About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader, creating breakthrough science to improve people’s health. We’re always looking towards the future, anticipating changes in medical science and technology.
Working at Abbott
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You will have access to:
-
Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
-
A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
-
A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.
The Opportunity
This position is based at our Mississauga, Ontario office within the Nutritional Products Division and requires on‑site presence four days per week, with the option to work remotely one day.
What You’ll Do
The Sr. Manager of Category and Commercial Excellence is responsible for developing and executing comprehensive category and commercial strategies that drive profitable and sustainable growth in retail sales. This role leads the national category strategy across the entire Nutrition portfolio, and serves as a critical liaison among Retail Customers, Marketing, Finance, the Retail Sales organization, and the Executive Leadership Team. This position plays a pivotal role in defining and advancing the retail category vision by integrating category strategy, shopper insights, and short- and long-term business planning to drive consistent execution and delivers sustained growth for Abbott Nutrition Brands.
Key Responsibilities
-
Lead a team of two direct reports (Category Development Manager and Trade Marketing Manager) to establish category vision, strategic plans, and best‑in‑class execution across trade marketing and in‑store/online merchandising.
-
Drive high customer satisfaction by ensuring effective execution of category strategies, merchandising programs, and retailer initiatives to drive sales growth, strengthen retailer partnerships, and enhance customer loyalty.
-
Ensure continued capability development of the team to ensure succession planning.
Category Strategy & Insights
-
Develop robust category and shopper insights to influence brand and customer initiatives that drive sales growth and margin improvement.
-
Identify and advance strategic growth platforms across Abbott Nutrition categories using deep shopper and marketplace understanding.
-
Translate category growth opportunities into actionable retail strategies that maximize customer category performance and create value for Abbott Nutrition.
-
Integrate retail and category strategies into brand plans through close collaboration with Marketing teams.
-
Align retailer strategies with Abbott Nutrition business objectives to deliver results in sales, margin, shelf presence, shopper programs, and efficiency initiatives.
-
Synthesize consumer insights, consumption data, and brand direction to build compelling strategic category and brand narratives.
-
Drive consistent execution by integrating brand priorities, category growth drivers, and customer-specific strategies to make sure brand goals, category growth plans, and retailer needs all fit together and drive the same outcome.
-
Create and deliver impactful sales presentations to support innovation launches and retailer growth opportunities.
-
Strengthen key retailer relationships by delivering category analytics, insights, and thought leadership.
-
Execute category plans through effective planogram, modular, digital, and category management processes.
Trade Marketing & Merchandising
-
Lead trade marketing and merchandising strategies and tools to increase brand presence across in‑store, online, and retailer platforms.
-
Develop and manage annual trade marketing strategies and investment plans.
-
Optimize promotional calendars, frequency, and depth to maximize return on investment.
-
Track gross‑to‑net performance, trade spend efficiency, and profitability.
-
Evaluate post‑event performance and implement continuous improvements to promotional effectiveness.
Sales Effectiveness & Revenue Growth Management (RGM)
-
Oversee Sales Effectiveness and RGM tools, processes, and governance.
-
Drive consistent, profitable revenue growth through strategic planning and execution of short‑ and long‑term sales initiatives.
-
Manage budgets related to POS and inventory data and oversee relationships with third‑party data and analytics partners.
-
Translate Retail and Sales requirements into comprehensive RFPs, SOWs, timelines, and performance expectations for external vendors.
-
Maintain standard operating procedures to ensure sustainable and effective use of merchandising and analytical tools.
-
Provide ongoing support and training to internal users of sales and analytics platforms.
People Leadership & Capability Development
-
Build and sustain team capability by leading, coaching, and developing talent with a focus on supporting effective succession planning.
-
Manage performance by setting clear objectives, providing timely feedback, and driving accountability for results.
-
Recognize and reward performance based on results, behaviors, and development of critical competencies.
-
Train and enable category management personnel in the use of business analytics tools, including POS data, Nielsen/Circana, Power BI, Microsoft Office Suite, and retailer‑specific platforms.
Required Qualifications
-
Minimum Bachelor’s Degree
-
Minimum of 5 to 8 years related experience
Preferred Qualifications
Skills/Knowledge
-
Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
-
Strong critical‑thinking and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to operate independently.
-
Ability to operate with clarity and effectiveness in complex, cross‑functional environments.
-
Strong collaboration skills, enabling information sharing and a team‑based approach to achieving results.
-
Proven capability to lead, coach, motivate, and inspire teams to deliver desired outcomes.
-
Advanced analytical ability to interpret statistical data, synthesize insights from multiple data sources, and translate analysis into actionable recommendations, including scenario development.
-
French bilingual is an asset
-
Experience in Canadian Retail landscape ideally in CPG/OTC industry.
-
Expert with syndicated data (Neilsen, Feature vision, etc.)
-
Expert in Microsoft Office, specifically Excel and PowerPoint
-
Expert in Retailers tools, specifically WM Retail Link/Scintilla, LCL LDIA, Sobeys Circana
Follow your career aspirations to Abbott for diverse opportunities with a company that can help you build your future and live your best life. Abbott is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to employee diversity.
Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.
