Category Manager, Poultry

Job description

Job Description:

Our Opportunity:

Chewy is seeking a Category Manager to lead our Poultry / Backyard Chicken business, one of Chewy’s fastest-growing categories over the last three years and a strategic growth area within our broader Equine & Farm portfolio. In this role, you will be responsible for driving continued profitable sales growth across the healthcare, treats, and hard goods verticals. You will develop strong external vendor relationships while leading internal cross-functional partners to deliver against category goals.

You will own the P&L, business strategy, business operations, assortment strategy, and customer experience for the poultry category, with a focus on building a best-in-class shopping experience for backyard chicken owners. You will serve as an advocate and evangelist for the business with internal stakeholders.

Our ideal candidate is an experienced and versatile category leader with strong merchandising, retail, eCommerce, or category management experience, combined with deep category/domain expertise and a passion for poultry husbandry and ownership. You have a proven track record of high performance, earn trust with internal and external stakeholders, operate at depth, and thrive in high-growth business environments.

Success in this role requires strong ownership, attention to detail, and a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset. You are comfortable navigating ambiguity, influencing cross-functional partners, negotiating with vendors, and leading initiatives that drive measurable business impact.

What You’ll Do:

• Own the poultry category P&L, with accountability for meeting and exceeding sales and gross margin goals

• Establish, build, and manage strong vendor partnerships, including ownership of assortment planning, cost/rebate/terms negotiations, promotions, and joint business planning

• Deliver best-in-class execution across catalog and vendor operations, including item and content setup, ordering and forecasting inputs, promotional planning, assortment launches, and issue resolution

• Develop and implement category growth strategies based on customer insights, market trends, and business performance data to acquire new customers, deepen engagement with existing customers, launch new products, and expand vendor relationships

• Identify opportunities to optimize and maximize product performance through assortment analysis, sales trends, competitive insights, and category gap analysis

• Partner cross-functionally with Supply Chain, Finance, Pricing, Marketing, Customer Service, Merchandising Operations, and Product teams to drive category initiatives and achieve business goals

• Analyze industry and consumer trends within the poultry category to inform forecasting, inventory planning, and strategic decision-making

• Influence and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to execute against category priorities and deliver results in a fast-paced environment

What You’ll Need:

• 4+ years of holistic business experience in eCommerce, merchandising, retail, category management, FMCG, agribusiness, animal science/nutrition, or a similar field

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Economics, Animal Sciences, Agriculture, Agribusiness, Marketing, or a related field preferred

• Experience managing vendor relationships, negotiations, assortment planning, and category performance

• Strong comprehensive business acumen across vendor management, merchandising, marketing, supply chain, operations, and project management

• Demonstrated success building, scaling, or improving a complex category, business, or product portfolio in a high-growth environment

• Proven operator, skilled in high-quality go-to-market execution, with a strong growth mindset

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into actionable strategies

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to detail

• Proven ability to influence cross-functional partners and lead initiatives across a matrixed organization

• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and strong knowledge of retail math; SQL experience preferred

• Experience or familiarity with poultry, backyard chicken ownership, farm, livestock, or agricultural-related categories preferred

• Willingness to travel up to 10%

Bonus:

• Business and leadership experience in high-growth or market-leading organizations

• Experience leveraging AI tools to improve efficiency, reporting, and decision-making

• Proven track record of delivering results through strategic thinking and operational execution

• Experience working within cross-functional, matrixed organizations

#LI-BB2

• The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, education, and work location. In addition, this position is eligible for 401k and a new hire and annual equity grant. C08+ positions may also be eligible for annual bonus.

We offer different types of insurance and benefits, such as medical/Rx, vision, dental, life, disability, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and accident. We offer parental leave, family services benefits, backup dependent care, flexible spending accounts, telemedicine, pet adoption reimbursement, employee assistance program, and many discounts including 10% off pet insurance and 20% off at Chewy.com. 

Exempt salary team members have unlimited PTO, subject to manager approval. Team members will receive six paid holidays per year. Team members may be eligible for paid sick and family leave in compliance with applicable state and local regulations. 

Chewy is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need an accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, or if you need a religious accommodation, please contact CAAR@chewy.com.

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