CMO Assortment Analyst

Create a Healthier, Brighter Future for Pets

Petco is a category-defining health and wellness company focused on improving the lives of pets, pet parents and Petco partners. We are 29,000 strong and operate 1,500+ pet care centers in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, including 250+ Vetco Total Care hospitals, hundreds of preventive care clinics and eight distribution centers. We're focused on purpose-driven work, and strongly believe what's good for pets, people and our planet is good for Petco.

Position Purpose

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and communicate assortment strategy(s) that align with future financial, store and product opportunities at the category assessment level to maximize sales and profitability. Conduct research, gather and analyze data, develop projections and make recommendations on issues related to sales, margins, inventory, assortment and other merchandise statistics and metrics. Partner with appropriate members of the category management team to ensure a collaborative and consistent approach is taken towards the business strategies and / or imperatives.

Essential Job Functions

The incumbent must be able to perform all of the following duties and responsibilities with or without a reasonable accommodation.

• Research, compile and analyze data to develop projections and make recommendations that support category management organization (CMO) team decisions.
• Prepare and complete reports on category and / or product performance.
• Collaborate and communicate with category Merchandising Manager, other members of the CMO team and business partners in the NCS and field to ensure the successful execution of planned and modified category strategies and imperatives including process improvements and new methodologies.
• Interact professionally, effectively and respectfully through verbal and written communication with all professional contacts with emphasis on company interests.
• Effectively create complex documents and reports using products within the Microsoft Office suite and other automated applications.
• Work directly with Merchandise Managers to understand the overall marketing strategy; the intricacies of product groupings; and how consumers shop each category.
• Travel to visit local PETCO stores or competitors for fact-finding, training or other meetings on an occasional basis.
• Independently prioritize and accomplish multiple tasks within established timeframes.
• Commit to quality animal care.

Duties and Responsibilities

Using store profiles and product attributes, monitor and analyze assortment matrix to maximize efficiency of SKU and store distribution. Work directly with Merchandise Managers and CMO team to affect change where necessary.

Proactively identify assortment SKUs based on product attributes and store profiles to generate incremental sales in stores. Prepare analyses to support proposed SKU assortment utilizing established procedures for approvals.

Prepare SKU analysis for category and store assortment level reviews. Make recommendations on assortment mix to increase sales and maximize return as needed. This will include multi-year comparative analysis and 'what-if' scenarios (ROI & Turn analysis).

Using store profile segmentations, identify product groupings for supplemental displays to drive sales. Work with Merchandise Managers and CMO team and other business partners to implement programs in appropriate stores.

Analyze historical data and current trends to identify risks and opportunities by category.

Analyze store specific 'bottom dweller' SKUs to identify SKUs that are not meeting minimum established criteria for performance. Recommend removal from store assortments to improve overall GMROI and Turn.

Perform analyses and make recommendations to support strategy or strategy changes including pre-season and in-season assortment analysis and item level markdowns.

Develop inventory and ladder plans to support category assortment strategies and drive sales.

Independently develop and analyze reports in DSS or Polaris to obtain necessary data to complete analyses. Responsible to create reports to validate data for other analysts as required.

Perform additional duties as required.

Nature of Supervision

The CMO Assortment Analyst receives direction on overall strategy with guidance on tactical decision-making and execution of job responsibilities.

Planning and Problem Solving

The incumbent is accountable for independently prioritizing multiple assignments and meeting deadlines.

Impact

Decisions and recommendations based on analyses have an instantaneous and far-reaching impact that could potentially hinder profit, margin and ROI.

Supervisory Responsibility

The Assortment Analyst does not have direct supervisory responsibility over associates but may provide technical guidance to less experienced associates.

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance or Economics, and a minimum of 3 to 5 years of progressively responsible, professional experience preferably in a major retail environment that includes the ability to analyze category, product and inventory data and build financial models. Demonstrated excellent communication, interpersonal, analytical and presentation skills are necessary due to the nature and level of interaction with peers and management. Proven advanced ability to use applications within Microsoft Office suite as well an advanced ability to extract and analyze data from databases and make appropriate recommendations having significant margin impact. Strong project management skills and leadership skills are required. An equivalent combination of education and 3 years of related experience may be substituted for a bachelor's degree. A Master's degree in Business is a plus.

Work Environment

The majority of duties are performed while seated indoors in an office environment with little or no exposure to hazards. There is periodic travel to visit local PETCO stores or competitors for fact-finding, training or other meetings.

Contacts

In addition to daily interaction with the Merchandising Manager and other Analysts, the incumbent will frequently interact with other members of the Category Management team, PETCO business partners and vendors. In addition, the incumbent is required to actively interact and contribute to team meetings and make occasional presentations to senior management.

Duties and responsibilities may be added, deleted or changed at any time at the discretion of management, formally or informally, either verbally or in writing.

Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or any other protected classification.

$66,000.00 - $99,000.00 per year