ASR Group is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of cane sugar, with an annual production capacity of more than 6 million tons of sugar. The company produces a full line of grocery, industrial, food service and specialty sweetener products. Across North America, ASR Group owns and operates six sugar refineries, located in Louisiana, New York, California, Maryland, Canada and Mexico. In Europe, the company owns and operates sugar refineries in England and Portugal. ASR Group also owns and operates mills in Mexico and Belize. The company’s brand portfolio includes the leading brands Domino®, C&H®, Redpath®, Tate & Lyle®, Lyle’s® and Sidul®.

 

 

Position Scope

The Category Sales Manager is a mid-senior level thought leader who will be a business partner to the sales team, shaping the sell-in strategy and driving its execution, as well as leveraging bata-based insights and recommendations drive business growth and optimize commercial strategies. 

The primary focus area will be on responsibilities ranging from category development fundamentals to developing predictive insights, aligned to business objectives, to make informed product recommendation decisions and be able to communicate those recommendations to both internal stakeholders and customers alike.  

 

Detailed Roles & Responsibilities

This role requires the ability to develop and deliver compelling stories that turn complex industry and category dynamics into understandable and meaningful presentation content for the various customer meetings, leveraging market trends, data and competitive intelligence. Advancement of understanding and impact of changing commercial landscape both within the sweetener category in different parts of the Grocery channel as well as trends of other relevant and adjacent categories. Lead annual category review process for retail customers, working with the Grocery-Sales team to develop content and presentations that accomplish the commercial goals of that meeting, ranging from new item sell-in, to category overview, to business and trend updates. Develop sell-in stories for new and strategic items on a customer-specific basis Delivery of Insights to support standard category management practices: promotion planning/analysis, pricing understanding and impact on category, shelf management, and business development projects. Contribute to other ad-hoc commercial strategy analyses

Market and Category Analysis

Analyze data and derive insights to develop a coherent view on industry and consumer trends within our category with the ability to communicate those insights to customers Mine for strategic insights around market segment needs and trends, competitive facts, customer adoption of solutions, as well as program and operational effectiveness.  Discern trends, patterns, and anomalies to support data-driven decision-making.  Deliver actionable insights to optimize pricing, product placement, and sales strategies on a customer-specific basis. Collaborate with sales, marketing, and other internal partners to plan, develop, and deliver solutions as it relates to informing GTM strategy for new items as they are developed. Maintain a dynamic customer situation assessment, including up-to-date understanding of customer category trends, to ensure that category risks & opportunities are highlighted and addressed through category, customer and shopper insights. Identify, communicate, and synthesize best-in-class commercial insights that can help ASR Group win at shelf, support Top-to-Top meetings and other customer sell-in stories. Accountable for tracking, documenting and publishing results of Insights-led Category Management initiatives to drive execution opportunities with customers.

Cross Functional Collaboration

Category Sales Manager is the primary contact point between Commercial Insights and field sales and is a key player in shaping the customer strategy in the retail channel. Communicate and present the insights and recommendations in a clear, concise, and compelling manner to senior management, sales, marketing, product, and other teams as needed. Proactively suggest solutions and support ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders to understand future and changing needs and influence team priorities and capabilities. Ensure the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of the insights delivered to internal and external stakeholders. Establish and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external partners.
 

Essential Capabilities (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Personal Attributes)

Excellent written/verbal communication and presentation skills – comfortable presenting to both external audiences and working with the C-Suite Self-reliant, resilient and proactive with a high motivation to make things happen and deliver effectively and efficiently. A team player with excellent interpersonal skills; able to collaborate across organizational boundaries. Advanced analytical, results, strategy and vision orientation, leadership, strong oral and written communication Proven success in utilizing analytics to provide strategic recommendations and drive concrete action. Results-oriented with a positive “can-do” attitude and a strong desire to get things done. Thrive in a fast-paced and flexible environment with the ability to deal with ambiguity. Unrelenting attention to quality and details. Ability to adapt and learn new systems as they become part of the team’s SOP

 

Essential Work Experiences

10+ years of professional experience Consumer Insights and/or a combination of Sales and Marketing Strategy, Category Management and Product/Project Management, preferably in a context of a Food & Beverage CPG company Proficient in Microsoft Office (Specifically Excel and PowerPoint) Proficient in databases such as: Circana/IRI Unify+ platform (both POS and Panel), as well as SPINs, and 84.51 (ideally) Knowledge of and experience in using space management software to support Planogram recommendations

 

Location & Travel Requirements

Home-Remote based role (Northeast U.S. preferred) 20-25% travel required

 

 

 

 

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.