Category Management Manager

The Category Management Manager – Food will report to the Director, Category Management - Food and will be instrumental in identification, development, testing, and implementation of strategic category opportunities for SONIC. This team will help guide where and how SONIC looks for growth opportunities to meet business needs and will work cross-functionally to understand trends, category growth, current and projected category performance, as well as working with teams to develop strategies, products, and key initiatives to address identified opportunities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work with Director to define and refine short and long-term menu strategies in order to meet brand and business objectives
• Partner with Insights team to gather information to understand current customer and growth target needs, market trends, competitive landscape, product screener results, and positioning and product testing to develop recommendations based on prioritized areas of focus
• Analyze ongoing performance of the menu across channels (at the restaurant and in digital channels) to identify opportunities to optimize
• Partner with the Culinary teams to develop, optimize, or improve new initiatives for core menu items; including cross-functional teams such as Operations, Analytics, Supply Chain, Training, and Insights, and Marketing
• Partner with cross-functional teams, including Brand Experience and Commercial Group, on pricing, promotion, and positioning recommendations across channels
• Evaluate, test, and launch product and category results and develop recommendations on path forward for alignment across brand leadership and franchisees

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EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum 4 Year / Bachelor’s Degree

• At least 5+ years working in brand strategy or category management

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, or ABILITIES

• Ability to think strategically and be detail oriented.
• Data-driven thinking with innate curiosity and growth mindset.
• Process strong business acumen and leadership skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, especially the ability to explain difficult concepts and insights in applicable business terms. Strong ability to summarize insights into PowerPoint presentations in clear and understandable calls to action.
• Ability to collaborate and motivate across the operations, supply chain, field, and marketing teams.
• Self-starter with the ability to project manage and handle multiple assignments simultaneously and meet all desired deadlines.
• Strong leadership, sales support, project management and training skills.
• Understanding of how to take products or programs through a development and testing process

• Effective problem-solving skills and ability to listen and translate details attentively.

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At SONIC, we encourage and attract wildly creative people. Bold, unique personalities whose passion for what they do shows in the food, the experience, and the culture of our brand. Sound like you? Join us as we deliver delightful and delicious moments to our guests!

Inspire Brands is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes nearly 32,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC Drive-In restaurants worldwide.

We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.