Director of Category Management & Sales Planning

Title: Director of Category Management & Sales Planning

Location: Remote

Who We Are: Banza reimagines your favorite comfort foods, like pasta, pizza, mac & cheese, and rice, using chickpeas. Why? Because we know chickpeas aren't just delicious, they're also one of the most nutritious and sustainable foods. Yet 80% of the country isn't eating enough of them. Our mission is to inspire people to eat more chickpeas and other beans, making a positive impact on human health and the environment. Banza is the fastest-growing pasta brand in the country, and our products are available in over 21,000 stores nationwide. We've been named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of the Year, Adweek's Best Food Brand, and are proud to have fans at Good Morning America, The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and more.

Your Mission: As Director of Sales Planning, you will play a strategic leadership role in driving the growth and profitability of our product portfolio. You will be responsible for building compelling category strategies, bringing consumer insights and retail data to life, driving sales planning, trade strategy, and cross-functional alignment to accelerate sustainable growth. This role will lead the development and execution of annual sales plans, oversee trade promotion planning and analytics, and serve as a vital connector between Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Operations. You will collaborate with marketing, brand management, and product development to shape go-to-market plans, product innovation, and long-term brand success. You will report to the SVP of Sales.

What You'll Do:

• Own the Sales Planning and Category Management Functions
• Develop and execute category management strategies to achieve retailer objectives across our categories.
• Develop and maintain a robust sales forecast model that integrates customer inputs, shipment history, promotional plans, and inventory assumptions.
• Manage the annual sales plans focused on creating long-term value
• Deploy trade marketing budget for optimal effectiveness and performance
• Team Management
• Develop strong performance on your team and lead through influence
• Build strong, trusted relationships with account managers and cross-functionally at Banza
• Tools & Systems
• Work with internal teams to source, shape, and implement internal and external systems
• Build scalable processes to support growth and improve forecast accuracy, visibility, and reporting.
• Own KPI reporting and category scorecards to assess performance and guide decision-making.
  

Who You Are:

• Experienced Category Leader: 10+ years in food & beverage CPG within category and trade management, with 5+ years leading a function
• Analytical and Strategic Story-teller: Leverage fact-based insights to drive and shape sales strategy while weaving a compelling story of retailers
• Data-Driven Category: Tapped into our categories and the retailer landscape to identify trends and opportunities.
• High Influence: Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence without authority.
  
  

To Apply: Write a cover letter describing why you want to join Banza and why you would be an excellent fit for this role (yes, we actually read every cover letter!) and then apply directly to this posting. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

We're aware of the research showing that historically underrepresented groups are less likely to apply for a job if they don't believe that they meet all of the criteria. Do you hesitate to submit an application because you believe you need to check every box? Please apply anyway with a thoughtful cover letter! We would love to hear from you to discuss how you can help us build a great team at Banza.

Compensation

Our salary ranges are based on verified market data and our philosophy of paying competitively for our size and industry. Individual pay rate decisions are based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skillset, geographical location, and balancing internal equity relative to peers at the company. We expect the majority of the candidates who are offered roles at our company to fall within the range based on these factors. The salary band for this role is $150,000 - 200,000 plus a bonus. The range is for the expectations as laid out in the job description; however, we are often open to a wide variety of profiles and locations. Any updates to the salary range or considerations based on your experience and location will be communicated to you as a candidate.

Perks and Benefits

• Equity in Banza
• Annual Bonus
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance starting day 1: Banza pays 80% of the monthly premiums for employees and 70% for dependents
• One Medical Membership
• Short-Term Disability and Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefits
• 401(k)
• Paid Time Off: 20 vacation days, 10 holidays, 6 sick days, 2 personal days, a birthday day off, and a 7+ week sabbatical after 5 continuous years of employment.
• Extended Leave: Short-Term Disability, Parental Leave, and other Paid Family Leave. Support provided by our end-to-end leave management partner, Sparrow
• New Parents: 12 weeks of paid parental leave plus additional optional leave time to add, and 4 weeks of flexible return to work arrangements.
• Breast milk shipping service for traveling team members provided by Milk Stork
• Monthly fitness, internet and phone stipends
• Monthly lunch stipend to encourage team member connection
• Annual education stipend
• Home office set-up stipend
• Unlimited Pasta, Rice & Mac
• $500 annual stipend to purchase our pizza and waffles, wherever they're sold
• Quarterly snack box for remote employees
• Lively NYC office stocked with snacks and beverages
• Quarterly in-person and remote events
  
  

Our Commitment: Banza is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. To achieve our mission of inspiring people to eat more chickpeas and other beans, we greatly benefit from a range of perspectives, which comes from diversity of all types, at all levels of the organization. Facilitating diversity and inclusion is the smart thing for our business. So we strongly encourage women, veterans, people with all abilities, people of color, and gender nonconforming candidates to apply.

Banza is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. Banza will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories consistent with legal requirements.

Banza participates in E-Verify to confirm the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. As a participating employer, we provide the federal government with Form I-9 information to verify work authorization. For more information about E-Verify, please visit www.e-verify.gov.