Associate Category & Product Manager - US

At Kids2, we’re really good at what we do. And when we’re great at our jobs, we help parents be great at their jobs.

Parenting is demanding, and that’s where we come in. We want to reimagine how brands can make it easier for early stage parents – not by just selling them products, but by providing holistic solutions that transcend borders, categories and aisles.

No matter our title or department, at Kids2, our job is to create more tiny wins for parents, so they can create bright futures for their little ones. That’s a big task!

We’re serious about what we do, AND we love to have fun. Our team is hardworking, entrepreneurial, and passionate about helping families create millions, if not billions of tiny wins.

SUMMARY

As our Associate Category Manager, you will be responsible for supporting the Category Manager with day-to-day business and product lifecycle management.  The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of experience in Product Innovation, Brand Management, or Business Management.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Project Management

• Support Category Manager(s) with category growth initiatives related to driving revenue, market share, and global expansion
• Lead cross functional product development team to successfully commercialize products and meet financial goals
• Portfolio Management
• Assist in the development of 3-year category strategies and innovation roadmap, driven by consumer, market and retailer insights capitalizing on specific needs and white space opportunities
• Develop deep category knowledge
• Monitor financial performance for assigned category including revenue tracking, margin and profitability, and rate of sale analysis
• Perform analysis for SKU rationalization and productivity at the item level and make a recommendation on go-forward plan
• Provide recommendations for MSRP pricing
• Support discontinue/transition planning
• Participate in S&OP process
• Innovation, Launch Planning & Execution
• Supports development of new product business cases aligned to category innovation strategy
• Support development of customer sell in strategy including product reason for being & merchandising recommendations, competitive advantages, and point of view and differentiation 
• Collaborate on product communications brief to initiate marketing, fashion, video, photography, or other creative functions on project requests to bring the story to life
• Identify products to feature in seeded reviews and influencer outreach and develop action plans for low rated items
• Sales call, trade show and global showroom support
• Consumer and Marketplace Insights
• Utilizes POS, NPD and research to optimize category plans
• Initiate requests for research and collaborate on research plan and execution
• Supports management of market and competitive research provide updates to design and cross functional teams as necessary

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• 2 – 4 years of experience in Brand Management, Business Management, or Product Innovation is required
• Has worked on a business with global or international exposure
• General knowledge of new product development processes
• Familiarity with the online and brick & mortar retail landscape is strongly preferred

EDUCATION & SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in business management, marketing, finance or other related field or equivalent work experience is required.
• Ability to execute and excel in high-paced organization
• Demonstrated success working in a matrix environment
• Proven ability to work on and lead a cross-functional team
• Ability to deal with changing environments, tight timelines and multiple priorities
• Strong communication skills, written and oral

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• None required
   

COMPUTER/TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Must be proficient in PowerPoint, Excel and Word

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• While performing the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to talk or hear. 
• The team member frequently is required to sit; have flexible use of hands; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. 
• The team member is occasionally required to stand, walk, and taste or smell. 
• The team member must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 - 50 pounds. 
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
   

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• General office environment

We offer competitive pay, flexible hours, and generous benefits. Plus, to keep things fun (because we are all kids at heart), we offer a host of team member activities and philanthropic efforts throughout the year and company-wide awards and recognition for a job well done!

Check out our website at www.kids2.com and our social media pages on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram for more information and open positions in the career section.

Drug Free Workplace M/F/D/V