Category Manager - Sam's (based in Bentonville, AR)

Here’s what all the hype is about… Premier Nutrition Company (PNC) is one of the fastest-growing companies in the proactive wellness space showing clear leadership in the category of protein shakes and powders. We make the brands Premier Protein and Dymatize, and are part of our publicly traded holding company, BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR). We have a simple, yet powerful, formula for our success, which we’ve been nailing since our founding in 1997. We start with an organization powered by our company purpose—Changing Lives with Good Energy. Then our purpose-driven people are given the support and autonomy to develop and grow. Next, we are super-intentional about designing a culture where everyone feels like they truly connect and belong, which is one of our five company core values. Purpose-driven, connected employees deliver amazing business results. And winning companies with remarkable people and thriving cultures attract and retain top talent, so the cycle becomes self-reinforcing or what we call our regenerative culture. We don’t mind sharing our formula, since we believe the world would be a better place if more workplaces treated adults like adults and gave them the platform to do the best work of their lives—alongside some truly amazing colleagues. Why don’t more companies do this? It takes deep-in-your-bones conviction to your people, products, and purpose to pull it off. It also takes resisting the urge to try to control people, and instead, trusting them to make the right decisions. The result of our vibrant culture speaks for itself: We were certified as a Great Place to Work™ for the 9th year-running in 2025. And we currently rank #8 on Fortune Magazine’s Best Workplaces in our category and were in the top 12 for each of the last 7 years. We have a long list of ways we take care of our people, but here are some crowd-pleasers that our employees often say they love most: Year-round ½ day Fridays, free lunches & snacks, dogs in the office, culture of belonging celebrations, engaging in-office events like bring your kids to work day, 6% 401k match after 1 year, generous paid family leave regardless of gender, all positions bonus-eligible, company-wide volunteer days, company-matched charitable donations, no employee handbook, no dress code, coaching conversations instead of performance reviews, and walking meetings. PNC seeks individuals who will flourish in this type of work environment and will add to our culture and help build this high-growth company for the next phase in our amazing journey. Does this sound like you? Then read on… We believe in the power of mindset, and specifically what we call the Challenger Mindset. Do you take smart, bold risks, display relentless hunger, and see yourself as a builder? We’re looking for individuals who choose action over analysis paralysis—those who start before they feel completely ready, make calculated moves based on the best information available, and build momentum through decisive action rather than perfect planning. You should have an insatiable drive that keeps you agile and forward-thinking, always challenging assumptions, seeking new opportunities, and focusing on long-term impact over short-term wins. Above all, you’re a builder—someone who transforms the status quo, finds smarter, simpler, faster ways to get things done, and inspires others to do the same. #LI-HYBRID The work environment… So, what’s it like to work here? If you’re based in the greater Bay Area, you’ll walk into our Emeryville office each Tuesday morning and start the in-person portion of our hybrid work week at our weekly all-company meeting and find close to 200 of your colleagues, some sitting with their dogs, talking excitedly through the week ahead and watching a newer teammate tell their personal life and career journey followed by a quick update on any hot topics that might be relevant to the week ahead. We are a dynamic, HYBRID workplace, with an expectation that all employees come into the office Tuesday through Thursday. We are very intentional about connecting in person for things like innovation, impromptu collaboration, having respectful challenges to get to better decisions, leadership role-modeling, and culture building. Great work cultures are built on stories about what great looks like in practice, and great stories during virtual meetings just don’t happen. The expected pay scale for this role is $130k to $140k, which may vary based on relevant experience, qualifications, geographic area (if applicable), and internal equity for the role. The role you’re interested in… The primary responsibility of this position is to partner with Sam’s Merchandising teams to create and deliver the “Go-To-Market” strategies to achieve Sam’s Club and PNC business targets. You’ll achieve this by developing and executing with Sam’s their category approach, analysis of the 4Ps (product assortment, pricing, promotion and placement) and new product introductions across suppliers. You will also facilitate collaborative communication between the Internal HQ Category Leadership and Sam’s Club sales teams. You will be responsible for building strong relationships with Sam’s Club’s merchandising team as a vendor partner and drive continuous improvement in Sam’s total category performance. You’re excited about this opportunity because your time will be filled with… Analytics & Reporting: 50% of your time

• Build and maintain Advisor relationship with Sam’s Club. Manage all functions and necessary firewalls to maintain confidential category data and to facilitate unbiased recommendations to drive category growth. Maintain confidentiality of Sam’s category and competitive data.
• Synthesize multiple data sources including POS, MADRID, household panel and consumer studies to craft actionable recommendations across assortment, merchandising, pricing and shelving.
• Lead the creation of compelling category insights for everyday needs, ad hoc business questions, and mod processes.

