Category Associate – Category Management

Job Description

Category Associate – New Grad Business Program | Whatnot

The Tone:
This is an early career role at Whatnot, located in New York City, San Francisco, or Los Angeles. Whatnot is the largest live shopping platform in North America and Europe, enabling sellers to build real businesses across hundreds of categories. The company is building live commerce at an unprecedented scale in the West, shaping an entirely new industry without an existing playbook. This role is crucial for learning how a fast-growing marketplace operates by taking ownership of real relationships and business outcomes from the start, directly contributing to the development of this new industry.

The TL;DR
• Role: Early Career
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid – New York City, NY; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA
• Pay: $81000–$90000 yearly
• Mission: Build a foundational toolkit across core marketplace functions by owning a high-growth category, real relationships, and business outcomes from day one.
• Tech Stack: SQL

What You’ll Actually Do
• Category Expert: Become the go-to expert on your assigned category, understanding seller/buyer dynamics, community channels, influencers, and product nuances.
• Seller Onboarding: Source and engage sellers through social media, outbound channels, and in-person events to encourage them to join and expand their businesses on Whatnot.
• Relationship Management: Collaborate with top sellers and strategic partners to develop substantial businesses on the platform and implement growth plans for categories.
• Marketing Initiatives: Lead various marketing efforts, including influencer partnerships, to increase brand awareness and attract more buyers.
• Data Analysis: Apply basic data analytics skills to derive project insights, improve process efficiency, and use key data points to assess and iterate on category growth and success.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Entry-Level. Graduating by Summer 2027 with a genuine passion for Whatnot’s mission and a deep understanding of community needs.
• Experience: Internship experience in a fast-paced, client-facing role, demonstrating a track record of working quickly and iteratively.
• Skills: Problem-solving, strong project management, business acumen, deep analytical skills, and comfort with understanding and manipulating data, including basic SQL.
• Bonus: Flexibility to work in an ambiguous environment with limited guidance and excitement for building a broad toolkit before specializing.