Senior Category Manager
Senior Category Manager
Location: Dallas, TX (Onsite 4 Days/Week: Monday-Thursday, Remote Friday)
Travel: 15-25%
Reports To: Vice President, Market Intelligence
Position Overview
Our client is seeking a highly strategic and commercially driven Senior Category Manager to lead category strategy for one of the most important accounts in the automotive aftermarket industry, NAPA. This role will own the end-to-end category management strategy across approximately 20,000 SKUs, driving assortment optimization, pricing, margin growth, forecasting, inventory strategy, and overall channel performance.
The ideal candidate is a proven category management leader who has successfully developed and executed category strategies, led customer line reviews, and influenced both internal stakeholders and major retail or distribution partners. This individual must be comfortable working in a fast-paced, data-driven environment and possess the ability to transform complex market and customer data into actionable business recommendations.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead category strategy and execution for the NAPA account, overseeing assortment planning, pricing, margin management, forecasting, inventory optimization, and channel positioning across a large and complex SKU portfolio.
- Own customer-facing category management activities, including preparation and delivery of line reviews, business reviews, and strategic recommendations.
- Demonstrate measurable success through category initiatives that drive sales growth, market share gains, profitability improvements, and enhanced customer performance.
- Analyze market, customer, competitive, and sales data to develop insights and recommendations for executive leadership and customer stakeholders.
- Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Product Management, and external suppliers to support new product introductions, promotional planning, inventory management, and product lifecycle decisions.
- Monitor automotive aftermarket trends, customer needs, competitive activity, and emerging technologies to strengthen category performance.
- Identify opportunities to enhance category management capabilities through advanced analytics and AI-driven applications for demand forecasting, assortment planning, and pricing optimization.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to both internal leadership and customer buying teams through data-driven recommendations and strategic business insights.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
- 7+ years of category management experience with demonstrated ownership of category strategy and business results.
- Proven success leading customer line reviews and category presentations that resulted in measurable business outcomes.
- Advanced analytical capabilities with strong experience using Excel and visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Experience managing large SKU portfolios and navigating complex category environments.
- Strong executive-level communication and presentation skills.
- Willingness to travel 15-25% and work onsite in Dallas four days per week.
Preferred Backgrounds
Highly Preferred
- Automotive aftermarket manufacturers, distributors, or retailers.
- Experience with organizations such as:
- NAPA
- AutoZone
- O'Reilly Auto Parts
- Advance Auto Parts
- Dorman Products
- Interstate Batteries
- Exposure to technical product categories including automotive parts, HVAC components, hydraulics, heavy-duty truck parts, or industrial replacement products.
Preferred Skills
- Category strategy development and execution
- Line review leadership with documented business results
- Assortment optimization and SKU rationalization
- Pricing strategy and margin management
- Forecasting and demand planning
- Market intelligence and competitive analysis
- Advanced Excel proficiency
- Tableau or Power BI
- Circana, Nielsen, or syndicated market data platforms
- Planogram tools such as JDA/Blue Yonder
- AI-enabled forecasting and category management solutions
What Success Looks Like
The successful candidate will bring a combination of strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and customer-facing leadership. They will be able to articulate specific examples of:
- Driving category growth through data-driven decisions
- Leading impactful customer line reviews
- Improving sales, margins, or market share
- Influencing senior stakeholders through compelling presentations
- Managing complex category portfolios with thousands of SKUs
- Building strong partnerships across commercial and operational teams
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