REMOTE

Build a better career with MSC.
Serving customer and community starts with the very best people doing their very best work. That is precisely what we have at MSC Industrial Supply Co., a leading North American distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services.

Requisition ID :11910

Employment Type : Full Time

Job Category : Category Management

Work Location : Remote

BRIEF POSITION SUMMARY:

The Category Strategy Specialist is responsible for implementing the Category strategy. Implementation activities can be grouped in four major disciplines: strategy management, vendor relationships, category marketing, and cross-functional collaboration. Key activities include category marketing, product line expertise, and tactical execution.

DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Category Marketing:
  • Takes the lead for the strategy team to create, develop and manage the overall marketing plan.
  • Acts as liaison to Marketing function
  • Supports Category team to create branch meeting and sales education materials
  • Engages with suppliers, sales and customers to understand market trends and landscape
  • Identifies new IB and EB item opportunities by working with suppliers, creating gap analysis to competitors, attending trade shows, working with customers,
  • Works cross functionally and with suppliers creating selection guides, calculators and other material to support user experience on the web.
  • Collaborates with the Category Operations team to implement pricing strategy
  • Works cross functionally with EB team in creating brand awareness
  • Manages Co-op dollars and marketing programs to maximize supplier investment and increase MSC sales to match the overall strategy
  • Identifies disruptive insights to identify and develop solutions based on the market, customer and supplier.
  • Positions insights within print and digital platforms (navigator, chatter, brochures, etc.)
  • Identifies product and promotional opportunities to support the category strategy in cross-functional areas (marketing, suppliers, etc.)
  • Manages the print and digital aspects of catalog and web collage inclusive of brand landing pages and banners
  • Creates supplier programs that will tie back to overall category and company strategy
  • Aligns supplier goals and MSC goals to maximize investment and optimize programs
  • Works cross functionally to align on program initiatives
    

• Tactics Planning and Implementation:
  • Provides input into strategy and tactics planning
  • Executes customer solutions
  • Provides product line expertise
  • Product search curation (Data SME) / Taxonomy consultant
  • Coordinates product life cycle management
  • Coordinates product rationalization with category operations team
    

• Participates in a High-performing Team of Associates and a Culture of Engagement:
  • Develops skills and competencies to expand capability
  • Communicates openly and effectively with others
  • Understands performance expectations and strives to exceed goals
  • Manages conflict or escalates to next leadership level.
  • Fosters the MSC Culture in the department and throughout the company to ensure fulfillment of MSC’s vision and unity of purpose.
  • Participation in special projects and performs additional duties as required
    

EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelors’ Degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, or equivalent area of study.
• MS Office proficiency required
• Two to four years of Marketing or Category experience required; Finance exposure a plus
• Demonstrated technical expertise and product knowledge a plus
  

SKILLS:

• Action-oriented; drives results
• Self-directed and able to work autonomously
• Prioritizes deliverables
• Adaptable and flexible through times of ambiguity or change
• Solid business acumen
• Analytical skills
• Strong customer focus and understanding of their needs and expectations; customer advocate
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Collaborates effectively within the team or with other partners
  

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

• Proof of eligibility to work in the United States.

Why MSC? People. Collaboration. Insight. That’s how you build something that works. Built on a foundation of trust, MSC works side by side with our customers to help them drive business results. With more than one million product offerings and 75+ years of experience across industries, MSC strives to help our customers achieve greater productivity, profitability, and growth through inventory management and other innovative supply chain solutions. We care about our associates and have programs in place to help our 6,500+ team members achieve their potential.

When you join our team, you will receive rewards and recognition for your contributions, training and professional development opportunities, Associate Inclusion Circles: Women, Pride, Black, Veterans, HOLA and DisABLEd as well as a variety of benefits to support you and your family's health, well-being, and financial future. If you are inspired to learn, take risks, and succeed as a team, you can build a better career at MSC.

Equal Opportunity Statement: At MSC, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all qualified applicants and our associates without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or any category protected by applicable law. By applying to this job you agree to the Application and Acknowledgment Declaration terms.