Senior Lead Category Management Analyst

Company: Ace Hardware Corporation
Location: Oak Brook
Posted on: January 6, 2026

Job Description:

Job Description About This Role The Senior Lead Category Analyst will leverage fact-based analytics and customer research to develop consumer-relevant retail assortments and planograms. Improving the store model is a pillar of Ace's long-term retail strategy, and developing the most efficient, productive and differentiated assortments/planograms for our retailers is a key element of this pillar. What You'll Do - Leadership/Mentorship: Senior Lead Category Analyst will provide leadership, mentoring and guidance across all analysts. - Analytics - Senior Lead Category Analyst will be responsible for development of assortment optimization strategy, execution of training, and ensuring consistent usage of methodology across analyst team. This person will also support the Department Manager in elevating the team's ability to mine data and develop analytical insights. - Data Mining and Report Building - Senior Lead Analyst will continue to enhance current tools and build additional tools that allow for deeper and more insightful data analytics. A key focus should be continual efficiency and optimization of Category Analyst tools to decrease time spent on mining data and increase time spent analyzing and aligning cross-functional team to an optimized, data-supported retail product assortment. - Category Scope: Senior Lead Category Analyst will have limited ownership of strategic categories for Ace, but with less complexity so that they can dedicate time to implementation of assortment optimization strategies and team leadership. Who You Are The ideal candidate combines strong analytical expertise with exceptional storytelling skills. They can distill complex, large-scale data into actionable insights and clearly communicate these findings to both internal and external stakeholders. Success in this role requires the ability to define problem statements, craft compelling narratives, and drive impactful, data-informed decisions. Required Skills - Bachelor's degree in economics, business, statistics, data science or related field - 7 years retail or consumer packaged goods experience - Strong analytical and structured problem solving skills - High degree of curiosity and structured problem solving skills - Ability to analyze, evaluate and interpret complex data - Confident presenting in larger groups across multiple levels of the organization - Ability to communicate effectively verbally and written to various levels of corporate and retail management (e.g., manager through VP and store associate through owner) - Experience with SQL, Teradata, Power BI, Alteryx, or other BI data mining software required - Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (e.g., Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word) - Knowledge of standard Category Management process and principles - Must be able to lift 30lbs Preferred Skills - Previous management experience preferred - Master's degree in a quantitative or business field a plus LI-JK1 Compensation Details: $102900 - $128600 Per Year Why should you join our team? We live our values - W.E.L.I.G.H.T (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility, and Teamwork). Gratitude. Humility. Love. You don't often see values like these in most corporate statements, but Ace is different. These things are important to us. They represent our commitment to the company, our employees, to Ace retailers and to the Ace brand. In addition to providing our employees a great culture, Ace also offers competitive benefits* that address life's necessities and perks, many of which expand and improve year after year, including: - Incentive opportunities, based on role/grade level (rapid company growth over the past 5 years resulted in incentives being paid out at an average of 122% of your target opportunity!) - Generous 401(k) retirement savings plan with a fully vested matching contribution the first year in addition to quarterly contributions and annual discretionary contribution (once eligibility requirements have been met). Over the past 5 years, company contributions (matching, quarterly & discretionary) for fully eligible employees have averaged 10.4% of total eligible compensation. - Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, vision and disability - up to 26 weeks short-term disability and long-term disability ) & life insurance benefits for you and your dependents - 21 days of vacation immediately available (prorated in the first year) and up to 6 paid holidays depending on the month of hire - Your career at Ace is more than just a job. It's a chance to be part of something meaningful. We help locally-owned businesses thrive and make an impact in their communities - and we support our employees in doing the same by offering an annual Ace Cares Week, 20 hours off work per year to volunteer at an organization of your choice, opportunities to help Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and the Ace Helpful Fund through the Ace Foundation - Ace invests in every employee we hire, with a key focus on development and coaching. We offer on-site classes, facilitator-led courses, and a generous tuition assistance program, plus a performance management approach that goes beyond the typical annual review - We know the work environment matters. That's why Ace holds frequent campus events like Employee Appreciation Week, vendor demos, cookouts, and merchandise sales - We bring them to you! Services such as mobile spas, auto maintenance, car wash and detailing, dry cleaning, dentists, eye doctors, flu shots, recycling and more! - Employee discounts on Ace merchandise (including top brands like Weber, Traeger, Yeti, Craftsman, DeWalt and more), travel, fitness, computers and thousands more - Birth/Adoption bonding paid time off - Adoption cost reimbursement - Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - access to free visits to therapists and lawyers, guidance on financial matters, elder and childcare, and assistance with tickets to entertainment events - Identity theft protection * Benefits are provided in compliance with applicable plans and policies. Want to be notified when new jobs are posted? Follow the link below to create an account and set up custom job alerts: Create Job Alert We want to hear from you! When most people think of career opportunities with Ace Hardware, they often think of the helpful cashiers and sales associates at their local store. However, have you also considered the people behind the scenes who select, promote, ship and process the invoices for more than 75,000 products? Maybe you haven't, but we'd like you to. Because together we help our customers take care of their homes. Come find out why a career with the Ace Hardware Corporation is one of America's best kept secrets. Equal Opportunity Employer Ace Hardware Corporation is committed to a policy of promoting equal employment opportunities. The company recognizes the importance of diversity and leveraging the skills and talents of all people to the mutual advantage of each individual and the organization. The company is committed to the prevention of employment discrimination related to race, religion, color, sex (including sexual harassment), gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, disability and military or veteran status, sexual orientation or any other action covered by federal or applicable state/local laws. Disclaimer The pay range for this position starts as listed in the job posting, but could be higher based on education and experience. Please note, compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each opening. We take into consideration the minimum requirements outlined in the job description, such as an individual's education, training and experience, the position's work location, required travel (if any), and external market conditions when determining the final salary for potential new hires. Be aware that salary estimates published via alternate online job boards may not be a true representation of the actual pay range offered for this position. Please refer to the Ace position description for the accurate starting pay range information and feel free to discuss this with a Talent Acquisition professional if you are chosen to move forward with an interview. This written "Position Description" is not intended to cover all aspects of the position listed. It is meant to cover the basic/general essential job functions of a particular position. Ace Hardware Corporation reserves the right to change job duties, including essential job functions, according to business necessity. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Keywords: Ace Hardware Corporation, Arlington Heights , Senior Lead Category Management Analyst, IT / Software / Systems , Oak Brook, Illinois