Job Title:  Commercial Category Development Manager

Division: Consumer Products Division

Location: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Reports To: Senior Manager – Category Development

Who We Are: 

For more than a century, L’Oréal has devoted its energy, innovation, and scientific excellence solely to one business: Beauty. Our goal is to offer each and every person around the world the best of beauty in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility to satisfy all beauty needs and desires in their infinite diversity. 

At L'Oréal Consumers Products, our mission is to democratize the best of beauty, and for us, beauty has to be sustainable. Our division holds the world’s #1 beauty brand with L’Oréal Paris, the #1 makeup brand with Maybelline New York, the #1 natural brand with Garnier, as well as NYX Professional Make Up.  

What You Will Learn:

The Category Manager is responsible for leading and optimizing the Category Management and Merchandising strategy across all territories, ensuring strong partnerships with retailers and distributors while driving category growth.    This role is responsible for overseeing both teams, defining priorities, ensuring strategic alignment, and developing talent within the organization.

This role focuses on two key pillars:

1. Category Management: Positioning L’Oréal as the leading category advisor, building client relationships, driving insights-based strategies, and optimizing the category’s overall performance.

2. Visual Merchandising: Ensuring best-in-class execution at the point of sale through optimized planograms, visual merchandising, and in-store enhancement of the category shopping experience.  

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Business Growth

• Develop and execute the Category & Merchandising strategy across all territories, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market trends.
• Position L’Oréal as the leading category advisor by developing strong partnerships with retailers and distributors.
• Define priorities and allocate resources effectively to maximize impact in key markets.
• Lead insight-driven decision-making, leveraging data from Nielsen, Luminate, JDA, Circana and other market intelligence tools.
• Support innovation pipeline recommendations to optimize product mix and improve forecasting accuracy.

Category Management & Client Advisory

• Guide Category Administrators and Analysts in executing market research, performance tracking, and data-driven recommendations for category growth.
• Establish category capabilities to share market insights, trends, and category learnings internally and externally (capsules, deep dives, dedicated day, team dynamics, etc)
• Leverage category analysis to provide retailers with data-backed recommendations for assortment planning and highlighting areas for potential category development and growth.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with Marketing, Brand Activators and Commercial Teams

to ensure category strategies are seamlessly executed.

Visual Merchandising 

• Supervise the Visual Merchandising Team ensuring best-in-class execution at the point of sale.
• Oversee planogram strategy, ensuring category shelf space is optimized based on market insights and retailer agreements.
• Promote compliance with L’Oréal’s merchandising guidelines, including visual merchandising, fixtures, and store activations.
• Lead strategy vision and supplier relationships to develop category beauty projects and elevated beauty experiences.
• Champion sustainability initiatives, ensuring merchandising projects align with L’Oréal’s Reduce-Reuse-Recycle approach.

What We Are Looking For:

Required Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business Administration or related disciplines.
• Language: Fully Bilingual (English and Spanish)
• Years of Experience: Minimum five (5) years of experience in similar or related position. Experience in the consumer goods or beauty Industry is preferred.
• Job Specific Experience/Skills:
• Proficiency in supplier management software like Retail Link, Pro-Space, Nielsen. 
• Up to date with the latest category management principles.
• Working knowledge at evaluating current business retail practices.
• Ability to generate reports on market activity and communicate them effectively. 
• Ability to think from a consumer and customer centricity perspective.
• Technical Skills: Proficient in Microsoft Office programs including Excel, Analyzer and business applications.
• Travel: This position may require traveling up to 15% for business meeting or trainings. 

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essentials functions of this job.   Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the essential functions of this job, the employee spends specific time in the following physical activities: 

• Stand: Under 1/3
• Walk: Under 1/3
• Sit: Over 2/3
• Talk or hear: Over 2/3

Also, the employee lifts specific weight following safety guidelines and policies established by the Company.

• Lift up to 10 pounds: Over 1/3
• Lift up to 25 pounds: Under 1/3

Lift up to 50 pounds: NonePreferred Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certified Professional Category Manager (CPCM) and Certified Professional Strategic Advisor are preferred.  
• Attention to detail and dedication to continuous improvement.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Confident with decision making and project management.
• Demonstrated negotiation and interpersonal skills.

What’s In It For You:

• Competitive Benefit Package (Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K, Pension Plan)
• Hybrid Work Policy (3 Days in Office, 2 Days Work from Home) 
• Flexible Time Off (Paid Company Holidays, Paid Vacation, Vacation Buy Program, Volunteer Time, Summer Fridays & More!)
• Access to Company Perks (Company Store, Monthly Mobile Allowance)
• Learning & Development Opportunities for Career Progression (Unlimited Access to E-learnings, Lunch & Learn Sessions, Mentorship Programs, & More!)
• Employee Resource Groups (Think Tanks and Innovation Squads)
• Access to Mental Health & Wellness Programs 

Don’t meet every single requirement? At L'Oréal, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and innovative workplace. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the qualifications listed in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways! You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment. We would love to find out more about you as a candidate and do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or disability, or any other legally protected status.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to access job openings or apply for a job on this site as a result of your disability. You can request reasonable accommodations by contacting [email protected]. If you need assistance to accommodate a disability, you may request an accommodation at any time. 

Our Safe Together Plan: Your safety is our highest priority. We will proceed with caution and adhere to enhanced protection standards to ensure our sites are safe for all employees. We must all operate with the shared responsibility for each other’s health & safety in mind.