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Category Leadership Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Serve as a Category Leader for Giant Eagle and Military Channel customers to deliver best in class insights to drive customer growth. Employ total channel and beverage category strategic thinking by ...

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Category Leadership information

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$36K

$93.4K

$134.5K

How much do category leadership jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 26, 2026, the average yearly pay for category leadership in the United States is $93,410.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $75,500.00 and $110,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a category manager get paid?

The average salary for a category manager typically ranges from $70,000 to $120,000 annually, depending on experience, industry, and location. Senior or specialized category managers can earn higher compensation, often including bonuses and benefits. Strong analytical skills and knowledge of supply chain or retail environments are important for the role.

What is the difference between Category Leadership vs Category Manager?

AspectCategory LeadershipCategory Manager
Primary FocusStrategic vision and long-term growth of a product categoryDay-to-day management and execution of category plans
ResponsibilitiesSetting category strategy, innovation, and market positioningPricing, promotions, inventory, and sales performance
Required SkillsStrategic thinking, leadership, market analysisAnalytical skills, vendor management, operational execution
Work EnvironmentCross-functional teams, senior management, external partnersRetail stores, supply chain, marketing teams

Category Leadership involves setting the strategic direction for a product category, focusing on long-term growth and market positioning. In contrast, a Category Manager handles the daily operations, including pricing, promotions, and inventory management. Both roles require analytical skills, but Category Leadership emphasizes strategic vision, while Category Managers focus on execution and operational efficiency.

What jobs in the US pay 300,000 a year?

In the field of category leadership, senior roles such as Vice President or Director of Category Management can reach or exceed a $300,000 annual salary, especially in large corporations or competitive industries. These positions typically require extensive experience, strategic skills, and often involve managing large teams or budgets. Compensation varies based on company size, location, and individual performance.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in Category Leadership, and why are they important?

To thrive in Category Leadership, you need strong analytical skills, a deep understanding of category management principles, and relevant experience in retail or consumer goods, often supported by a degree in business or marketing. Familiarity with data analytics tools (such as Nielsen, IRI, or Tableau), planogram software, and advanced Excel is typically required. Strategic thinking, relationship-building, and strong communication are standout soft skills for influencing cross-functional stakeholders and driving category growth. These skills and qualities are essential for optimizing product assortments, maximizing sales, and fostering collaborative partnerships between manufacturers and retailers.

Will the category manager be replaced by AI?

Category managers oversee product categories, analyze market data, and develop strategies, tasks that require human judgment and industry knowledge. While AI tools can assist with data analysis and automation, they are unlikely to fully replace the strategic and interpersonal aspects of a category manager's role in the foreseeable future.

What is a category leader position?

A category leader is a professional responsible for managing and developing a specific product category within a company, often overseeing strategy, marketing, and sales to drive growth. This role requires strong analytical skills, market knowledge, and collaboration with cross-functional teams to optimize category performance.

What is Category Leadership?

Category Leadership is a business strategy where a company aims to become the leading authority and preferred choice within a specific product category. This involves understanding market trends, consumer behaviors, and competitors, then leveraging this insight to drive growth, innovation, and profitability within that category. Category leaders often set industry standards, influence customer preferences, and collaborate closely with retailers to optimize product assortment, pricing, and promotions. The goal is to maximize the performance of both the category and the company’s brands.

How does a Category Leadership professional typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive category growth?

Category Leadership professionals work closely with sales, marketing, supply chain, and analytics teams to develop and execute strategies that enhance category performance. They often lead cross-functional meetings to align on goals, share market insights, and coordinate promotional activities. Effective communication and the ability to influence without direct authority are essential, as they must balance the objectives of various stakeholders while keeping the category's overall growth as the top priority. This collaborative approach enables faster decision-making and more innovative solutions for both retailers and suppliers.
More about Category Leadership jobs
What cities are hiring for Category Leadership jobs? Cities with the most Category Leadership job openings:
Infographic showing various Category Leadership job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 94% Full Time, and 6% Part Time. Highlights an 97% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 2% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $93,410 per year, or $44.9 per hour.
Category Leadership Manager

Category Leadership Manager

Constellation Brands, Inc.

Atlanta, GA • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

Posted 16 days ago


Constellation Brands rating

7.9

Company rating: 7.9 out of 10

Based on 12 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

96th of 432 rated food and drinks producers


Job description

Job Description
Position Summary
The Category Leadership Manager (CLM) plays an instrumental role as a research oriented, tactical member of the Category Leadership (CL) team that expands Constellation's reputation as a high-quality, valued provider of CL recommendations. Exhibiting accountability and dependability, the CLM is proactive, collaborative, logical, highly flexible in analytical approach, and able to focus on desired outcomes, not just reactive, quick solutions.
Responsibilities
Influences and manages all space management projects for assigned customer(s).
  • Influences assigned retailers schematic process to implement key shopper insights. Shopper First Shelf.
  • Leads space management analysis and designs category shelf schematics following Constellation's standardized planning processes, tools, and space strategies.
  • Collaborates with Sales partners to determine account priorities, and pursue most impactful initiatives pertaining to space, assortment, and other sales analytics.
  • Conducts space and distribution opportunity analysis to optimize revenue and profit by improving shopping convenience.
  • Makes product addition and deletion recommendations by brand and package.
  • Changes sub-category or segment flow, or brand-blocking techniques as directed.
  • Quantifies expected results of proposed planogram changes.
  • Initiates and/or attends customer meetings as appropriate.
  • Participates in the reset decision making process with other vendors and merchandisers.
  • Establishes, controls, and implements retail execution plan methods and procedures to improve overall project effectiveness.
  • Defines all incremental human resources requested to be applied and makes requests as necessary to CL Director. Counsels, guides, and provides expertise to Category Analysts (CA) or Associate Category Analysts (ACA) who support the project in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness driving a continual improvement process.
  • Guides the CA/ACA in the collection of raw data from the customer and cleanses as necessary to ensure accuracy prior to conducting any analysis or forming recommendations.
  • Maintains schematic archives with accurate data for all required store combinations.
  • Reports changes implemented including physical space gains/losses by brewer/brand.
  • Measures schematics, post-implementation.

