What are the responsibilities and job description for the Category Manager position at Darigold, Inc.?
Darigold is seeking a Category Manager to join our team. The Category Leader is a high-profile role as the business manager of one of Darigold’s Ingredients portfolios. The primary purpose of this role is to lead the portfolio, leading the planning, sales tactics, commercial strategy and maximizing the value of our member-owners milk. This role will be highly collaborative, interacting with leaders across the entire organization.
As part of the wider central Portfolio Management team, the Category Leader is commercially responsible for their portfolio’s delivery of volume, net sales, margin over milk, gross profit and market share. Key responsibilities include pricing, sales tactics, channel and SKU management, optimization initiatives and matrix leadership of the portfolio across broader teams including Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Pricing, Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Finance.
What You Will Do:
- PNL ownership of the product portfolio (Revenue, Margin, EBIT).
- Understand market dynamics and enact strategy to position the portfolio to deliver the best returns. Work closely with Risk management, Market Intelligence and Sales teams.
- Optimize portfolio across markets (export/domestic), product, format, channels and customers to deliver most profitable return from milk/cream streams.
- Support international and domestic Sales teams by communicating strategy, pricing and availability of product.
- Drive initiatives to help lift the returns within the portfolio including but not limited to cost reduction, transport/distribution efficiency, marketing, customer or market segmentation and pricing strategies.
- Manage customer relationships and communicate back to the business support functions needs and requirements to win.
- Lead and support customer interactions and strengthen sales, promoting exceptional customer relationships and growing the portfolio as a component of overall sales returns.
- Represent Darigold on various industry associations, always continuing to elevate Darigold as a leader in the industry.
- Lead by example and support growth of Darigold’s commercial talent through interaction with peers and colleagues across the organization.
What You Bring:
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or 5 years of relevant commercial experience.
- Minimum 5 years of B2B sales or business development experience in the dairy and/or food ingredients industry.
- Domestic and or international sales experience.
- Strong background within the dairy industry or other related commodity industry.
- Strong experience in planning, portfolio or category management. Ability to work independently and deliver strong results to meet strict deadlines.
- Strong influencing, verbal and written communication skills and people management capability to work across a wide range of stakeholders in a global business.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to manage ambiguity and complex problems.
- Strong leadership and organization skills to lead directly and indirectly internal and external stakeholders.
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to develop strong working relationships with internal and external customers.
- Ability to drive and lead change with a continuous improvement mindset.
Benefits of Working at Darigold:
We understand that as an employee, benefits that support you and your family in and out of work are important. We’re proud to offer eligible positions a competitive total rewards package that includes:
- 401k competitive employer matching
- Comprehensive medical, dental & vision benefits
- Employer paid life & disability coverage
- Paid time off and paid holidays
- 8 weeks paid parental leave
- Education assistance
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible hybrid working arrangement where applies (up to 2 days/week after initial 90 days and approval by hiring manager and HR)
- Access to great dairy products & participation in our employee butter purchase program
Our Commitment to Diversity:
Achieving our vision to Lead Dairy Forward requires cultivating and supporting a team with varying backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We are committed to providing a workplace based on mutual respect where all employees feel included and can bring their best and authentic selves to work every day. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and Affirmative Action Employer. We welcome all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, marital status, creed, religion, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. As a condition of employment applicants offered a role will be required to successfully pass our pre-employment background screen, receive a negative drug screen result & confirm eligibility to work in the U.S. We participate in E-Verify - please follow the links for details, English / Spanish & view our Right to Work Statement, English / Spanish.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
