Position Summary As the Category Manager for Tobacco and Nicotine Products, you will own the strategic direction, profitability, and regulatory compliance of this critical category across our multi-state network of convenience stores. This highly visible role requires a data-driven leader with proven negotiation skills and a deep understanding of the evolving nicotine landscape, including combustible and alternative products. You will balance core category performance with innovation, ensuring our assortment and strategies are aligned with Terrible's aggressive growth plans. The Category Manager will champion our tobacco and nicotine product portfolio and drive profitable growth while upholding our brand values. Key Responsibilities: • Develop and Execute Category Strategies: Create and implement comprehensive buying, pricing, and merchandising strategies for tobacco, e-cigarettes, modern oral nicotine products, and other emerging alternatives. This includes long-range planning to maximize market share and profitability in a dynamic, highly regulated category. • Supplier Negotiations and Relationship Management: Lead all supplier negotiations for pricing, contracts, promotional support, and rebate programs to secure the most favorable terms. Cultivate strategic partnerships with vendors to explore innovation and enhance category value. • Product Assortment Optimization: Utilize sales trends, consumer insights, and market data to continuously optimize the product mix, ensuring our offerings meet diverse customer preferences across all locations. • Regulatory and Compliance Management: Proactively manage all federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and reporting requirements related to tobacco and nicotine products, including FDA standards, age restrictions, and marketing guidelines. Act as the subject matter expert to ensure company-wide compliance. • Inventory and Sales Analysis: Oversee inventory levels and analyze sales data using retail buying and inventory management software to forecast demand, identify growth opportunities, and implement strategies to reduce shrinkage. • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with store operations to ensure flawless in-store execution of planograms and promotions. Work closely with marketing, finance, and legal teams to align promotional strategies and track category performance against budget. • Market Intelligence and Forecasting: Stay ahead of industry trends, competitor activities, and regulatory changes. Conduct regular market research to identify and evaluate emerging products and consumer behaviors to inform strategic decision-making. • Performance Reporting: Deliver regular, insightful category performance reports and business reviews to senior leadership, providing actionable recommendations to drive continuous improvement and profitability. • Digital Shelf Optimization: Develop and execute online merchandising and pricing strategies to maximize visibility and sales performance on e-commerce platforms and digital loyalty applications, reflecting the growing trend of omnichannel retail. • Data Analytics and AI Integration: Utilize advanced data analytics and, where applicable, AI-powered tools to predict demand, optimize pricing dynamically, and create hyper-personalized promotions within our loyalty programs, staying ahead of industry competitors. • Customer Loyalty Program Enhancement: Develop strategies to integrate the tobacco and nicotine category into the company's loyalty program, leveraging customer data to drive repeat purchases and increase basket size. • Sustainability and Responsible Retailing: Explore sustainable and ethically sourced products within the category and champion responsible marketing and disposal practices that align with corporate responsibility goals. Qualifications: • Bachelor’s degree in business, Supply Chain, Marketing, or a related field; MBA preferred. • Minimum of 3+ years of progressive experience in category management or procurement within the retail or CPG sector, with specific experience managing a tobacco or nicotine portfolio. • Deep knowledge of tobacco and nicotine product categories, including the alternative and modern nicotine space, and the associated regulatory landscape. • Exceptional negotiation and supplier management skills with a track record of driving significant cost savings and revenue growth. • Highly analytical with the ability to interpret complex sales, market, and consumer data to develop strategic plans. • Strong understanding of e-commerce platforms and digital merchandising principles. • Proficiency in data analysis and experience with tools that leverage AI for demand forecasting and inventory management. • Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders. • Ability to think strategically, innovate creatively, and adapt to rapidly evolving market dynamics and regulations. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: This position will not have any direct supervisory responsibilities. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: Reliable transportation is required to meet standards of frequent travel within local area. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to read and interpret documents in English, such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to read and communicate verbally in English. Written communication skills in English may also be required. REASONING ABILITY: Ability to apply commonsense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS: Employees must be able to qualify for licenses and permits required by federal, state and local regulations. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee frequently is required to reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and peripheral vision. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds, and must have the ability to push, pull, reach, bend, twist, stoop, stack, crouch, kneel and balance when performing job duties in varying work areas such as confined spaces. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. This position must be able to work both at a designated office, as well as remotely, when business dictates. Employees could be exposed to an environment containing unrestricted secondhand tobacco smoke.