Category Manager

Do you believe that a company’s success depends on its people? If so, PSI is the place for you! PSI is nothing without people who build, design, and support it. We’re looking for a Category Manager to join our scaling organization.

What’s important to us:

We are seeking to attract individuals who share and demonstrate our core values: Judgement, Curiosity, Agility, Results, Ownership, Teamwork.

At Pacific Smoke International, our mission is to help people quit smoking by providing safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes. As the leading distributor of electronic vaporizers and award-winning vaping products in Canada, we've made significant progress since our founding in 2013. However, we have much more to accomplish for our customers, and we're looking for a culturally aligned Category Manager to join in our Marketing team at our Markham headquarters. Take part in joining an exciting career in a booming industry! 

Overview:

The Category Manager will oversee the performance of all external brands or new brands, including but not limited to hardware, e-liquids, and other brands and products that are identified to fit into the company’s business strategy. This includes leadership in the planning and execution of go-to-market strategies and each brand’s financial performance. The Category Manager would work with all external product brands to organize and direct activities to achieve business development objectives. 

This person would enjoy empowerment to impact change and would be inspired to contribute toward the greater vision of eliminating combustible cigarettes from the world.  Strong business acumen, curiosity, people skills, savvy communications, and an analytical, solution-oriented mindset would lead to success in this role.  Our managers are not afraid to get their hands dirty and will dive into solving problems and seizing opportunities with the team. 

If you are an innovative thinker who is fulfilled by driving brand/product performance, overcoming challenges, and seizing opportunities to launch and build high-performance external brands/products with a sense of financial sustainability in a constantly evolving environment, this is the ideal role for you! 

Key Responsibilities:

• Work closely with the SeniorMarketing team, and other department managers to develop and execute external brand/portfolio strategies and plans to achieve the company’s & department’sobjectives.
• Oversee the external brand/portfolio development process from research, ideation, planning, development, marketing, and sales strategies for entire external brands.
• Deal with external brand owners and manufacturers to continuouslyoptimizeproduct selection, portfolio strategy, and relationship management.
• Work with relevant cross-functional teams (i.e., marketing intelligence, product development, digital marketing,sales teams) to build external brands and products that are set up for success and built to sustainably perform.
• Continuously assess the competitive landscape and consumer insights toidentifytrends, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Assess brand/product performance and effectiveness; strategically add new products, evolve promotional strategies, and minimize slow-moving SKUs.
• Strategize and oversee go-to-market launch strategies and conduct post-mortem analyses to measure effectiveness and refine tactics.
• Manage and be accountable for brand financial performance and the brand marketing budget.
• Generate and analyze reports from various data sources such as regional/national sales, digital marketing analytics, and more to improve brand/product strategies and performance.
• Assistline manager to define, measure, and report on major KPIs relating to business performance to senior management.
• Collaborateon merchandising and guide the creation of point-of-sale materials to increase brand awareness and exposure.

• Create engaging presentations and present new products and promotions to cross-functional departments and key stakeholders.
• Be the main contact point and informed decision-maker for brand-related topics through collaborations with sales, product development, supply chain, demand planning, project management, order desk, and so on.
• Manage the brand planning calendar; coordinate cross-functional activities and plan processes, manage timelines, and ensuretimelycompletion of all deliverables.
• Other related duties as assigned from time to time.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Mandarin speaking is strongly preferred.
• Vape (cannabis or tobacco) industry product, supplier & sales knowledge isrequired
• Proven advanced negotiation and contract management skills
• Ability toidentify, quantify and effectively mitigate procurement risks
• Ability to develop actionable strategies and oversee their execution
• Ability to adapt to changing requirements and provide the necessary support
• Strong cost-benefit and business analysis abilities
• 2-3 years of working experience in product/category management or related experience 
• Strong communication, presentation, and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Strong cost-benefit and business analysis abilities and proven project management skills

What you can expect from Pacific Smoke International:

At our company, we strive to provide our team members with the best possible support. Here is an overview of the current benefits and perks we offer:

• A total compensation package that includes group benefits program starting from day 1 of joining and year-end performance bonus

• Ongoing learning and development opportunities to help build the career you want and hit the goals you set, while ensuringyou’rereaching your fullest potential 
• Threeweeks of Vacation
• Hybrid work(four days in office)
• Aunique opportunity to build, grow and leave your impact on the industry
• To work with a group of people who are humble, supportive, and care about our customers
• Product at distributor pricing to all employees 
• Company events

If you are a results-driven, self-motivated individual who thrives in a collaborative and fast-paced environment, we invite you to join our team at PSI. You will have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people nationwide while working in an inclusive and supportive environment.

Thank you to all the applicants who have shown interest in this position. We appreciate the time and effort you have taken to apply. 

While we carefully review every application we receive, we regret to inform you that only the candidates who are being considered for further evaluation will be contacted. 

Pacific Smoke international is an equal opportunity employer and encourages all qualified candidates to apply. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), we are committed to providing accommodations for people with disabilities to support their participation in all aspects of the recruitment and selection process.