Job Description:

Category Manager for Hungary & Slovakia is the key expert on Petcare category in these markets and is responsible for delivering best-in-class category leadership with customers to drive growth and customer engagement. This role reports to Category Management Customer Deployment Head for Central Europe (10 markets).

Using a mix of market, shopper and customer insights to identify category growth opportunities, the role leverages / executes these through excellence in all Category Leadership initiatives, tactics and practices. Category and Mars performance at Customers in scope with focus on distribution and excellent in-store execution are the ultimate KPI.

What are we looking for?College degree, ideally business related3-5 years of professional experience, including category management, ideally some of it within the FMCG industryCustomer focus in mind with ability to engage, influence and impact retailers by providing guidance on strategic direction of categoryBroad and in-depth understanding of FMCG context and retail landscape, ideally within Hungarian market, know-how of Slovakian retail environment is a plusBusiness acumen and proven track of record of analytical ability to drive and translate insights into relevant strategies and tactics (actions / initiatives) internally and for execution with our customersAdvanced proficiency in Nielsen Discover (Dunnhumby and Spaceman is a plus)Good understanding of annual planning process within a corporationLanguage fluency in both Hungarian and English requiredCertification on Category Management is a plus

What will be your key responsibilities?

Drive Category Vision and in-store excellent execution both with local Hungarian and Slovakian team and with retailers. Partner with our customers to deepen collaboration & execute cluster strategy and Picture of Success (PicoS) to improve quality & quantity of distribution and ultimately Mars and total category performance for the customers in scope. Be the key expert on Petcare category in Hungary and Slovakia, identify growth opportunities and drive them with Sales team, retailers and organization during business planning. Expected split between Hungarian and Slovakian agenda is 75:25.

DEPLOY CATEGORY VISION WITH CUSTOMERS

Drive category vision in the market with our Hungarian/Slovakian customers in-storePlan and lead initiatives for our key growth platforms related to shelf/category management including participation of JBP conversations and conditions for key customersAttend Sales meetings with other Demand functions to align on account plansExecute projects that retailer want to drive and need our support aligned with Mars customer strategy

DRIVE EXCELLENT IN-STORE EXECUTION

Co-pilot Key Account Managers to agree on and drive bold actions per customer related to Perfect StoreContinuously drive category understanding and engagement into market category vision and PicoS on-shelfPrepare planograms as per project requirement

BE KEY CATEGORY EXPERT IN THE MARKET

Monitor and evaluate category performance, leveraging key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify areas for growth and improvement, recommend follow-up actionsSearch for continuous improvements in local reporting and insights

INTEGRATE CATEGORY PERSPECTIVE IN BUSINESS PLANNING

Provide category inputs and external benchmark to planning cycles, both Business of Today (YTG) and Business of Tomorrow (Y1+)Provide distribution targets at planning stage and follow-up throughout the year with Sales

What can you expect from Mars?Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.