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: January 05, 2027

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Vacancy reference: PR-303058

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Corporate recruiter

Alyssa DeRosario

+1 403 539 5009

Contact

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