Wild Planet was founded in 2004 by seafood industry veteran Bill Carvalho to realize his vision of bringing the highest environmental standards to the fishing industry. Wild Planet partners with small-scale and community fishermen who use sustainable fishing practices such as 100% pole & line fishing and selective harvesting, ensuring ecologically sound methods as well as supporting the livelihood of coastal communities. The company has been repeatedly recognized by Greenpeace for its procurement policies and practices, and provides guidance for corporate environmental standards at some of the nation’s most influential grocers. Through its portfolio of canned seafood, chicken and beef products, Wild Planet delivers unparalleled taste and nutrition and has become the market leader in sustainable canned tuna. 

Position Summary: The Category Development Analyst (CDA) is primarily responsible for supporting the Wild Planet Sales team with the analysis of customer specific, market and consumer data and research insights to develop sound business recommendations that drive results for the category and Wild Planet.  The CDA will utilize the analysis and recommendations to develop and deliver high-quality, high-impact presentations to strategic business partners.  This position is critical in building category, brand, and market development strategies.  This position is also responsible for developing demand forecasts, working closely with both Wild Planet Supply Chain Managers and Logistics to ensure adequate inventory levels and improve logistics efficiencies.  As our CDA, the incumbent will also be responsible for using our TPM program to forecast trade-spend and analyze ROI on promotions.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Develops fact-based product line reviews and generates recommendations to grow the brand with respect to category development. Presentations developed may include new item presentations, merchandising presentations and category reviews.
• Produces periodic and ad-hoc reporting and analysis, to include sales performance, feature promotions, price gap reporting, share trend reporting, price elasticity, etc. This reporting and respective analysis supports the Sales team with customer-specific opportunities, competitive awareness and insight, and business development opportunities.  For example, using IRI data sets, the CDA will identify competitive price and promotion strategies and will work with Sales to analyze possible impact and corrective steps. As a CDA, they will also participate in the development and presentation of the annual operating plan.
• Supports the development of incremental sales opportunities within the planning process. Provides category analysis for the regions and customers supported within their assigned area. Performs promotional analysis to provide insight and recommendations to drive promotional efficiency and effectiveness.  In some cases, may be responsible for developing and executing inventory recommendations (distribution/plus-out scripts) for store level execution. For example, the CDA may determine the current and future performance for their respective product lines and develop sales targets and promotional tactic recommendations to achieve the targeted level of growth. 
• Based on the needs of the Sales and Marketing teams, the CDA will provide analysis, insight and recommendations respective to special project work. This work is typically solution oriented around distribution, price, promotion or shelf presentation issues around the brand, but could include other analysis as needed.  Opportunities exist for collaborative work with cross-functional groups, such as in the development, alignment and execution of the joint business planning processes; both internal and external.  For example, in conjunction with our broker Insights POC, the CDA will develop a category selling story based on consumer decision trees and optimum product assortment.  They will produce the relevant content in a presentation and act as the subject matter expert for the Wild Planet Sales team, attending customer presentations to communicate sales strategy and answer questions.

Qualifications & Competencies: 

• Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in CPG
• Bachelor’s degree
• Candidate must be a proficient user in IRI, SPINS/Satori, Nielson, Power BI, TPM, PowerPoint, & Excel
• Possess key functional understanding of trade management and category management
• Prior experience with brand development and systems to support aggressive business growth
• Experience working with cross-functional teams such as Marketing, Finance and Operations
• Key leadership characteristics:  integrity, drive for results, collaborative, flexible, strong communicator
• Excellent listening, negotiation, verbal and written communications skills
• Hardworking, persistent, resourceful, and dependable
• Positive and enthusiastic
• Must be willing and able to travel