Director Consumer, Customer Insights and Category Management - Remote

Company: UNFI
Location: Providence
Posted on: September 2, 2024

Job Description:

Job Overview:The Director Consumer, Customer Insights, and Category Management role is to design and direct consumer, customer, and categoryinsights and recommendations to accelerate the growth of the category and UNFI Brands+. They will use deep customer, consumer,and category management insights to meet the project Revenue and profit goals of UNFI Brands+. They will be a leader within Brands+and identify category growth opportunities through analysis, evaluation of placement, distribution, assortment, merchandising, andpricing strategies. This role reports to the VP Brand Management and will work closely with the Sales and Merchandising teams inaddition to UNFI s Category Management team to help maximize growth. They will also lead the Brands+ relationships with NielsenIQand SPINS.Job Responsibilities:Category Strategy Development (40%)
Establish and lead implementation of category learnings, insight, and business strategies, andthought leadership to accelerate Private Brands growth in sales, units, penetration, and space.
Identify, share, and align on specific category opportunities (including, but not limited topenetration, distribution, assortment, execution, and price). Deliver action steps for retail-specificimplementation that will drive unit and dollar share growth, incremental return on inventoryinvested, and better performance.
Conduct a comprehensive analysis of market trends, competitive landscape, and channel data toidentify growth opportunities and formulate category strategies.
Provide insight on promotion timing, pricing, and tactics to improve category performance vsNational Brands and Private Brands. Identify what is working in a category and what is not andprovide recommendations on how to improve performance. Able to do assortment analysis torecommend optimal assortment.
Identify new approaches for growing the category, driving initiatives to increase categoryawareness and space, and creating processes to better manage the performance of the categoryover the long term.
Maintain knowledge of promotional and pricing fundamentals and competitive brands to providehigh-level insight into promotional effectiveness to Brands+ and customer teams.Lead Expert for Consumer & Customer Tends for Sales, Support Strategic Sales PresentationDevelopment and Joint Business Planning (20%)
Be the lead expert for syndicated data and consumer trends for the Sales team. Actively supportline reviews Customer Category reviews, and
Top to Top
meetings.
Partner with sales in crafting analysis, and messaging for key strategic topics. Develop customerinsights based on Brand health & Household panel (Consumer Facts).
Direct analysis of category trends for channel and customer development strategies. Supportsales with category trends for new product sell-in.
Oversee development of integrated strategic selling presentation utilizing syndicated data,category insights, and supporting consumer trends with recommendations to grow categories andUNFI Brands.
Synthesize category strategies to equip the sales team with a robust selling story supporting JBP,category growth, and new item meetings.
Develop persuasive content that will address customer challenges and articulaterecommendations to grow the category. Incorporate visually appealing elements such asgraphics, charts, and multimedia to enhance the presentation and make complex informationmore digestible.Develop Strategic Consumer and New Product Insights (15%)
Deliver actionable insights from syndicated data to inform new product development, Brandmarketing planning, and Brands+ business decision-making. This might include the collection,organization, and analysis of consumer data from sources including consumer panels, surveys,market research reports, and social media.
Analyze & share new product launch data and performance metrics from syndicated dataincluding units sold, market share, and repeat rates to assess the commercial success of the newproducts. Compare the performance of Brands+ new products against established benchmarks orsimilar new products in the market.
Help provide new product forecast insights based on consumer demand trends and marketdynamics.
Monitor industry trends, competitor activities, and cultural shifts to identify opportunities andthreats in the market landscape and share with the Brands+ team.
Present research findings, insights, and recommendations to the Brands+ team and keystakeholders in a clear, concise, and compelling mannerSupport Brand Marketing Planning and Brand Health Tracking (15%)
Support the development of the overall UNFI Brands+ Brand Plans and portfolio strategy byidentifying brand growth opportunities and helping influence brand strategies and innovationplans.
Support the development of insights into consumer behavior, attitudes, and preferences forannual Brand Planning. This includes selecting appropriate methodologies such as surveys, focusgroups, and data analytics.
Identify KPIs for tracking Brand Health and report on Brand vitality relative to competitive PrivateBrands and National Brands.
Provide insights based on household panel (NielsenIQ Consumer Facts) data for Brand marketingLead Relationships and Fully Engage with teams from NielsenIQ and SPINS (5%)
Lead Brands+ relationship with both NielsenIQ and SPINS teams. This will include, but is notlimited to, prioritizing their projects, and collaborating with their resources to improve our pricingand category management tools.
Ensure data integrity and structure for how UNFI utilizes NielsenIQ s and SPINS syndicateddatabases. This will include creating and maintaining extensive custom totals for categories,segments, brands, sizes, etc.
Support training for Brands+ team members to use NielsenIQ Discover to measure sales, pricing,merchandising, and assortment analysis without support. conduct ad hoc analyses on their own.
Distribute thought leadership and industry trends to the Brands+ Team to build industryknowledge.Miscellaneous (5%)
Serve as category and consumer expert for Brand Marketing, PBM, Merchandising + CategoryManagement, and Sales teams. Provide strategies to maximize category growth and Brands+market share.
Where appropriate, partner with the internal market research team to uncover consumer insightsand help answer customer department/category questions.
Staying abreast of the latest category management tools and industry best practices tocontinuously improve the quality and relevance of consumer insights and category managementtools.
Performs other relevant job duties as required.Job Requirements:Education/ Certifications/or Equivalent combination of education training and experience:
Bachelor s degree in marketing or business preferred or equivalent related experience and training.Experience:
Minimum of 7+ years of experience in consumer insights and category management required, significant experience in the CPGindustry preferred.
Must possess an in-depth knowledge of syndicated data tools (Circana (IRI), Nielsen, SPINS), pricing, and promotion tools.
This position will require a proven ability to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data to draw meaningful conclusions andcommunicate recommendations in line with category and business objectives.
Curious mindset and passion for growing the category and UNFI Brands+ business.
Must be comfortable and quick in MS Excel and PowerPoint.Knowledge/ Skills/ Abilities:
Excellent oral, and written communication and excellent interpersonal skills.
Strong quantitative analysis and proficiency with Excel & PowerPoint.
Category Management Certification is a plus.
Mastery of Nielsen tools and metrics.
SPINS, Spectra, Numerator, Rakuten, and Excel tool expertise.
Experience managing large data sets and utilizing them to drive performance and process improvements.
Team player.
Highly motivated/self-starter.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage various projects at the same time.
Meticulous attention to detail.
Willingness and ability to travel a few times throughout the year.
Some travel may be requiredAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. UNFI is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment for all. - M/F/Veteran/Disability. VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

Keywords: UNFI, Providence , Director Consumer, Customer Insights and Category Management - Remote, Executive , Providence, Rhode Island