Category Director

at  Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmaprix

Referred applicants should not apply directly to this role.
All referred applicants must first be submitted through Workday by a current Loblaw Colleague.
Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country’s largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.
At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong.
Shoppers Drug Mart is one of the most recognized and trusted names in Canadian retailing, with over 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores in each province and two territories. We are one of the most convenient retailers in Canada. Each day more than one million Canadians visit our stores. They come for prescriptions, for advice, for health and beauty products, for food and for convenience, to help them make life a little bit easier. Most Canadians live within 5 minutes of one of our stores, and with more than 750 Canada Post outlets, and more than 1,200 Passport/I.D.Photo centres, Shoppers Drug Mart is a one-stop shop, with extended hours.

What You’ll Do:

• Sales, Margins, – Planning & Forecasting (annual, periodic, weekly)
• Promotional Strategy & co-ordination with Category Management & Merch Team
• Meet with existing and potential vendors to maintain a current knowledge of new product offerings and promotions, assess category performance and growth relative to SDM and competitors, refine current strategies and develop and implement additional strategies to attract and motivate customer purchases, realize maximum profitability, grow market share, and increase customer loyalty. Collaboratively plan activities and develop strong relationships with the vendor community to maximize top line revenue and internal profitability.
• Implement product/service assortment, sales and buying plans to achieve category targets. Review implementation throughout the year, adjusting as required to meet targets.
• Communicate category, category change and activity, and merchandising standards for each area of responsibility
• Participate in setting merchandising direction for each area of responsibility retail format for assigned category.
• Develop and implement promotions and programs for the assigned category.
• Develop, monitor, and manage within annual operating budgets.
• Support capital requirements for potential opportunities, new Capital and can include required technology upgrades to support and develop the Shoppers Drug Mart services strategy.
• Is responsible all product inventory, technology and capital assets that pertain to the areas of opportunity.
• Manages and monitors funds in/out accounts to ensure the revenue and spend accounts balance and accurately reflect the results of the category.
• Oversees workloads and provides staff supervision to ensure that work is done accurately, efficiently and complies with policies, procedures, and standards as well as best working practices.
• Provides guidance, motivation, and performance review including hiring and terminating employees, to maintain and enhance competency levels, identify future training requirements, and achieve goals to increase performance.
• Direct report – one Category Assistant

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• Post-secondary education (university or college) or equivalent experience
• At least 5 years of experience in a Category Management / product management or retail buying is required
• Experience in building a strategic framework (plans), presenting her/his ideas to various levels across the organization, driving execution of project to completion
• Solid understanding of retail math metrics, merchandise planning, or financial planning
• Experience using Excel and similar analytical tools to measure performance, determine improvements and to support project requests from partner teams is required
• Excellent communication skills with demonstrable and proven results with key decision makers including senior management and key vendor personnel is required
• Ability to deal with ambiguity, self-organize and be proactive to complete multiple tasks on time with a clear focus on quantitative results is required
• Strong interpersonal skills and can resolve situations with colleagues where there may be some level of conflict, stress or uncertainty.
• Provides solutions by using imaginative approaches where constructive thinking and innovation are required.
• Decision making skills to achieve specific organizational objectives with consideration given to their impact on other work groups.
• Adaptable to set and prioritize work with varying exceptions.
• Advanced negotiation, persuasive and communication skills to secure favorable category plans.
  Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.
  If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.
  We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.

• Sales, Margins, – Planning & Forecasting (annual, periodic, weekly)
• Promotional Strategy & co-ordination with Category Management & Merch Team
• Meet with existing and potential vendors to maintain a current knowledge of new product offerings and promotions, assess category performance and growth relative to SDM and competitors, refine current strategies and develop and implement additional strategies to attract and motivate customer purchases, realize maximum profitability, grow market share, and increase customer loyalty. Collaboratively plan activities and develop strong relationships with the vendor community to maximize top line revenue and internal profitability.
• Implement product/service assortment, sales and buying plans to achieve category targets. Review implementation throughout the year, adjusting as required to meet targets.
• Communicate category, category change and activity, and merchandising standards for each area of responsibility
• Participate in setting merchandising direction for each area of responsibility retail format for assigned category.
• Develop and implement promotions and programs for the assigned category.
• Develop, monitor, and manage within annual operating budgets.
• Support capital requirements for potential opportunities, new Capital and can include required technology upgrades to support and develop the Shoppers Drug Mart services strategy.
• Is responsible all product inventory, technology and capital assets that pertain to the areas of opportunity.
• Manages and monitors funds in/out accounts to ensure the revenue and spend accounts balance and accurately reflect the results of the category.
• Oversees workloads and provides staff supervision to ensure that work is done accurately, efficiently and complies with policies, procedures, and standards as well as best working practices.
• Provides guidance, motivation, and performance review including hiring and terminating employees, to maintain and enhance competency levels, identify future training requirements, and achieve goals to increase performance.
• Direct report – one Category Assistan