Category Marketing Manager

Position Summary:

The Category Marketing Manager is responsible for driving growth and innovation within the Mayonnaise category by translating operator and market insights into compelling value propositions, differentiated products, and effective go-to-market strategies.

This role partners cross-functionally with Sales, Customer Success, Culinary, R&D, and Digital Marketing to lead product development, commercialization, and category marketing initiatives that strengthen Ventura Food’s market position with national accounts, distributors, and foodservice operators. The position plays a critical role in building category leadership, enabling the sales organization, and delivering profitable growth through data-driven marketing strategies and portfolio management. 

The ideal candidate would reside within the United States.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Category Strategy & Insights:
  • Analyze category performance, operator trends, and competitive dynamics to identify growth opportunities and inform category plans.
  • Translate market insights into actionable business recommendations including product innovation, pricing strategy, and portfolio optimization.
  • Develop category expertise and serve as the internal subject matter expert across Ventura Foods.
• Innovation & Product Development:
  • Lead cross-functional new product development initiatives from concept through commercialization in partnership with R&D, Culinary, Sales, and Operations.
  • Define product positioning, value proposition, pricing strategy, and launch plans for new product introductions.
  • Conduct post-launch performance reviews to optimize product performance and identify future innovation opportunities.
• Commercialization & Go-to-Market:
  • Develop integrated go-to-market strategies including sales tools, promotions, and digital marketing campaigns.
  • Partner with Digital Marketing to execute lead generation programs and measure campaign effectiveness and ROI.
  • Build compelling product narratives and category stories that resonate with operators, distributors, and national account customers.
• Sales Enablement & Customer Engagement:
  • Support national accounts and distributor partners with product recommendations, formula selection, and category solutions.
  • Develop category training content and videos to build Ventura's Food category leadership and enable effective selling.  
• Portfolio & Business Management:
  • Contribute to annual category growth planning including pricing, product mix, and promotional strategy.
  • Lead brand SKU rationalization and category portfolio optimization. 

Education and Experience:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related field.
• 5+ years of marketing, category management, or product management experience.
• Experience within the foodservice, food manufacturing, or B2B food industry.
• Strong written and oral communcation skills, required.
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional product development or commercialization initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA or advanced business degree.
• Experience working with national accounts, distributors, or foodservice operators.
• Background in category management, portfolio strategy, or insights-driven marketing.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Has category management experience and can establish and implement an annual marketing plan.
• Has proven cross-functional and commercialization leadership and is able to develop new products using research and customer feedback and launch effectively with sales and customers. 
• Understands and executes B2B marketing and sales enablement. 
• Strong interpersonal, presentation, and storytelling skills. 
• Able to develop brand fundamentals, agency briefs and evaluate and execute creative and media plans.
• Can contribute to strategy development and understands financial impact.
• Has excellent planning and organization, project management and time management skills.