RaceTrac Company Overview

Job Description:

The Associate Category Manager is responsible for researching product/service requirements, various suppliers and desired margins to ultimately grow sales and margin. This individual supports the Category Manager providing solutions and making decisions to enhance the performance of merchandising, promotional, and marketing programs for their respective products. This individual establishes and maintains over 30 vendor relationships. Up to 25% travel may be required

Responsibilities:

• Actively researches industry trends and monitors competitors to be knowledgeable of best practices and new products in the respective market.
• Assures that the respective products/service are delivered on schedule, at the negotiated price, and meet the quality standards of the company.
• Coordinates implementation, training and development of product/service to the stores (including but not limited to planograms, store resets, item information, etc.).
• Collaborates with various departments across the organization such as Marketing, Accounting, and IT to execute successful promotions as well as to improve current processes.
• Evaluates internal sales and margin performance to identify opportunities for improvement and introduction of new products and services.
• Serves as a point of contact for vendors and field.
• Conducts research to determine the requirements of offerings, including preliminary specification, available suppliers, and desired sales margins; provides recommendations on best fit suppliers and vendors
• Solicits and compiles feedback from the field on current and future plans and/or products.
• Works with supervisor to negotiate for the lowest possible cost for the respective product/service balanced against the optimum quality and schedule needs. Negotiations include but are not limited to: contracts, promotions, and rebates.
• Ensures issues from field personnel are responded to in a timely fashion and issues are addressed with clear communication and follow up.

Qualifications:

• 1+ years experience in negotiating contracts and programs preferred
• 1-2 years of retail or category management experience preferred
• Proficient in MS Office Suite (Excel, Access, MSWord and PowerPoint