OVERVIEW

The Target Team is seeking a Business Category Lead (BCL) to develop and execute unbiased category strategies in a Captaincy role. They are responsible for delivering the most current consumer insights, competitive insights, category data analysis, shelving, assortment, and merchandising recommendations to drive the category at Target.

In this role you will be responsible for advising the Target Buyer with the latest category performance and consumer insights. Strong candidates will work as a team, be detail-oriented, demonstrate strong problem-solving skills, develop insight-led recommendations, and have strong Excel skills and the ability to learn and implement new tools and capabilities.

The candidate selected for this role will have the opportunity to partner and work closely with the Target (in a customer facing capacity) and will operate behind Target's Firewall offering the unique opportunity to collaborate with a buyer to develop an understanding of how the customer operates (motivations, decision making process, etc.)

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

SELLING EXPERTISE & LEADERSHIP

• Develop and maintain effective customer relationships
• Understand customer needs and link them to supplier product and service strategies to develop mutually beneficial business plans
• Leverage established processes to define sales objectives, engage the customer, explore customer interests, explain solutions, and execute commitments

EXECUTIONAL EXCELLENCE

• Take personal accountability and ownership for results
• Leverage existing tools to aide in flawless POG execution & customer deliverables
• Provides accurate reporting and analytical perspectives with effective storytelling
• Need to be results-oriented and demonstrate the ability to manage complexity comfortably

PROBLEM SOLVING & ANALYTICS

• Retrieve and analyze syndicated customer and consumer data to understand category and/or industry trends
• Understand and leverage category management principles to influence share of shelving and display
• Leverage enterprise-wide problem-solving tools and stakeholders to address business problems

ENGAGING LEADER

• Model Engaging Leader behaviors to foster an inclusive environment and embrace a learning mindset and demonstrate personal accountability.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's Degree required
• Minimum 2 years of relevant industry experience in sales, account management, trade funding, category management or other relevant experience
• Successful demonstration of analytical skills using various data sources (e.g., Nielsen, IRI, CPM, sales data)
• Must be proficient in software packages (Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint)

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 3-4 years selling experience with direct account and retail involvement is strongly preferred, preferably as Category Captain on a major retailer
• Proficiency with planogram tools (such as JDA)
• Strong working knowledge of syndicated data and customer POS sources (Nielsen, IRI, MerchIQ, etc)
• Given the unique customer-facing nature of this role, preference will be given to candidates willing to commit to 2 years in role.
• Willingness to relocate for future GMI career opportunities