Vice President, Category Management - STANLEY

The Company

It takes great people to achieve greatness. People with a sense of purpose and integrity. People with a relentless pursuit of excellence. People who care about making things better For Those Who Make The World™. Join our top-notch team of approximately 48,000 diverse and high-performing professionals globally who are making their mark on some of the world’s most beloved brands, including DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, and HUSTLER®. 

The Role

Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is seeking a collaborative, innovative and results-oriented Vice President, Category Management for our global STANLEY product portfolio.  Reporting to the President and General Manager for STANLEY, this role is responsible for achieving a competitive advantage, customer success and margin growth and is accountable for converting insights into winning ideas with customers. This key leader will shape the strategic direction and execution of category management across our diverse product portfolio with over $900 million in global revenue.

The VP, Category Management for STANLEY will use data to design and communicate compelling category strategies that align with the global brand strategy and communicate key market learnings from the customer back to our leaders to drive future strategy and platform success.

This position is based in our Tools & Outdoor headquarters in Towson, Maryland, though remote locations will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Actionable Brand Performance Insights:
  • Translate the Strategy & Insights team's market intelligence for the overall business into actionable brand-specific end-user and shopper insights.
  • Assess competitive positioning of brand and product portfolio + key metrics to understand opportunities and threats.
• Brand Growth Strategy Setting:
  • Lead the STANLEY brand strategy planning process and work with the STANLEY Leadership Team to shape the brand growth strategy.
  • Set brand architecture including pricing guardrails and leverage it to drive brand leadership, ensuring NPD and core assortment stay true to brand vision and standards.
• New Product Develop & Innovation Prioritization:
  • Collect and identify unmet market needs and whitespace opportunities to inform new product development and brand innovation priorities.
  • Drive the new product development process, ensuring alignment with brand direction and market needs.
  • Identify whitespace opportunities and recommend product changes based on performance analysis.
  • Shape mid to long term brand innovation priorities to enable an advantaged, cohesive product portfolio.
• Commercialization / Go-To-Market Strategy Partnership:
  • Drive global NPD launch and core business /growth planning as part of SIM, to ensure product portfolio provides end user with complete total solution.
  • Partner with Sales / Channel Marketing to shape top-down channel sell-in strategy.
• In-Market Portfolio Performance Enhancement:
  • Lead ongoing business reviews (e.g., MBR, QBR)
  • Drive an 'obsessed with winning the customer and end user' mindset on post-launch NPD.
  • Perform ongoing analyses to shape proactive in-market performance optimization and margin improvement, working with cross-functional stakeholders to drive implementation.
  • Ensure PLM decisions (incl. SKU rationalization, DTV) align with brand and portfolio strategy.
  • Work with downstream partners to ensure portfolio changes are reflected in forecasting, demand planning, and other activities.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: 
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for global product planning that solve end user needs, supporting operational alignment across supply chain, marketing, and sales teams.
  • Support cross-functional teams to ensure STANLEY is reaching is key performance indicators, brand consistency and End User needs.
• Financial Management: 
  • Oversee the category P&L, ensuring profitable growth.
  • Manage marketing budget allocation and financial reporting, providing insights and recommendations to the executive team.
• Team Leadership and Development: 
  • Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing category management team.
  •  Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
  • Provide coaching and establish clear goals for team members.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will bring world-class category management and brand-led strategic thinking to our STANLEY brand.  This leader will have a track record of demonstrated success from a best-in-class branded goods environment and be adept at leading brands by placing end-user data and insights at the core of product innovation and commercialization.  The appropriate candidate will be inspired by the opportunity for transformation by focusing on end-user obsession and innovation for STANLEY.

