Lead, Category Leadership - Walmart
As a Walmart Category Advisor for JM Smucker, you will serve as a trusted partner to Walmart's merchant team on a dynamic advisor team, driving category growth through data-driven insights, strategic recommendations, and flawless execution. You will leverage deep expertise in category management, shopper and consumer analytics, and modular planning to deliver actionable solutions that enhance sales, market share, and customer satisfaction. You will have up to two direct reports, on a team of six.
Location : Rogers, AR (JMS Regional Walmart Office)
Work Arrangements : Hybrid - onsite a minimum of 9 days a month primarily during core weeks as determined by the Company; maybe more as business need requires
In this role you will :
Category Leadership & Advisory
- Act as point person for Walmart merchants on category, shopper, and consumer trends, providing fact-based, insight-led recommendations
- Lead the modular build process, delivering optimized planograms and assortment strategies that align with Walmart's objectives
- Conduct category reviews, SWOT analyses, and scorecard development using syndicated and POS data (Circana, Scintilla, Primary / Secondary Research)
- Assess new product introductions, market analyses, and assortment changes to drive category and brand growth
Insights & Analytics
Integrate data from multiple sources (syndicated, panel, POS, customer insights) to uncover compelling trends and develop actionable recommendationsUtilize tools such as Scintilla, Excel, PowerPoint, Circana, JDA, and Tableau for analysis and reportingDeliver accurate, insightful reporting to Walmart with expert commentary on current performance and future trendsCollaboration & Communication
Work cross-functionally with internal teams (Sales, Marketing, Insights, R&D) to support buyer strategies and category initiativesParticipate in account strategic planning processes and collaborate on assortment, space, and merchandising solutionsPresent findings and recommendations confidently to Walmart merchants and internal stakeholders at all levelsContinuous Improvement
Stay abreast of industry developments and best practices in category management, proactively seeking opportunities to strengthen professional competenceAdopt a continuous improvement mindset to elevate advisory execution and advocate for resources and technology to provide leading category capabilitiesThe Right Place for You
We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.
What we are looking for :
Minimum Requirements :
Bachelor's Degree6+ years of Consumer Packaged Goods experience2+ years of Walmart Category Advisory experienceExperience building relationships within customers / retailersExperience in analysis of shopper / consumer-based CPG informationStrong analytical skills, problem solving, and storytelling experienceScintilla Channel Performance and Shopper experienceJDA ProSpace software experienceAbility to lead and motivate othersExcellent organization and written / verbal communication skillsProficient in leveraging syndicated dataAbility to develop and translate insights into actionsStrategic mindset to help build and execute effective plansBusiness & Financial AcumenAbility to travel up to 15%Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role :
Shelf IQ experienceExperience supervising direct reports and fostering collaboration across a team