North America Foodservice (NAF) is on a mission to be the undisputed leader in food away from home. The NAF Walmart Category Team is seeking a Category Advisor (CA) reporting into the Category and Operations Manager to help drive growth with our priority Retail Foodservice customer.

This customer-facing position will closely partner with the Walmart Merchant team for their Retail Bakery department on activation initiatives to execute holistic omni-channel category plans that mutually benefit both Walmart and General Mills. You will partner internally and externally with Walmart, providing the tactical direction needed to drive overall category, distribution and share of shelf growth. You will be a key team member in category initiatives, embedding Luminate into the business, and driving execution for best-in-class solutions. You will use category and retailer data and insights to create compelling stories that will influence recommendations, advance category sales, and deliver exceptional results and execution through the Walmart modular relay process.

Strong candidates will demonstrate strong category management skills, story-telling abilities, an openness and excitement to embracing technology, experience working cross functionally (both internally and externally) and deep data-driven analytics and planogram drawing ability.

The role will provide you with direct and indirect leadership opportunities, cross functional experiences, and the opportunity to be a thought leader for a priority customer. You will also have the opportunity to join North America Foodservice, a growth segment for General Mills that provides a unique place to build a career and drive impact.

RESPONSIBILITIES

You will leverage your Foodservice and Retailer industry knowledge to develop insights from a broad range of information sources and formulate a cohesive story that enables sales growth:

PROBLEM SOLVING & ANALYTICS

• Partner with Walmart Merchant teams to understand strategic priorities, execute the holistic omni-channel category strategies by leveraging the tools, insights, and analytics from internal, industry, and retailer-specific sources.
• Contribute to an influential selling story by gathering and analyzing category, consumer behavior (purchase behavior, demographics, trends, competition), market, and customer information from multiple internal and external data sources (e.g., Luminate, Nielsen, Retail Link, shopper insights, sales data).
• Cultivate actionable insights and category initiative recommendations to drive category growth, distribution, merchandising, and shelving.
• Continuously develop industry knowledge regarding trends, challenges, and opportunities

EXECUTIONAL EXCELLENCE

• Demonstrate executional excellence through the modular relay process including planogram drawing ability meeting timelines with quality execution
• Leverage syndicated data to provide key industry and department/category insights and conduct market specific assessments of competitors, vendors, and customers to support decisions and influence management
• Take personal accountability and ownership for distribution results, deeply understand the consumer, and prioritize what’s important (Category Growth, In Store & Digital Shelf Management, and Key Strategic Initiatives for General Mills and Walmart)
• Manage multiple strategic analytics projects and operational needs

INFLUENTIAL LEADERSHIP

• Interface with the customer on a regular basis to deliver influential consumer and category insights
• Participate in special strategic category projects intended to evolve or advance General Mills category management influence
• Partner and influence with external customers and internal teams and key stakeholders

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree
• 7+ years Category experience with sales, marketing, category management, shopper/consumer insights, customer-facing account management, analytics and/or trade funding
• Strong analytical skills and experience aggregating internal and external data sources (e.g., Nielsen, IRI, Luminate, sales data) of information to build an influential selling story
• Tools including JDA/Blue Yonder, Cantactix, Luminate, Numerator experience a plus
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft applications; particularly strong Excel skills in pivots, formulas, large data sets, etc.
• Modular drawing experience
• Ability to think systemically and lead complex processes
• Ability to influence decision making across multiple levels and functions of an organization to drive results
• Advanced strategic thinking, planning, financial management, decision-making, and influence skills
• Self-motivated and detail oriented with the ability to perform well in a fast-paced and changing environment; effectively manage and prioritize multiple projects
• Demonstrate learning mindset and agility to effectively partner and influence with external customers and internal teams and key stakeholders with strong communication skills (written and verbal)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) Industry
• Experience working within Walmart’s category management team

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Relocation assistance will be provided to Northwest Arkansas (Rogers, Bentonville, or the surrounding area), and candidates can expect 10-15% travel, including quarterly visits to General Mills Headquarters, industry events, and national sales meetings.
• This role will play an interim Team Leadership role for the NAF Walmart Category Management Team through your Manager’s return from Leave in January 2025.
  • This will include managing 3 Direct Reports (2 Business Category Associates and 1 Business Category Lead) and serving as the main point of contact to the Customer.

We exist to make food the world loves. But we do more than that. Our company is a place that prioritizes being a force for good, a place to expand learning, explore new perspectives and reimagine new possibilities, every day. We look for people who want to bring their best — bold thinkers with big hearts who challenge one other and grow together. Because becoming the undisputed leader in food means surrounding ourselves with people who are hungry for what’s next.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $106800.00 - $160300.00 / Annually. At General Mills we strive for each employee's pay at any point in their career to reflect their experiences performance and skills for their current role. The salary range for this role represents the numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to, educations, skills, work experience, certifications, etc. As such, pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range. Beyond base salary, General Mills offers a competitive Total Rewards package focusing on your overall well-being. We are proud to offer a foundation of health benefits, retirement and financial wellbeing, time off programs, wellbeing support and perks. Benefits may vary by role, country, region, union status, and other employment status factors. You may also be eligible to participate in an annual incentive program. An incentive award, if any, depends on various factors, including, individual and organizational performance.