The Senior Manager, Category Management will report to the Director, Category Management and is responsible for developing and executing Sonic’s beverage, snacks and sides categories, packaging, and innovation strategies that support Sonic’s long-term growth objectives.
This role plays a critical leadership position in shaping the menu innovation roadmap, identifying growth opportunities, and translating consumer, operational, and business insights into actionable category strategies that drive sales, profitability, and brand differentiation.
The Senior Manager leads the end-to-end development and execution of menu and category initiatives, including the innovation pipeline management, market testing, launch readiness, go-to-market planning, packaging and cross functional coordination across Culinary, Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, and Consumer Insights.
This role is accountable for ensuring initiatives are strategically sound, operationally executable, and successfully launched. In addition, this position provides ongoing category stewardship through performance analysis, consumer and marketplace research, and identification of emerging trends and whitespace opportunities. As a key business partner, the Senior Manager influences organizational decision-making by delivering strategic recommendations, managing complex projects, and aligning cross-functional teams around initiatives that support sustainable growth and strengthen Sonic’s competitive position.
Responsibilities:
Lead Category Strategy and Growth
Develop and execute short- and long-term category, product, and packaging strategies that support Sonic’s business objectives and drive sustainable sales and profit growth.
Identify emerging consumer trends, marketplace opportunities, and white space platforms to inform the innovation road map and future growth initiatives.
Partner with category management director and senior leadership to establish category priorities and strategic recommendations.
Own Innovation Pipeline
Lead the end-to-end innovation process from concept development through commercialization, including opportunity identification, business case development, product testing, launch planning, and post launch evaluation.
Build and manage the beverage, snack, and sides pipeline of innovation initiatives across core menu, limited time offers, and packaging.
Collaborate with culinary to develop, refine, and validate new products and platforms.
Lead Market Testing and Launch Execution
Oversee market test strategy, execution, and performance evaluation to ensure initiatives are operationally sound and commercially successful.
Drive launch readiness activities, including stage gate deliverables, execution checklist, operational alignment, training requirements, and launch materials.
Identify and mitigate risks while ensuring projects remain on schedule and meet business objectives.
Own Category Performance and Insights
Monitor category, product, promotion, and test performance to identify opportunities for growth, optimization, and profitability improvement.
Lead consumer research efforts and leverage marketplace, competitive, and operational insights to inform category strategy and innovation priorities.
Develop data-driven recommendations and present findings to senior leadership.
Management & Direct Reports:
1 Category Specialist
Requirements:
4 Year Degree Preferred
7+ years of experience in a category or brand management position
Business acumen, including understanding of market trends, consumers, competitors and P&L fluency.
Experience taking product ideas from ideation to execution.
Ability to think strategically and creatively.
Ability to collect and synthesize information, making it relevant, understandable, and actionable for key stakeholders.
Excellent communication and presentation skills, especially the ability to explain difficult concepts in applicable business terms. Strong ability to summarize strategies into (PowerPoint) presentations in clear and understandable message.
Strong computer skills: Excel, Word, PowerPoint are required.
Is detail oriented with a focus on accuracy, process management, and execution excellence.
Project Management and strong ability to work with cross-functional teams.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, multi-task, prioritize and be detail oriented.
Self-starter personality with excellent organizational skills who can operate with some supervision and has the ability to manage multiple projects and timelines simultaneously.
Ideal candidate has an inquisitive nature, a passion for learning and solving problems and a growth mindset.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapt to changing business priorities.
A go getter who carries a positive attitude every day and who desires to grow in the role and within the marketing organization.
Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.
We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.
Skills Required
- Four-year degree
- 7+ years of experience in category or brand management
- Business acumen, including market trends, consumers, competitors, and P&L fluency
- Experience taking product ideas from ideation through execution
- Strategic and creative thinking abilities
- Ability to collect, synthesize, and communicate actionable information
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- Strong Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint skills
- Project management and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Strong organizational, prioritization, multitasking, and process-management skills
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and adapt to changing priorities
- Detail orientation and execution focus
Inspire Brands Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Inspire Brands and has not been reviewed or approved by Inspire Brands.
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive health coverage, mental health support, disability insurance, and related programs are emphasized for support‑center and eligible management roles. Materials also reference options like HSAs and EAPs as part of a broad healthcare offering.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Unlimited PTO is highlighted for support‑center roles alongside paid leaves such as parental and adoption assistance. Feedback suggests these time‑off elements are a core part of the corporate employee value proposition.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Employee food discounts, on‑site amenities (e.g., gym, snacks, and similar perks), and lifestyle programs add tangible day‑to‑day value. Additional benefits like commuter options, financial wellness tools, and pet insurance further broaden the package.
Inspire Brands Insights
What We Do
Inspire Brands was founded in February 2018 with a vision to invigorate great brands and supercharge their long-term growth. In an industry facing increasing disruption, our leaders saw an opportunity to build a restaurant company unlike any other – one that brings together differentiated yet complementary brands and aims to make them stronger than they would be on their own. Found inherently in the purposes of our family of brands, we identified a common thread between our restaurants – the capacity to inspire. From guest experience to career development to community well-being, Inspire plays a role in the lives of millions of people every day.
