What does a senior category manager do?
In a retail setting, a senior category manager is in charge of devising strategies to market different product categories. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with other departments to gather necessary data, performing market research and analysis to find new business opportunities, identifying the needs of consumers, and keeping abreast of the latest trends. Furthermore, as a senior category manager, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior category managers, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Senior category manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior category manager resumes:
- Manage relationships, budgets and invoicing for multiple vendors, including the SEM & DR agency and strategic partners.
- Lead a marketing team responsible for strategic planning and implementation of B2B and B2C marketing initiatives to achieve business goals.
- Project manage large work streams incorporating data and technology to support all business analytics used across the organization.
- Coordinate with SOX compliance team and internal & external auditors.
- Review SOX documentation, including VISIO process flow diagrams to ensure accuracy.
- Execute RFP process, price negotiation, business award, capacity and supply assurance.
- Create promotional programs to stimulate consumer interest in-aisle and at point-of-sale (POS).
- Support ROI and promotional analysis by working with sales, marketing and finance teams.
- Execute RFP sourcing events to contract regional and national supplier agreements for business-wide products and services.
- Create a strategic framework to build parties with kids marketing strategy base on ethnographic and quantitative research.
- Develop quarterly promotional tracker to understand sales lifts and ROI of different types of items and promotion types.
- Develop a process of integrating additional POS data into the sales forecasting process by providing sku level detail for strategic accounts.
- Leverage Nielsen data to develop and inform category growth strategies.
- Review reconciliations of general ledger accounts and investigate and resolve any discrepancies.
- Utilize Nielsen and internal sales indicators to analyze category trends to develop customer actionable strategies for impact against retail channels.
Senior category manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Senior Category Managers are proficient in Category Strategy, Project Management, and Strategic Sourcing. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Creativity.
We break down the percentage of Senior Category Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Category Strategy, 14%
Evaluated and selected key vendors, partnering with organizations that would support category strategy and initiatives.
- Project Management, 9%
Contributed to Company and category growth through development of innovation strategy and project management of new product launches across multiple brands.
- Strategic Sourcing, 8%
Selected suppliers, negotiated, created strategic sourcing agreements and managed superior supplier performance for multiple commodities.
- Continuous Improvement, 6%
Assessed and executed Lean continuous improvement initiatives.
- Internal Stakeholders, 4%
Led project team through development and execution of communication/change management plan to internal stakeholders and suppliers.
- Supplier Management, 4%
Optimized category-wide supplier management strategy to reduce third party costs by $2M.
Most senior category managers use their skills in "category strategy," "project management," and "strategic sourcing" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior category manager responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior category manager to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." Senior category managers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "analyzed economic performance of multiple product categories and implemented cost reduction strategies to ensure alignment with strategic performance targets. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior category manager duties is communication skills. Senior category managers responsibilities require that "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." Senior category managers also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintain weekly communication with buyer thru reporting of item drivers, regional analysis, and market trends. "
Creativity. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior category managers is creativity. This skill is critical to many everyday senior category manager duties, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "managed inventory and planning for product lines encompassing 65% of the company's revenue. "
Interpersonal skills. senior category manager responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." This resume example shows what senior category managers do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "maintained strong interpersonal relations with large retailers as well as smaller ones in order to ensure maximum sales growth of products. "
Organizational skills. Another crucial skill for a senior category manager to carry out their responsibilities is "organizational skills." A big part of what senior category managers relies on this skill, since "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." How this skill relates to senior category manager duties can be seen in an example from a senior category manager resume snippet: "managed organizational/procurement leadership and capability development for 2 direct reports. "
The three companies that hire the most senior category managers are:
- Amazon53 senior category managers jobs
- Highmark45 senior category managers jobs
- Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (Semiconductor & Display)12 senior category managers jobs
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Compare different senior category managers
Senior category manager vs. Manager, strategy
A strategy manager is an individual who reviews a company's objectives for growth and works with executives to formulate actionable plans to achieve these objectives. To make comprehensive recommendations, strategy managers must conduct data analysis of the organization as well as the overall industry. They must provide assessments of market trends and identify business threats and opportunities. Strategy managers should also work with department heads to develop individual team goals and break them down into actionable steps for the employees to complete.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior category manager responsibilities require skills like "category strategy," "continuous improvement," "internal stakeholders," and "supplier management." Meanwhile a typical manager, strategy has skills in areas such as "portfolio," "client facing," "strategic thinking," and "corporate strategy." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Managers, strategy earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $116,769. On the other hand, senior category managers are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $131,512.On average, managers, strategy reach higher levels of education than senior category managers. Managers, strategy are 11.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior category manager vs. Marketing services manager
A marketing services manager is in charge of overseeing a company's marketing procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities often include developing promotional strategies, assessing the performance of staff, coordinating different teams, managing the budgets, researching new marketing and client opportunities, analyzing data, and developing solutions to optimize marketing services and operations. Furthermore, as a marketing services manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior category manager responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "category strategy," "strategic sourcing," "continuous improvement," and "internal stakeholders." Meanwhile, a marketing services manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "client facing," "integrated marketing," "email marketing," and "marketing campaign management." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Marketing services managers earn a higher average salary than senior category managers. But marketing services managers earn the highest pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $119,296. Additionally, senior category managers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $131,512 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Marketing services managers tend to reach lower levels of education than senior category managers. In fact, they're 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior category manager vs. Brand manager
A brand manager is an individual responsible for adapting a brand strategy that targets the potential market for a company's product while maintaining its integrity. Brand managers assist in developing products while managing budgets for the advertising and promotion of their new products. They usually work under the supervision of marketing managers or chief marketing officers (CMOs) to implement and execute their marketing initiatives. Brand managers also provide an analysis of sales forecasts and create reports on product sales.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior category manager is likely to be skilled in "category strategy," "continuous improvement," "internal stakeholders," and "supplier management," while a typical brand manager is skilled in "customer service," "powerpoint," "integrated marketing," and "marketing campaigns."
Brand managers earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $99,130. Comparatively, senior category managers have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $131,512.brand managers typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior category managers. Specifically, they're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior category manager vs. Web content manager
Web content managers are executives who are responsible for planning, organizing, establishing, and publishing content. The managers establish a consistent brand identity for a business enterprise along with its online presence. They oversee marketing strategies to develop customer engagement. Their job asks them to ensure an affirmative view of the firm and its services and products. They work closely with the sales and leadership teams to create valuable content for their target audience.
Types of senior category manager
Updated January 8, 2025
