Description
We are looking for a Category Specialist to join our team in Cape Town. As a Category Specialist, you will be responsible for analysing market trends, developing category solutions, and implementing in-store executions.
Responsibilities:
- Build trusted working relationships with National Account teams, Sales leaders, and priority customers
- Support and lead category conversations and reviews with customers, using fact-based recommendations that balance total-category growth and shopper needs
- Contribute to customer business planning and joint business plans by identifying clear opportunities across range, space, location, availability, pricing, promotions, and execution
- Translate recommendations into clear actions for Key Account Managers, field sales, merchandising teams, and customer stakeholders
- Analyse NielsenIQ or equivalent syndicated data, retailer scan and loyalty data, shopper research, market demographics, internal sales data, and execution measures
- Track category size, growth, share, distribution, rate of sale, price, promotion, innovation, competitor activity, and shopper behaviour to identify risks and opportunities
- Produce regular category reviews and account-specific recommendations that explain what is happening, why it is happening, and what action should follow
- Develop and scale repeatable, insight-led solutions such as Beverage Zones, Energy Zones, impulse executions, and cross-merchandising solutions
- Be a key consultant in the development, maintenance, and governance of customer and channel planograms for the Energy and Beverage category
Requirements:
- Minimum 3-5 years experience in Category, Insights analysis, or Key Account sales in the FMCG industry
- Excellent analytical skills, with the ability to draw insights from multiple complex data sources
- Experience working with syndicated data (Nielsen & IRI), Nielsen Panel (homescan), and shopper metrics
- Customer-facing experience a must; travels up to 25% of the time working with retailers
- Familiar with Planogram software, such as JDA, is an asset
- Highly proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and PowerPoint
- In-depth knowledge of the FMCG industry and South African Retail Industry
- Strong project management and planning competencies
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills are required to express analytics and deliver presentations to various levels in the organization