Category Manager

Job Summary

Dayton Parts is expanding and is currently seeking a Category Manager to join our team. This newly created role for Dayton is responsible for executing the company’s strategy of providing customer solutions that will help drive permanent distribution growth across all channels, markets and products. Reporting to the Director, Product Management, the Category Manager works cross-functionally with Product, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain/Operations, Commercial Operations and Marketing teams to execute the product priorities. The Category Manager is the go-to-market expert for their assigned categories, surfacing the largest organizational product opportunities through understanding of the product category value proposition and market competition. They work to drive product adoption speed and depth of penetration at the recommended levels supporting the sales plan and product strategies. Additionally, this role supports the competitive landscape information gathering for new product/program volume forecasts.

This is a hybrid role based in Dorman Products' corporate headquarters in suburban Philadelphia (Colmar, PA) with the exception to be onsite three days per week. 

Primary Duties

• Increase emphasis on category business ownership versus commercialization support. 
• Add accountability for category growth strategy, revenue, margin, and market share performance. 
• Clarify role as the cross-functional responsible for aligning Product, Sales, Commercial Operations, Marketing, and Supply Chain around category priorities. 
• Strengthen ownership of identifying, prioritizing, and driving category growth opportunities.
• Lead the development of go-to-market strategy for assigned categories; provide ongoing communication to sales and all other key stakeholders to ensure go-to market strategy/channel tactics and customer plans align with overall strategic direction of product priorities and the company as a whole.
• Development and execution of market launch tools and pull-through programs to assist sales teams in ensuring proper level of distribution placement by understanding market requirements and working with appropriate cross functional teams (Commercial Operations, Sales, Operations, IT, Marketing etc.).
• Keep up-to-date on market trends of assigned categories to include but not limited to; key customer line review timing, ongoing market positioning vs all competitors, ensuring proper market/product positioning, ensuring speed to market customer penetration, proper depth and breadth of product placement in customers supply chain to maximize sales and profitability. 
• Lead the cross-functional creation of product category promotional incentives with product, sales and marketing teams to drive placement, incremental sales and/or defend our market position.
• Understand assigned categories commercialization needs, create applicable tools to gain or defend market share, and lead the communication of these tools to cross-functional partners.
• Lead the cross-functional development of sales team training tools (PM, Marketing) and create presentations of the training tools to the appropriate sales teams.
• Assist sales teams with in-field customer presentations to help close large revenue opportunities.
• Help create barriers to entry through leading development of awareness tools and market positioning tactics. 
• Proactively work cross-functionally with Demand Planning, Engineering and Product Management to ensure appropriate levels of saleable inventory is available prior to any promotional events or focused sales efforts. 
• Work directly with PM and Dayton pricing team to ensure Dayton is and remains priced competitive with “like” value proposition alternatives.
• Leverage KPI reporting tools for use within the sales force for assessing the customer level performance of new product introductions, as well as predictive analytics for future programs.
• Develop and implement competitive category changeover processes for key competitive lines. Processes include but are not limited to, working cross-functionally to determine if a lift or rebox is the preferred changeover method for a category, what boxes and labels are required for category changeovers, ensuring interchanges are kept up-to-date.
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Comfortable working with all levels within the organization. 
• Skilled in oral and written presentations to internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple projects with aggressive timelines. 
• Manage projects through other departments and outside suppliers with the ability to resolve higher level problems.  
• Able to understand how to budget for projects, control costs and evaluate results, manage and provide direction to internal and external clients. 
• Physical Requirement: Capability to lift 50 pounds.
• Working Conditions: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to reach, swivel, carry items from one building to another, and speak and actively listen. Noise level is usually moderate. 

Education / Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business or marketing required.
• 7+ years of Automotive Aftermarket industry experience preferred, including experience within field sales and product development.
• Solid understanding of automotive aftermarket national retail and independent warehouse distributor customer go-to-market sales execution strategies.
• Strong verbal, written and analytical skills required.
• Ability to influence without direct authority and interpret needs of sales to provide creative solutions for business that deliver company objectives.
• Critical/ analytical/ strategic thinking skills
• Ability to organize own work and set priorities.  
  
  
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