Essential functions of the role: 

Communication & Relationship Building

• Develops communication of relevant product and vendor information to support regions, divisions, procurement, supply chain, Quality Assurance, Brands and other departments as appropriate.
• Maintains vendor relationships through regular communication and Vendor Business Reviews.
• Collaborates with MMSC and Regional peers to resolve issues and share ideas.

Category & Vendor Management

• Provides support and recommendations in the development of strategies, providing insight to achieve volume and margin targets in support of segmented customer and brand marketing plans.
• Collaborates with the Category Manager, Regional Merchandising, and Divisional Merchandising to ensure that appropriate products are effectively prioritized, marketed and merchandised.
• Approves new product setup and executes introduction, conversion, and discontinuance resulting from end-to-end category management process.
• Assists the Category Manager in developing product marketing tools and tactics in collaboration with the Brands, Marketing Communications, and merchandising regions.
• Executes all aspects of the product lifecycle management process from initial sourcing and market introduction to deletion.
• Effectively manages expenses within budget for associated tools and promotions.
• Maintains a working knowledge of quality assurance requirements for products, GFS brands, and vendor compliance.  Works with Quality Assurance to review compliance for GFS brands, vendor requirements, product recalls and withdrawals for assigned product lines.
• Maintains knowledge of industry trends and developments by reading appropriate books, journals and other literature and attending related conferences, seminars, supplier training visits, etc.  Maintains industry relationships to share issues and ideas.
• Works collaboratively with other peers towards continuous improvement of existing processes and development of new tools to drive greater business efficiencies
• Assists Category Manager and Lead Category Buyer with Competitive Market Review strategies for assigned product lines. 
• Develops and manages strategic relationships with select vendors through regular communications and Vendor Business Reviews.
• Represents Product Category or Department on special projects or cross-functional teams.
• Adheres to the mission and cornerstone values and applicable practices of the organization.

Business Analytics

• Collects, analyzes, summarizes and presents product sales and financial performance data to create recommendations and implement improvements in support of category analysis, business strategy, Competitive Market Review preparation and Vendor Business Reviews.
• Responsible for acquisition, accuracy, timeliness and relevance of core product data information.
• Assists the Category Manager in supporting the corporate marketing campaigns.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Our ideal candidate will have: 

• Three to five years of  product / category knowledge or previous marketing experience preferred as typically obtained through a bachelor’s prepared education or a combination of applicable on-the-job experience and education, or an internship. 
  • In lieu of the specified education and experience requirements, a proven capability to perform the essential functions of the job, as demonstrated by an equivalent combination of education, training and/or relevant work experience may be considered.
• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Math, Business or related area (preferred)
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft/Google suite applications
• Delta trained (preferred)