Category Manager

Job Description:

Category Manager

Blueland is revolutionizing conventional cleaning and personal care products to eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging, while prioritizing the planet and people. We believe that we should be able to have a clean home without sacrificing a clean planet and that sustainable choices should be effective, convenient, and affordable. We also believe that businesses need to be reconstructed to consider all stakeholders, not just profit.

We are a science-driven company with a pipeline of proprietary products that started with our cleaning sprays and hand soap (we hold over 40 patents and patents pending worldwide). To date, we’ve already helped divert more than 1 billion single-use plastic bottles from landfills and waterways. We were the 2nd fastest growing direct-to-consumer in 2020, and have built an engaged, passionate community of close to 1M+ person community. We’re proud to be a Certified B Corp - recognized for meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. We’re also Climate Neutral Certified along with many other certifications that help hold us accountable on our commitments to optimize our products for environmental and human health.

Blueland was featured on the Season 11 premiere of Shark Tank, securing an investment by Kevin O’Leary. Blueland is well-funded by top tier venture capital firms as well as notable investors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Timberlake and founders of Sweetgreen, Thrive Market, Honest Company, Rent the Runway, and Bonobos. We’ve been featured across top tier outlets such as the New York Times, Fast Company, TechCrunch, VOGUE, Wall Street Journal, Inc., and more.

The Role:

We’re looking for a passionate and data-driven Category Manager to help drive Blueland’s continued growth across key retail partners. With our recent expansion into over 3,500+ new stores—including Target, Costco, Whole Foods Market, HEB, and Kroger—this role will be instrumental in maintaining the brand's strong trajectory.

As a key member of our retail sales team, you’ll own/lead our retail insights & analytics responsibilities as you partner closely with sales, product marketing, brand marketing, finance, and operations. You’ll turn data into insights, develop strategies to grow our shelf presence and market share while driving overall natural cleaning category growth, and champion our mission through data-backed consumer-centric recommendations. This role reports to the VP of Retail Sales.

Responsibilities:

• Category Strategy & Planning:
• Lead development of category strategies across key accounts to drive velocity, distribution, and incremental merchandising.
• Build customer-facing decks and recommendations that blend internal sales data with market and shopper insights.
• Serve as the category expert for buyers, identifying opportunities to elevate the category with sustainable solutions.
• Retail & Market Analysis:
• Analyze syndicated data, retailer POS, internal performance metrics, and other intel resources to identify trends and whitespace.
• Monitor category dynamics, competitor activity, and macro trends to inform pricing, pack size, and promotional strategy.
• Conduct regular in-store and digital “retail safaris” to evaluate execution and innovation in the aisle.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
• Partner with product marketing, innovation, and ops teams to inform new product development and launch timing based on category needs.
• Collaborate with finance and sales to support forecasts, promotional ROI, and retailer-level P&Ls.
• Coordinate with creative and eComm to support omnichannel consistency across .com product pages and marketing efforts.
• Retail Execution Support:
• Inform consumption and shipment forecasts by monitoring velocity shifts, promo lifts, and competitive activity.
• Maintain internal tools and trackers including line review timelines, promotional calendars, and assortment plans.
• Develop post-promotion and post-launch analyses to guide future planning and optimize execution.

Qualifications:

• 3–6 years of experience in a Category Manager or similar role within the CPG industry.
• Strong command of syndicated data (SPINS, Nielsen, IRI) and retailer POS portals (e.g., 8451, MyData, Meijer, UNFI, Partners Online).
• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets, PowerPoint/Slides, and Looker or similar BI tools.
• Strategic thinker with a commercial mindset and proven ability to translate data into action.
• Experience working with retailers like Target, Kroger, Meijer, Whole Foods, or Costco is highly preferred.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills—able to build trust with internal and external stakeholders.
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Willingness to travel 1–4x/year for key meetings, line reviews, and retail visits.

The salary range for this position is $110,000 - $135,000 per year.

We prioritize our planet and our people. In addition to salary compensation, we offer various other benefits to ensure our team members can be their best self, both in and outside of work. Benefits for full time roles include: health benefits, stock options, generous paid time off, paid holidays, paid civic engagement days, paid parental leave, 401k (employee contribution), professional development stipends, remote work reimbursements, various discounts to like-minded companies and more.

At Blueland we believe in order to build a better future and planet, we must advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. We are proud to have assembled a diverse team and strongly encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification.

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