Your Opportunity as the Manager, Category Advisory - Walmart
As a Walmart Category Advisor for JM Smucker, you will serve as a trusted partner to Walmart’s merchant team on a dynamic advisor team, driving category growth through data-driven insights, strategic recommendations, and flawless execution. You will leverage deep expertise in category management, shopper and consumer analytics, and modular planning to deliver actionable solutions that enhance sales, market share, and customer satisfaction. You will have up to two direct reports, on a team of six.
Location: Rogers, AR (JMS Regional Walmart Office)
Work Arrangements: Hybrid - onsite a minimum of 2 days per week
In this role you will:
Category Leadership & Advisory
- Act as point person for Walmart merchants on category, shopper, and consumer trends, providing fact-based, insight-led recommendations
- Lead the modular build process, delivering optimized planograms and assortment strategies that align with Walmart’s objectives
- Conduct category reviews, SWOT analyses, and scorecard development using syndicated and POS data (Circana, Scintilla, Primary/Secondary Research)
- Assess new product introductions, market analyses, and assortment changes to drive category and brand growth
Insights & Analytics
- Integrate data from multiple sources (syndicated, panel, POS, customer insights) to uncover compelling trends and develop actionable recommendations
- Utilize tools such as Scintilla, Excel, PowerPoint, Circana, JDA, and Tableau for analysis and reporting
- Deliver accurate, insightful reporting to Walmart with expert commentary on current performance and future trends
Collaboration & Communication
- Work cross-functionally with internal teams (Sales, Marketing, Insights, R&D) to support buyer strategies and category initiatives
- Participate in account strategic planning processes and collaborate on assortment, space, and merchandising solutions
- Present findings and recommendations confidently to Walmart merchants and internal stakeholders at all levels
Continuous Improvement
- Stay abreast of industry developments and best practices in category management, proactively seeking opportunities to strengthen professional competence
- Adopt a continuous improvement mindset to elevate advisory execution and advocate for resources and technology to provide leading category capabilities
What we are looking for:
Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree
- 6+ years of Consumer-Packaged Goods experience
- 2+ years of Walmart Category Advisory experience
- Experience supervising direct reports and fostering collaboration across a team
- Experience building relationships within customers / retailers
- Experience in analysis of shopper / consumer-based CPG information
- Strong analytical skills, problem solving, and storytelling experience
- Scintilla Channel Performance and Shopper experience
- JDA ProSpace software experience
- Ability to lead and motivate direct reports
- Excellent organization and written / verbal communication skills
- Proficient in leveraging syndicated data
- Ability to develop and translate insights into actions
- Strategic mindset to help build and execute effective plans
- Ability to travel up to 15%
Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role (not required):
- Master’s degree
- ShelfIQ experience
The Right Place for You
We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.
Stay connected with us on LinkedIn®
We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- 6+ years of Consumer-Packaged Goods experience
- 2+ years of Walmart Category Advisory experience
- Experience supervising direct reports and fostering collaboration across a team
- Experience building relationships with customers or retailers
- Experience analyzing shopper and consumer-based CPG information
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and storytelling skills
- Scintilla Channel Performance and Shopper experience
- JDA ProSpace software experience
- Ability to lead and motivate direct reports
- Excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills
- Proficiency leveraging syndicated data
- Ability to develop and translate insights into actions
- Strategic mindset for building and executing effective plans
- Ability to travel up to 15%
- Master's degree
- ShelfIQ experience
The J.M. Smucker Co. Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about The J.M. Smucker Co. and has not been reviewed or approved by The J.M. Smucker Co..
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Retirement Support — Retirement programs are described as strong, with a company 401(k) match, immediate vesting in some materials, and access to an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. These elements contribute to a favorable view of total compensation value.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave for all parents and on-site childcare at key locations signal a family-forward approach. Additional supports such as adoption assistance and pet-related leave reinforce this emphasis.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off, seasonal compressed schedules, and flexibility options are highlighted across materials. The ability to start with substantial PTO and buy additional time enhances perceived time-off breadth.
The J.M. Smucker Co. Insights
What We Do
Each generation of consumers leaves their mark on culture by establishing new expectations for food and the companies that make it. At The J.M. Smucker Co., it is our privilege to be at the heart of this dynamic with a portfolio that appeals to each generation of people and pets with products found in 90 percent of U.S. homes and countless restaurants. This includes a mix of iconic brands consumers have always loved such as Folgers®, Jif® and Milk-Bone® and new favorites like Café Bustelo®, Smucker’s® Uncrustables® and Rachael Ray® Nutrish®. By continuing to immerse ourselves in consumer and pet parent preferences for food, how it’s purchased and how the companies that make it should operate, we will maintain the important role we play in their lives. This will allow us to continue growing our business and the positive impact we have on all of those who count on us.
