Sr. Category Manager

Job Summary

Reporting to the Senior Director of Category Management, the Senior Category Manager leads go-to-market execution for assigned product categories, driving distribution growth across channels and markets. This role collaborates cross-functionally with teams including Product, Innovation, Sales, Operations, Finance, and Marketing to align product priorities and accelerate adoption. The Senior Category Manager leads the line review process for assigned categories, ensuring strategic alignment, effective presentation of category plans, and execution of initiatives that support growth objectives. Additionally, the role identifies strategic opportunities through market and competitive analysis, supports volume forecasting for the Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) process, and ensures execution of sales and product strategies. This highly visible role may take on additional responsibilities as assigned. This is a hybrid role and will be onsite in Colmar, PA.

Primary Duties

• Develops and leads go-to-market strategies for assigned categories, ensuring alignment across sales, channel tactics, and customer plans with overall product and company objectives.
• Identifies commercialization needs for assigned categories and develops tools to support market share growth; communicates tools across relevant teams.
• Provides ongoing communication and support to Sales and Product to ensure go-to market strategy/channel tactics and customer plans align with overall strategic direction of the category.
• Creates and executes market launch tools and pull-through programs in collaboration with BI, Sales, Supply, Customer Experience, and Marketing to support distribution growth.
• Monitors market trends, competitive positioning, and customer line review timing to optimize product placement, speed to market, and category performance.
• Leads cross-functional development of category prioritization, marketing calendar alignment, and drives content for Sales webinars to ensure executional excellence.
• Assists Sales team in creating and delivering high-impact presentations to key customers and supports sales teams in customer-facing presentations to secure high-value opportunities.
• Works directly with Product Management and Strategic Pricing Manager to ensure revenue and profits are maximized for Dorman and Customers through strategic pricing recommendations.
• Leverages 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.
• Leads competitive category changeover recommendations and works with Product Management on method selection, packaging updates, and interchange maintenance.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Ability to balance internal/external needs and negotiate favorable outcomes for Dorman and our Customers.
• Have a solid understanding of the automotive aftermarket, national retail, and independent warehouse distributor customer go-to-market sales execution strategies.
• Ability to interpret needs of sales to provide creative solutions for business that deliver company objectives.
• Critical/ analytical/ strategic thinking skills and have the ability to organize own work and set priorities.
• Physical Requirement: Capability to lift 20 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; MBA preferred
• 5+ years of related experience in Sales, Category Management, and/or Product Management/Development.