Associate Category Manager - Food Services

Company Overview 

Welcome to Timewise, where great people power great experiences! Shell Mobility & Convenience proudly operates more than 200 Timewise convenience stores and Shell fuel stations across Texas and New Mexico. As part of the Shell Group since 2022, we combine the strength of a global organization with a welcoming, team-oriented culture. We are committed to providing exceptional customer experiences while creating meaningful career growth opportunities for our employees. 

Position Summary

The Associate Category Manager is responsible for supporting foodservice category execution by maintaining item data, managing product setups and promotions, and ensuring products are accurately available for store ordering and sales. Assist Category Managers through performance analysis, supplier coordination, and category review activities across foodservice, dispensed beverages, and ice.

Key Responsibilities 

• Prepare and validate new-item and maintenance requests: descriptions, UPCs or PLUs, supplier codes, pack sizes, units of measure, category mapping, approved costs and retail prices; check completeness and resolve discrepancies with suppliers and data owners.
• Maintain approved product listings by store or cluster, including additions, replacements, trials and discontinuations; coordinate supplier and distributor item codes and effective dates with Supply Chain and Price Book.
• Coordinate category-level price book tasks in PDI or related systems; submit approved cost, retail and promotional changes, track completion and support orderability, scan and POS price checks before activation.
• Maintain foodservice setup records using approved specifications, including portion or serving sizes, recipe-to-saleable-item links, yields, packaging and shelf-life information where applicable; refer technical and food safety questions to specialist owners.
• Support launch, promotion and reset calendars; assemble approved item lists, store instructions, pricing and signage inputs, track readiness with Operations and Space Planning, and follow up on outstanding actions.
• Prepare recurring sales, units, margin, waste and availability reports; flag unusual results and support assortment reviews, forecasts, competitor checks and post-promotion analysis under Category Manager guidance.
• Support supplier reviews and product trials by coordinating samples, documents and performance data; maintain approved commercial records and provide funding details to the Supplier Income team.
• Triage store and supplier queries on listings, item codes, costs and prices; maintain an issue log, coordinate resolution with the accountable teams and improve templates and checks to reduce repeat errors.
• Own the accuracy, completeness and follow-through of assigned support tasks; return incomplete requests and escalate conflicting data, overdue actions or launch risks.
• Process approved changes only within documented access and authority. Category Managers approve assortment, pricing and commercial terms; Price Book owns central system controls and publication.
• Recommend improvements and support defined category projects under supervision. Product development, supplier commitments and food safety approvals remain with their designated owners.

Qualifications

• Relevant degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, Foodservice or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Early-career retail, foodservice, buying support, merchandising or price book experience preferred; relevant internships or store experience considered.
• Strong spreadsheet skills, including lookups, pivot tables and data validation; ability to interpret sales, cost, margin and waste measures.
• Attention to detail, sound numeracy and effective organization across multiple items, deadlines and stakeholders.
• Clear communication, reliable follow-through and an interest in developing category management judgment; familiarity with PDI, POS or inventory systems is an advantage.

Work environment and physical requirements

Office-based role with occasional store visits, supplier meetings and product trials. Travel, reporting arrangements and any physical requirements to be confirmed by Human Resources.