Location
Commerce, CA | United States
Job description
Who We Are
Established in 1986, N.A. Trading Company has steadily grown to become one of the premier Asian food importers/distributors in the Los Angeles area.
N.A. Trading Company imports products mainly from Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. With over a thousand different kinds of food and merchandise items under well-known labels such as FOCO, Chaokoh, Aroy-D, Pantainorasingh, and our very own Three Deer Brand. Our most popular items include jasmine rice, canned coconut juice, coconut milk, instant noodles, mung bean, Thai tea drinks, and frozen durian.
What You’ll Do As a Category Manager for our Southeast Asian Foods Division, you will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies to optimize supply chain operations. This role requires strong leadership, analytical skills, and the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams. Reporting directly to the CEO, the Category Manager will oversee supplier relationships, procurement processes, and inventory management to ensure cost-efficiency, timely deliveries, and eliminate stock-outs.
- Design and execute sourcing strategies for SE Asian grocery products, ensuring alignment with our business goals and market demands.
- Identify, evaluate, and build relationships with reliable name brand suppliers in SE Asia while managing contractual and negotiation processes. Secure alliances with top suppliers to drive mutual growth.
- Maintain a pulse of SE Asian and Asian American market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive dynamics within the SE Asian grocery product category. Regularly attend supplier visits, trade shows, and conduct market research.
- Collaborate with logistics and supply chain teams to streamline procurement and distribution processes, ensuring products are delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner.
- Ensure the team maintains an optimal inventory level and improve sales and profitability, as well as collaborate with the sales team to broaden external sales efforts.
- Develop short and long-term category objectives aimed at driving the category to meet business growth targets and positions us as the trendsetter in SE Asian grocery products.
- Collaborate with teams to tailor category management strategies and drive performance.
- Monitor and analyze category performance on a national, regional, and division level. Based on analysis, adjust category strategies as required to drive overall category performance, including sales growth and reduce stock outs.
- Lead the effort to drive Exclusive Brand (EB) penetration across the category by ensuring EB products are primary considerations in the development of assigned category and benchmark against our industry.
- Establish, maintain, and grow relationships with suppliers and lead negotiation efforts.
- Keep track of seasonal and trending products to introduce and introduce new and seasonal SE Asian products to the American market.
- Manage vendor communications and consistently provide vendor performance feedback and resolve complex issues.
- Develop category level pricing strategies, continually reviewing pricing structure and implementing changes to maximize performance.
- Negotiate national vendor price deviation funding and determine category promotion strategy. Determine and offer pricing and promotional materials.
- Manage overall category product assortment, to include the execution of assortment reviews, determining core SKUs, reviewing new vendor items, driving national assortment harmonization, and reducing product duplication.
- Identify gaps in EB portfolio, collaborating with product development teams to drive EB product innovation. Monitor market trends to identify product development opportunities in seasonal, trending, and core grocery products.
- Establish product specifications for EB vendors in conjunction with Product Development and monitor performance.
- Other duties assigned by the manager
Job Requirements - Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field.
- 7+ years of category management or equivalent working experience including vendor management and pricing.
- Must possess, or be able to rapidly develop, a strong knowledge of products within assigned category and division sales.
- Proficient at analyzing data and developing strategies based on findings, and support change management with the organization.
- Strong verbal, written and presentation skills required with the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams.
- Highly motivated, ability to prioritize and self-direct, strong business acumen and interpersonal skills.
- MS Office proficiency including Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint required.
- Prior experience with Microsoft Access a plus.
- Proficiency in English
Preferred Job Requirements - Proficiency in Thai, Vietnamese, or other SE Asian Languages are a plus.
Job Type: Full-time
Salary: $80,000.00 - $110,000.00 per year
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