Assistant Category Manager
The Assistant Category Manager supports the Category Manager in executing product category strategies to drive sales, profitability, and customer value at Confidential Client. This entry-level role involves assortment planning, business analysis, supplier coordination, and cross-functional collaboration, providing foundational experience in category management and preparing for future leadership roles. The position requires strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills to maintain accurate data, support category execution, and contribute to strategic decision-making.
About Careertakes
👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, an employer in the automotive parts retail and distribution industry.
Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.
What You’ll Do
This entry-level Assistant Category Manager role supports category planning and execution to drive sales, margin, inventory productivity, and customer value for a Confidential Client in the automotive parts retail and distribution industry. You will assist the Category Manager with data maintenance, reporting, supplier coordination, assortment and pricing tasks, and cross-functional execution while developing analytical and merchandising skills for career growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Maintain product, pricing, supplier, assortment, and promotional data in merchandising systems.
- Complete item setup, SKU maintenance, and product information updates.
- Prepare routine sales, margin, inventory, pricing, and promotional reports.
- Monitor category performance and identify basic trends or variances.
- Coordinate supplier communications: item specifications, images, costs, samples, and shipment tracking.
- Support advertising, promotional, and category execution tasks to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
- Maintain assortment files, calendars, trackers, and project documentation.
- Compile seasonal, monthly, and quarterly business recaps and competitive/market research.
- Participate in cross-functional meetings with inventory, pricing, supply chain, marketing, digital, and store operations.
- Assist in preparing business cases, pricing/promotional recommendations, and assortment recommendations.
- Lead selected small projects and support implementation of launches or assortment updates under manager guidance.
- Continuously learn category financial concepts (sales, margin, inventory turns) and demonstrate growing independence.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in merchandising, marketing, business, finance, supply chain, data analytics, or related field preferred (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
- 0–5 years of relevant experience; this is an entry-level to early-career role — prior category management or buying experience is not required.
- Retail, customer service, inventory, purchasing, merchandising, supplier coordination, or internship experience is a plus.
- Foundational understanding of retail financial measures or strong interest in learning them.
- Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Effective written and verbal communication skills; ability to prepare clear reports and presentations.
- Comfortable working with data: basic Excel skills required (organize data, basic formulas); experience with pivot tables, lookups, or analytical features is a plus.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook).
- Demonstrated curiosity, initiative, accountability, and willingness to learn new systems and processes.
- Ability to make sound decisions within established scope and escalate complex/high-risk issues appropriately.
- Able to collaborate effectively across teams and maintain professional supplier and stakeholder relationships.
Compensation & Type
- Employment Type: Full time, Permanent
- Estimated salary (as listed with the original posting): $82,988 per year (estimated)
About Our Client
Confidential Client is a leading company in the automotive parts retail and distribution industry. The organization values a customer-first mindset, teamwork, and development, offering practical training and career progression paths for employees who demonstrate capability and growth.
Benefits
- Competitive pay and development-focused culture
- Medical, dental, and vision plans
- 401(k) with company match and stock purchase opportunities (where applicable)
- Employee discounts and wellness programs
- Paid time off and disability insurance options for eligible employees
- Tuition reimbursement and learning resources for career growth
(Eligibility and specific benefits may vary by location and employment status.)
Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency
Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.
If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.
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