Qualifications

• Bachelors in Marketing, Business Administration, or related field.  MBA preferred.
• 10+ Years of experience, 5+ years of proven experience in a leadership/managerial capacity.
• Extensive commercial experience and proven track record in category management or related fields from a best-in-class branded goods environment.
• Strong analytical skills, with a record of accomplishment using data to inform decisions and drive results. 
• Proven ability to work effectively in a cross-functional environment, demonstrating an ability to influence others with compelling stories grounded in data to drive initiatives forward.
• Demonstrated experience developing the process, tools and technologies that support category management and insights.
• Excellent communication skills, capable of influencing stakeholders at all levels and contributing constructively to strategic discussions.
• Broad understanding of marketing strategies, customer development, supply chain implications, and financial literacy.
• Strong financial acumen and experience managing budgets and P&L.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in product development and brand communications is preferred.
• Data-driven decision-making and end-user centric approach.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and inspire teams, through both direct leadership and influence.

The Details:

We want our company to be a place you’ll want to be – and stay. Being part of our team means you get to:

• Grow: Be part of our global company with 20+ brands to grow and develop your skills along multiple career paths.
• Learn: Have access to a wealth of learning resources, including our digital learning portal.
• Belong: Experience an awesome place to work, where we have mutual respect and a great appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Give Back: Help us continue to make positive changes locally and globally through volunteerism, giving back, and sustainable business practices.

You will get that pride that comes from empowering makers, doers, protectors, and everyday heroes all over the world. We’re more than the #1 tools company. More than a driving force in outdoor power equipment. More than a global leader in industrial. We’re visionaries and innovators. As successful as we have been in the past, we have so much further to go. That’s where you come in. Join us!

#LI-Hybrid
#LI-MB1 
 

The base pay range for this position in  Maryland is $142,200 - $298,600 per year. Pay is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A sign-on payment may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Applicants should apply via Stanley Black and Decker’s internal or external careers site. 

We Don’t Just Build The World, We Build Innovative Technology Too.

Joining the Stanley Black & Decker team means working in an innovative, tech-driven and highly collaborative team environment supported by over 58,000 professionals in 60 countries across the globe. Here, you’ll get the unique chance to impact some of the world’s most iconic brands including STANLEY TOOLS, DEWALT, CRAFTSMAN, MAC TOOLS and Black + Decker. Your ideas and solutions have the potential to reach millions of customers as we work together to write the next chapter in our history. Come build with us and take your career to new heights.

Who We Are 

We’re the World’s largest tool company. We’re industry visionaries. We’re solving problems and advancing the manufacturing trade through innovative technology and our Industry 4.0 Initiative. We are committed to ensuring our state-of-the-art “smart factory” products and services provide greater quality to our customers & greater environmental and social value to our planet. We are unique in that we have a rich and storied history dating back to 1843, but that hasn't stopped us from evolving into a vibrant, diverse, global growth company. 

Benefits & Perks

You’ll get a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits plan that includes medical, dental, life, vision, wellness program, disability, retirement benefits, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Paid Time Off, including paid vacation, holidays & personal days, and tuition reimbursement. And, of course, discounts on Stanley Black & Decker tools and products and well as discount programs for many other vendors and partners.

What You’ll Also Get

Career Opportunity: Career paths aren’t linear here. Being part of our global company with 60+ brands gives you the chance to grow and develop your skills along multiple career paths.

Learning & Development: 
Our lifelong learning philosophy means you’ll have access to a wealth of state-of-the-art learning resources, including our Lean Academy and online university (where you can get certificates and specializations from renowned colleges and universities).

Diverse & Inclusive Culture:
We pride ourselves on being an awesome place to work. We respect and embrace differences because that’s how the best work gets done. You’ll find we like to have fun here, too.

Purpose-Driven Company:
You’ll help us continue to make positive changes in the local communities where we work and live as well as in the broader world through volunteerism, giving back and sustainable business practices.

EEO Statement:
All qualified applicants to Stanley Black & Decker are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran’s status or any other protected characteristic.

If you require reasonable accommodation to complete an application or access our website, please contact us at (860) 827-3923 or at [email protected].  Due to volume, we cannot respond to unrelated inquiries about the status of a completed application or resetting an account password.

Know Your Rights: Workplace discrimination is illegal (eeoc.gov)