Category Strategist Everyday

Category Strategist – Walmart (Sales)

Job Location:  Bentonville, AR

Why Hershey?

Over more than a century, our iconic brands have been built on a foundation of community investment and connections between people around the world. Equally competitive and compassionate, we continue to build a legacy as we invest in the people and snacks of the future.

From the beginning, Milton Hershey believed that if you do good, you’ll do well. By doing what we do best—from our delicious snacks to spreading goodness in our communities—we bring people together.

The spirit of creating human connections that motivated our founder 125 years ago remains the driving force that inspires our 18,000 employees today.

And while much has changed in America since the days of Milton Hershey, the power of building connections with those around us—from consumers and shareholders, to our partners and employees—remains vital to the future of our children, our communities, and our business.

Why the Walmart Sales Category Management Team?

On the Walmart Sales Category Management Team, we strive every day to be an indispensable partner to both our Walmart-dedicated Sales Team, as well as our Walmart merchant partners by providing strategic, consultative data-driven guidance and leadership to fuel Hershey sales growth.  Our team has a proven track record of sales growth and success, but we are not afraid to think differently and embrace new ideas in a rapidly changing consumer and retail environment.

We know our people are our competitive advantage and we empower them to think holistically, while charting the path forward for profitable and insights-based growth.  We are a high performing team that loves winning in a fast-paced environment, but never doing it alone.  We thrive on a collaborative spirit; we are fiercely competitive in business and highly supportive of each other. 

If you are driven by accelerating sales growth with the world’s largest retailer in a dynamic, cross-functional team environment, intellectually curious, and want to get in on the ground floor of building the future of snacking in retail at Walmart – this is the team for you!

What You’ll Do

• Proactively identify marketplace opportunities which lead to Hershey Sales growth.
• Build the strategic vision and priorities for your respective Business Unit.
• Leverage analytical tools such as Walmart Luminate, IRi, Numerator, Mastercard APT, Alteryx, Tableau, and more.
• Develop and manage projects that create the future of the category, including space acquisitions, fixture innovations, feature implementations, merchandising standards and beyond.
• Leverage the best of Category Management and Shopper Insights capabilities to drive business decisions based not only on how the shoppers engage with our business, but why.
• Merge physical and digital strategies to ensure consistency in Hershey sales execution across all fulfillment models.
• Synthesize actionable insights using retailer data and internal/syndicated data sources.
• Establish yourself as the leading provider of category strategies and expertise, both to Walmart and within your team.
• Enhance cross-functional capabilities by working alongside counterparts in other key, functional areas of the business including Customer Marketing, Supply Chain, Shopper Insights and Finance.
• Question the status-quo and establish new benchmarks for business driving capabilities across Sales and Category Management within the company.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Intellectual curiosity
• Customer-First mindset
• Financial and “General Manager” business perspective across multiple functions
• Impactful data-driven story telling experience
• Strong problem-solving capabilities
• Advanced analytic skills
• Project Management and organizational skills
• Technical skills to include syndicated and panel data sources, data analysis and visualization tools, Microsoft Office
• Advanced understanding of Consumer/Shopper behavior and market research strategies
• Knowledge of Category Management processes and CPG Industry trends
• Category Management and/or CPG Sales experience (5-7 years)
• Bachelor’s Degree required