Category Manager, Body Jewelry

Company Description Body Art Alliance is a global family of brands serving artists and customers in the beauty, cosmetic, permanent makeup, tattoo, and body jewelry markets. The organization unites creative and innovative professionals to advance trusted brands and products for artists worldwide. With broadline distribution capabilities, Body Art Alliance delivers a wide range of tools and supplies to studios and professionals across the globe. From designing wireless machines and vegan pigmented inks to developing advanced threadless body jewelry, innovation drives every aspect of the company’s work. Team members join a culture that values artistry, product excellence, and continuous improvement.

You can apply directly on our ATS by clicking here: https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/portal/EBE37FD164CA7E52D156034165C462D4/jobs/496566

Role Description The Category Manager, Body Jewelry is a full-time remote role responsible for managing the body jewelry category across the product lifecycle, from assortment planning to end-of-life decisions. This role oversees product selection, pricing, and promotion strategies to drive category growth, margin, and customer satisfaction. Day-to-day duties include analyzing sales and market data, identifying trends and opportunities, and collaborating with merchandising, marketing, sales, procurement, and operations teams to optimize inventory and product performance. The Category Manager will negotiate with suppliers, support sourcing decisions, and ensure that product offerings reflect current industry trends, regulatory requirements, and customer needs. This position also contributes to go-to-market plans, supports sales enablement, and regularly reports on category performance, risks, and growth initiatives.

What You'll Do

Category Strategy & Business Leadership

• Develop and execute comprehensive category strategies that drive revenue growth, increase market share, and improve profitability.

• Create and manage short and long-term category roadmaps aligned with company objectives, customer demand, and emerging industry trends.

• Define and execute brand-specific strategies for Anatometal, NeoMetal, Tilum, Painful Pleasures, and future portfolio brands.

• Identify opportunities for category expansion, assortment growth, new product development, and market differentiation.

• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on body jewelry, piercing trends, customer behavior, and competitive activity.

• Build business cases and strategic recommendations for new product launches, assortment expansion, and portfolio investments.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance category performance and operational effectiveness.

Product Innovation & Development

• Own and drive the end-to-end product development roadmap from concept through commercialization.

• Lead the development of new products, collections, materials, finishes, exclusive designs, and innovation initiatives.

• Partner with internal development teams and external vendors to identify opportunities that strengthen BAA's competitive position.

• Develop comprehensive product briefs outlining customer needs, market opportunity, pricing strategy, material requirements, design direction, technical specifications, and competitive positioning.

• Lead category participation in the New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) process to ensure successful product launches.

• Evaluate product opportunities through customer insights, market research, financial analysis, and competitive benchmarking.

• Establish launch success metrics and monitor product performance post-launch.

• Drive improvements in speed-to-market and product commercialization processes.

Market Intelligence & Industry Expertise

• Conduct ongoing market research to identify customer needs, emerging trends, competitive threats, and growth opportunities.

• Monitor trends across piercing techniques, jewelry styles, materials, anatomy-specific jewelry, fashion influences, and professional studio preferences.

• Analyze competitor assortments, pricing strategies, product launches, and market positioning.

• Attend and represent BAA at industry events, trade shows, conferences, and professional association gatherings, including APP, JCK, and other global industry events.

• Build strong relationships with professional piercers, studio owners, distributors, and key industry influencers to gather actionable market intelligence.

• Translate market insights into strategic category recommendations and product development opportunities.

Body Jewelry Industry Knowledge & Compliance

• Maintain expert knowledge of body jewelry materials including implant-grade titanium (ASTM F136), implant-grade steel, niobium, solid 14k and 18k gold, and other biocompatible materials.

• Ensure product offerings align with ASTM, ISO, APP, and other applicable industry standards and guidelines.

• Stay current on emerging materials, manufacturing techniques, jewelry technologies, and industry best practices.

• Develop expertise in jewelry sizing conventions, threading systems, anatomy-specific jewelry applications, and professional piercing requirements.

• Partner with quality and manufacturing teams to ensure products meet safety, performance, and compliance expectations.

Product Portfolio & Assortment Management

• Manage the full product lifecycle from product introduction through end-of-life decisions.

• Curate and optimize category assortments to maximize sales, profitability, inventory productivity, and customer satisfaction.

• Identify assortment gaps, duplication, underperforming SKUs, and opportunities for portfolio expansion.

• Develop pricing strategies that balance market competitiveness, profitability, and customer value.

• Manage the complexity of large SKU portfolios across gauges, lengths, diameters, materials, finishes, threading systems, and jewelry styles.

• Partner with Supply Chain and Inventory Planning teams to maintain appropriate inventory levels and product availability.

• Drive SKU rationalization initiatives while preserving assortment depth in strategic product segments.

Qualifications

• Category Management skills, including assortment planning, pricing, merchandising strategy, and lifecycle management.
• Strong Analytical Skills to interpret sales data, market trends, and financial metrics, and translate insights into actionable plans.
• Experience with Contract Negotiation and supplier relationship management to secure favorable terms, quality, and service levels.
• Procurement skills, including sourcing, vendor evaluation, and cost optimization within a product-driven environment.
• Sales and commercial acumen, with the ability to partner with sales teams to build programs that drive revenue and margin.
• Experience in consumer products, beauty, fashion accessories, or body jewelry markets is preferred.
• Proficiency with Excel or similar tools for data analysis; experience with ERP or merchandising systems is beneficial.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and negotiation skills, with the ability to work effectively in a remote, cross-functional environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.