Participates in a wide variety of ad-hoc analytical projects.
  • As directed by Director or Sales Lead, prepares category reviews or conducts analysis as a project lead. Extracts the requested and required raw data from retailer or Constellation systems as necessary including retailer proprietary POS, loyalty, or primary research systems and studies and Constellation syndicated data systems.
  • Proactively identifies business growth opportunities and develops important category insights, solutions, and presentations for assigned customer(s).
  • Attend and participate in business planning meetings.
  • Provides input into assigned customers Annual Business Plan as well as the Joint Business Planning process.
  • Seeks clarification or understanding as necessary.
  • Updates scorecards for assigned customer(s) utilizing Constellation's standardized format.
  • Manages and tracks progress across all initiatives, summarizes and regularly reports on outcomes to the appropriate personnel.

Knowledge in:
  • Moves beyond analyzing factual data independently by grasping a conceptual understanding of a wide range of information. Screens out irrelevant or vague information, questions the limits or quality of data, and integrates diverse themes or lines of reasoning to generate new insights or levels of understanding for the issue at hand.
  • Expertly able to manipulate space management software (ProSpace, ProSpace+, or Apollo) to produce, organize, and present detailed or complex information in the most effective manner that expresses concepts and recommendations in a clear, direct, and concise message. Notices when raw data appears wrong or incomplete and is able to question its accuracy. Digs for details, distinguishes between, and disposes of information that is suspect or not pertinent to a solution.
  • Extracts and uses data from secondary syndicated or primary retail systems. Comprehends what the measures imply and how they should be applied to a given situation. Clearly documents sources of data and organizes the information according the needs of the project.
  • Completes high volumes of work with little oversight, focusing time and effort on key tasks to bring projects to a successful resolution. Resilient, keeps a rapid pace by grouping related tasks for efficiency without sacrificing accuracy. Transitions quickly between tasks.
  • Responds positively to change. Embraces and commits, as a willing user, to new practices to complete responsibilities, solve problems, and accomplish goals.
  • Promotes cooperation and shared commitment to achieve goals and deliverables collectively as a team. Helps to remove barriers to team productivity and ultimately, team success.
  • Effectively defines projects' scope, their purpose and criteria for success. Clarifies all team member related roles and responsibilities, deliverables, milestone dates, the sequence of tasks, and limits for independent decision making.
  • Uses plain talk and the correct vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and punctuation to present information clearly, whether simple, complex, or technical in nature.
  • Anticipates potential challenges and makes recommendations based on input.

Minimum Qualifications
  • 1 - 2 years of space management experience.
  • Expert knowledge of JDA Intactix or Apollo system usage and output, including the application of measures contained within.
  • Average understanding of a variety of system output and application of measures contained within. These include the following:
    • IRI, Nielsen, or SPINS syndicated and panel data
    • Spectra
    • Retailer loyalty data (e.g.Spire)
  • Above average user of Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
  • Available to travel a minimum of 20% of his/her working time, including up to 5 hrs. driving time.

Preferred Qualifications
  • 3+ years of space management experience.
  • 1 - 2 years of direct sales, merchandising, or retail store management experience.
  • 1 - 2 years of category management, consumer or shopper insights, or research experience which included the management of sub-categories or segments of a category.
  • Above average understanding of a variety of system output and application of measures contained within IRI, Nielsen, or SPINS syndicated and panel data, Spectra, retail loyalty data.
  • Expert user of Microsoft Excel, Work, and PowerPoint.

Physical Requirements/Work Environment
  • Must be able to stand, walk, sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk and hear.
  • Must have close vision, distant vision, ability to adjust focus, peripheral and color vision.
  • Must be able to work in an office environment primarily but periodically required to work in a warehouse environment with variable temperatures and lighting.
  • Should be able to lift 40 lbs. on occasion.

Location
Atlanta, Georgia
Additional Locations
Dallas, Texas, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Worth, Texas, Miami, Florida, Orlando, Florida
Job Type
Full time
Job Area
Sales Support
The salary range for this role is:
$96,700.00 - $148,100.00
This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. Our compensation is based on cost of labor. For remote locations or positions open to multiple locations, the pay range may reflect several US geographic markets, including the lowest geographic market minimum to the highest geographic market maximum. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, the prevailing minimum wage for the location, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. At Constellation Brands, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the high end of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate. We offer comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401(k), and any other benefits to eligible employees.
Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, or any other form of compensation that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company's sole discretion, consistent with the law.
Equal Opportunity
Constellation Brands is committed to a continuing program of equal employment opportunity. All persons have equal employment opportunities with Constellation Brands, regardless of their sex, race, color, age, religion, creed, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), marital status, gender (including gender identity or gender expression), familial status, military or veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions (or any other group or category within the framework of the applicable discrimination laws and regulations).

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