mortar and digital environments.

• Standardize tools and processes that can be scaled across customers and channels and ensure toolkits enable proactive opportunity creation versus reactive reporting in field teams.

• Increase the frequency and impact of customer engagements hosted through SLIC and bring category strategies to life through immersive retail and shopper experiences, product demonstrations and shelf simulations, and digital and physical ecosystem storytelling.

• Develop bold, differentiated recommendations on shelving, merchandising, and activation.

• Define frameworks for digital category execution, including search, taxonomy, and content optimization, as well as conversion and traffic drivers and personalization and digital shelf strategy.

• Ensure integration of real-time analytics and test-and-learn approaches into category strategies and build capabilities that connect physical and digital shopper journeys.

Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 10+ years of experience in Category Management, Insights, Sales Strategy, or CPG leadership roles
• Deep expertise in category management, shopper insights, and retail strategy
• Demonstrated success building category vision and translating insights into commercial execution
• Experience leading centralized or COE-type organizations within a matrixed structure
• Strong understanding of brick & mortar and omnichannel category dynamics
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and retailer partners
• Experience leading high-performing, cross-functional teams

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates
• Join a purpose-driven company
• A strong focus on learning and development
• Competitive compensation and benefits package