Associate Category Manager

Associate Category Manager

Mizkan America, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is a subsidiary of the Mizkan Group, a global, family-owned company that has been Bringing Flavor to Life™ for more than 220 years. As one of the leading manufacturers of vinegars, condiments, and sauces in the United States, Mizkan America operates 12 manufacturing facilities serving the retail, foodservice, specialty Asian, and food ingredient channels. Our portfolio includes trusted and iconic brands such as RAGÚ®, Bertolli®, Holland House®, Nakano®, and Mizkan®, enjoyed by consumers across North America.

Our success is built upon two core principles: continuously challenging the status quo and delivering only the finest products for our customers. We foster a culture where employees are encouraged to bring forward new ideas, challenge conventional thinking, and contribute to meaningful improvements across the organization. Transparency, accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning are fundamental to how we operate and grow.

At Mizkan, you'll have the opportunity to work with iconic brands, collaborate with talented colleagues, and make an impact within a company that values innovation, development, and long-term success.

The Associate Category Manager supports category growth and Mizkan commercial performance across Mizkan's portfolio by transforming shopper, consumer, and market insights into actional business recommendations. Serving as a key partner to Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management, Product Development, and Supply Chain teams, this role delivers category expertise that strengthens customer strategies, enhances selling stories, and drives profitable growth.

The role has two primary areas of responsibility:

• Category Management: Leverage syndicated, shopper, consumer, and customer data to identify opportunities, develop fact-based recommendations, and support category growth initiatives across Grocery and other customer channels.
• Sales Planning & Commercialization: Lead cross-functional coordination and project management activities that support the successful commercialization of innovation, customer programs, and strategic initiatives from concept through execution.

As a subject matter expert in syndicated point-of-sale, shopper, household panel, and customer data, the Associate Category Manager develops and activates insights through monthly scorecarding, account line reviews, business analyses, customer presentations, and the annual learning agenda. This role collaborates closely with Commercial Leadership and serves as a trusted advisor to Sales and cross-functional teams. Success is measured by the quality and business impact of recommendations, achievement of customer and organizational objectives, effective commercialization of key initiatives, and contribution to sales growth, market share performance, and annual operating plan goals.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a subject matter expert in syndicated, shopper, consumer, household panel, customer point-of-sale, and market data, providing actionable insights that support commercial decision-making.
• Collect, analyze, and interpret category, shopper, consumer, and sales data using Circana, Numerator, customer point-of-sale systems, survey data, primary research, AI-enabled tools, and other relevant sources.
• Identify business opportunities and translate insights into clear recommendations that support category growth, improve customer performance, and strengthen customer relationships.
• Develop customer-specific category reviews, shelf analyses, assortment recommendations, pricing and promotional evaluations, merchandising strategies, and other category management solutions.
• Partner with Sales teams to create compelling, data-driven selling stories that influence customer plans and category strategies.
• Develop and maintain monthly scorecards, key account line reviews, and performance reporting tools that support customer planning and business reviews.
• Monitor category performance, shopper trends, competitive activity, and marketplace developments to identify emerging opportunities and risks.
• Track and evaluate key performance indicators, including sales, distribution, promotion, pricing, assortment effectiveness, shelf productivity, and market share.
• Contribute to the development and execution of the annual category and shopper learning agenda, identifying opportunities to build organizational knowledge and commercial capabilities.
• Lead and support cross-functional initiatives that advance Mizkan's commercial objectives and annual operating plan priorities.
• Partner with Marketing, Revenue Management, Supply Chain, Product Development, and Sales teams to ensure effective planning, execution, and commercialization of new products, programs, and business initiatives.
• Manage projects through the Stage-Gate process, ensuring deliverables are completed on time, within scope, and aligned with business objectives.
• Support commercialization efforts through the development of internal and customer-facing materials that enable successful launch execution.
• Partner with Revenue Management teams to support customer planning, trade strategy development, pricing decisions, and negotiation preparation through category and shopper insights.
• Provide Product Development and Innovation teams with customer, category, and shopper insights that influence product concepts, pack architecture, positioning, and packaging design.
• Develop and maintain tools, scorecards, processes, methodologies, and best-practice resources that improve commercial planning effectiveness and organizational capabilities.
• Prepare and deliver impactful presentations and recommendations to customers, Sales leadership, senior management, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Establish credibility as a trusted advisor and reliable expert through objective analysis, responsiveness, collaboration, and consistent delivery of high-quality work.
• Collaborate effectively across multiple teams, balancing competing priorities while maintaining accuracy, quality, and attention to detail.
• Share category, shopper, customer, and marketplace learnings across the organization to strengthen commercial decision-making and business performance.
• Delivery of accurate, timely, and actionable category analyses, customer insights, and business recommendations.
• Adoption and successful execution of recommendations by Sales teams and customers.
• Improvement in key category performance metrics, including distribution, assortment productivity, shelf presence, promotional effectiveness, and market share.
• Successful commercialization of innovation and customer initiatives delivered on time and within budget.
• Contribution to incremental gross sales, net sales growth, and Annual Operating Plan objectives.
• Recognition as a trusted category management, sales planning, and commercial development partner.
• Perform other duties assigned that support the overall success of the team, department, or organization. This may include participating in cross-functional initiatives, contributing to process improvements, or assisting with special projects as needed.

This list is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed. This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities required for this role.

What Skills You'll Bring

• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to transform complex data into actionable business recommendations.
• Working knowledge of category management principles, including assortment optimization, shelf strategy, pricing, promotion, merchandising, and distribution.
• Expertise in syndicated and customer data sources, including Circana, Numerator, household panel, shopper, and customer POS data.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to lead multiple initiatives and coordinate effectively across functions.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; experience with Power BI or similar business intelligence platforms preferred.
• Excellent storytelling, presentation, and communication skills, including the ability to influence decisions through fact-based recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI-enabled tools responsibly to improve analysis, efficiency, business outcomes, and communication effectiveness.
• Strong collaboration and relationship-building skills across Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management, Supply Chain, Product Development, and other cross-functional teams.
• Ability to establish credibility as a trusted partner and reliable expert through strong business acumen, responsiveness, and consistent delivery of results.
• High level of ownership, accountability, curiosity, adaptability, and bias for action.
• Professional judgment, integrity, objectivity, and discretion when handling confidential business information.

Education/Experience/Qualifications/Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Analytics, Economics, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
• 4–7 years of experience in Category Management, Shopper & Consumer Insights, Sales Analytics, Customer Planning, or a related CPG function.
• Experience working in the CPG industry strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting Grocery, Mass, Club, Value, or related retail channels preferred.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities while partnering effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing sales and shopper data and developing recommendations that drive business results.
• Experience working effectively with Sales teams across multiple customers and balancing competing priorities.
• Consistent record of collaboration, continuous improvement, and achieving results.

Physical Requirements & Work Conditions:

• Ability to remain seated at a workstation for extended periods (up to