Introduction

Protein Category Manager

Amherst, Nova Scotia

What are you going to do 

Responsibilities

Strategic Opportunity Buys

  • Make fast purchasing decisions on time-sensitive offers from vendors and strategic alliances to gain market advantages.
  • Track market trends and commodity fluctuations to keep pricing competitive for the sales team.
  • Sourcing unique opportunity buys to drive customer interest and incremental sales.

Risk & Inventory Management

  • Assess volume, distribution center (DC) capacity, and market volatility before placing high-risk forward buys.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with Merchandising, Sales, Supply Chain, and Revenue Management to ensure smooth sell-through.

COP Contracting Program Management

  • Lead supplier-side contracting with key partners to secure optimal volume and pricing for category growth.
  • Oversee customer-side protein contracts, aligning costs with sales commitments to safeguard margins and distribution.
  • Monitor vendor and division contract compliance, escalating performance issues as needed.

Portfolio & Vendor Leadership

  • Source across national, regional, specialty, and local suppliers to maintain market-relevant inventory.
  • Negotiate contracts with new regional suppliers and balance national category goals with local market demands.
  • Forward-buy and secure supply ahead of seasonal demand spikes and commodity cycles to prevent inventory gaps.

Sales Partnership & Customer Engagement

  • Serve as the protein subject-matter expert for sales teams, participating in client meetings and business reviews.
  • Educate and coach sales representatives on market trends, product details, and selling strategies to boost margin growth.

Essential skills and knowledge

Requirements

  • Protein Expertise: 3+ years of deep knowledge in beef, lamb, seafood and poultry is a must-have, including quality standards and supply chain dynamics.
  • Commodity Market Fluency: Extensive knowledge of market fluctuations and the ability to interpret data to make timely buying decisions.
  • Must have experience in the Atlantic market specific to protein categories
  • Financial & Analytical Acumen: Strong grasp of Margin, Pricing and DC capacity metrics in a perishable goods environment.
  • Collaboration & Influence: Proven ability to work across multiple teams and influence stakeholders at both the regional and national levels.
  • The "Intrapreneur" Spirit: A creative thinker who can inject fresh perspectives into the category and drive brand goals.
  • Tech Savvy: Bachelor's degree preferred; SAP experience is a significant asset for managing complex inventory and procurement data.
  • Must be comfortable being in office 4 days a week, in addition to 10-20% travel a year.

What we offer 

What We Offer

Why apply through Brunel? Finding the next step in your career can be a fulltime job in itself. We manage the process for you: from submitting your resume to coordinating interviews to extending offers and assisting with on-boarding. We'll get you going while you get on with the job.

About Us

Brunel has a reputation for working with some of the best in the business. That's what we continually strive for. Over 45 years, we've created a global network of interesting clients and talented individuals working together through a vast array of services.

Closing: 05 January 2027

Apply Now

Are you the perfect match for this vacancy? Apply in 5 minutes and let's get in touch!

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Process of your application

Application process & contact

We will now begin examining your application: We will take a close look at your application documents and ask you for additional information if necessary. If your qualifications match our requirements, we will invite you to meet us for the first time.

Project discussion with our customer

If the introductory meeting goes well for you and us, we will arrange a meeting with the customer who has the perfect project for you. This gives you the opportunity to find out more about the customer and the project.

The decision

If you enjoyed the project discussion and the customer is also convinced of your expertise, we will ask you the final and decisive question: Do you want to get started at Brunel?

Introductory conversation with Brunel

In an introductory meeting, we would like to find out more about your interests, ambitions and professional developments. At the same time, we report on working at Brunel and provide information about all career opportunities and prospects.

Welcome to Brunel

Now great times are beginning! With Brunel you have countless opportunities to help shape technological progress. You decide how your career path goes. We support you in every phase of your career. You always have security behind you: Brunel!