Category Strategy & Vendor Development Manager

About the Role:
We are seeking an experienced, highly driven professional to lead the development and growth of our Engineered Hardwood category and potentially other specialty product lines.

Key Responsibilities:

• Evaluate Engineered Hardwood and other specialty product categories as growth opportunities, including market size, competitive landscape, pricing, trends, and growth potential.
• Identify and engage major manufacturers, brands, distributors, and market players relevant to the category.
• Develop end-to-end strategy integrating product opportunity, sourcing, and positioning.
• Source, evaluate, and build relationships with vendors and suppliers, including outreach, qualification, negotiation support, and ongoing partnership development.
• Define product assortment, specifications, positioning, and data requirements to successfully launch and scale the category.
• Apply AI-enabled research and workflow tools (such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) to improve speed, efficiency, analysis, and category decision-making.
• Collaborate across product, content, and marketing teams to bring the category to market effectively, including managing digital marketing channels like Pinterest, Instagram, Meta ads, Google ads, and Microsoft ads.
• Track category performance, identify gaps, and recommend improvements to growth, visibility, and profitability.

Qualifications:

• 5-7 years in category management, product marketing, or vendor management
• Experience building product categories in e-commerce, building materials, home improvement, or adjacent industries. 
• Hands-on experience with Shopify and/or Amazon Seller Central
• Proven track record finding and building vendor/supplier relationships
  
• Strong commercial judgment and ability to translate market opportunity into actionable strategy
• Basic understanding of SEO 
• Comfortable with customer-facing interactions
• Excellent English communication skills


What Success Looks Like:

• Successfully analyze and validate the potential of the Engineered Hardwood category and other specialty product lines.
• Identify and secure partnerships with the most relevant brands, vendors, and competitive players.
• Build strong vendor relationships and establish a viable supply-side strategy.
• Recommend and help execute a comprehensive category growth plan from end to end.
• Lay the groundwork for broader responsibilities in marketing, product management, or analytical leadership over time
• Quantify demand and opportunity through SEO and market analysis to prioritize efforts.

Growth Opportunity:

This role has the potential to evolve into broader leadership positions in:

• Marketing leadership
• Product/category management
• Product data strategy
• Business analysis