Customer and Category Development: 40% of your time

• Lead modular drawing process, including customer strategy development, merchandising layout, adjacencies, assortment optimization, pack-out compliance, and versioning of set sizes. Quantify cluster and modular-specific opportunities.
• Track pre and post modular performance.
• Advise on development of critical initiatives to include Omnichannel engagement and expanding category adjacencies.
• Leverage Industry Trends: Assess industry trends and competitive actions to develop alternative promotional offerings to maintain and improve competitive position.
• Plan, test, monitor store level testing to improve shopper engagement.
• Sales Strategy and Planning: 10% of your time
• Support business planning process within PNC Sam’s sales team.
• Monitor competitive activity and share back with Headquarter teams.
• Partners with internal departments, including Sales, Broker Partners, and Customer Marketing to evaluate distribution, merchandising and shelf initiatives to customer decision makers through utilization of technology and customer knowledge.

What are we looking for?

• In-depth understanding of Category Management principles; CMA certification a plus.
• Category Management tool proficiency: syndicated data (IRI/Nielsen/SPINS), MADRID, Scintilla, JDA, ProSpace, assortment optimization tools, and custom and proprietary consumer studies.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills: able to analyze multiple sources of data to make action-based recommendations.
• Advanced PC skills required, including Excel, Word, data visualization software (i.e. Tableau/Power BI), and PowerPoint.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Marketing, or related field preferred.

Experience:

• 5+ years CPG experience, Walmart or Sam’s Club Advisor experience required, including high level analytical experience (Category Management, Retail Management or selling experience preferred).
• Familiarity with Sam’s Club business model.
• Familiarity with JDA or other planogram software and data.
• Previous experience in a Category Advisor or Captain role preferred.

Skills and mindset:

• Builder Mindset and ability to build foundational documents.
• Project management & organization skills: able to manage multiple competing priorities while supporting multiple retail customers.
• Verbal & written communication skills: able to clearly and accurately present complex data while being able to persuasively make recommendations to stakeholders and customers.
• Able to manage tasks and to exercise independent judgment without supervision required.
• Able to work independently and with teams.

What the work is like:

• You'll spend a significant portion of your day working on a computer, reviewing data, creating reports, communicating with partners, and joining virtual and in-person meetings
• This role requires frequent and ongoing use of a keyboard, mouse, phone, and other office technology
• You'll regularly navigate multiple systems at once, analyze detailed information, and shift between competing priorities and deadlines
• You'll communicate regularly with team members, cross-functional partners, external partners, and leaders through meetings, Outlook based email, messaging platforms such as Microsoft Teams, and presentations
• Occasional movement around the office may be required for meetings, collaboration, and team activities
• May occasionally lift or move office materials weighing up to 10 pounds

The 5 capabilities or mindsets most relevant to this role:

1. Foster an environment where everyone can connect and truly belong
2. Be a builder by creating for the future
3. Embody a strategic mindset
4. Challenge ideas respectfully by sharing your real opinion with conviction; disagree in a way people feel heard
5. Play to win—exceed stretch goals and have fun doing it along the way

You will thrive here and may just do the best work of your life if…

• You want to be an integral part of shaping an amazing work culture and being a culture-add
• You can be flexible in your approach and abandon past practices if they don’t make sense
• You are comfortable being natural, casual, open, and even a bit playful at work
• You don’t have a big ego and give credit and praise freely
• You like to get sh*t, I mean—stuff done

This may not be your ideal next career move if…

• You like a lot of structure, rules, and uniformity
• You like hierarchy, and command and control management
• You like a “big company” impersonal, cog-in-the-machine vibe—that ain’t us
• You like things to not change much (we suggest the elevator business for that)
• Dealing with ambiguity or experimentation is not your jam

Here’s the deal with our not-so-standard, um…standard interview process because we know you are the curious type, which is why you’re still reading this…

• Quick 30 min phone chat with a high energy member of our Talent Acquisition team to do a quick overview of your background and answer any burning questions you have
• Team interviews are kept to a minimum to foster a more efficient, candidate-friendly process (too many interviewers yields little value and drags out the process for you—and who wants that, right?):
  • A short series of in-person or video interviews in a 1:1 setting; these are usually with the hiring manager, one or two other team members, and a person from another team to get broader perspectives (note: we don’t do panel interviews because they don’t give interviewers a chance to ask you unique questions, and we assign interviewers different roles so we’re probing different capabilities)
• A case study or job task to simulate what you’d actually be doing in the role might be included (since your job is not actually to be interviewed for a living, why is that the thing companies rely on so much?) Yes, there will be a small panel for this one so you don’t have to do it more than once, and yes, they might ask you some kind yet probing questions at the end after the raucous applause stops.
• Once your interview concludes, the team will meet for an in-depth consultative process to ensure we are hiring the right person for the right job. Interviewers must come in with a strong yes or no vote beforehand to avoid groupthink with supporting reasons. The collective thoughts on your candidacy will be discussed in an environment of safety to challenge ideas respectfully, debate. and be open to all important qualifications of the candidates. A trained, disinterested bias blocker will be present to help mitigate bias so the team can make a sound hiring decision. The moment of truth arrives when the hiring manager makes the big decision. If you nailed the interviews and the case study was brilliant, guess what? The offer is all yours! And the ball is in your court. Will you accept? We sure hope so, because this place is the real deal, and don’t just believe us—just ask the 91% of our people who said this is a great place to work in our most recent employee survey.

We strive to create an equitable and inclusive environment to contribute to the success of our organization. Premier Nutrition provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.