Associate Category Manager @ Perpay

About Us:

Perpay is a certified B Corp and Philadelphia’s most impactful growth-stage startup. We are driven by a mission to significantly improve the financial stability of everyday Americans. For the past decade, we have established strong product-market fit and a profitable, efficient operating model across a suite of products, positioning Perpay as the premier financial partner for consumers with subprime credit.

With over 500,000 customers who have utilized more than $1 billion in spending power, we are at a pivotal moment. We are scaling our operations, building new offerings, and deepening our impact. We are looking for teammates eager to join us on this journey.

Our venture partners include First Round Capital and L Catterton.

Products we’ve built to make an impact:

Perpay Marketplace: Combines interest-free payments and modern e-commerce to reduce cost of ownership and promote healthy repayment behavior.
Perpay+: Leverages Marketplace repayment history to help members monitor and build credit with all 3 credit bureaus.
Perpay Credit Card: Expands access to the flexibility and benefits of a World Mastercard by removing common barriers like high security deposits and low approval odds.

Our team thrives on in-person collaboration, operating from our unique center-city Philadelphia office. This comfortable "home away from home" space offers river views and fosters rapid product development, strong relationships, and career growth. The energy from achieving big wins is palpable here. While we primarily work in the office, we offer sensible flexibility for personal needs, such as sick children or urgent errands, and coordinate official remote weeks around major holidays. If you are passionate about a meaningful mission, collaboration, equity, and generous perks, Perpay is the best place to be in Philadelphia right now.

The Role: Building assortments that help Americans build credit

We’re expanding into new product categories and looking for an Associate Category Manager who can pair sharp buying instincts with data-driven grit to scale a multi-billion-dollar marketplace. They will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive strategy to expand on assigned categories. As a member of the Merchandising team, you will be responsible for sourcing new vendors, growing assortments, and achieving total cost of ownership, revenue, and profit goals for assigned vendors/categories. You will own all aspects of our vendor relationships and will be responsible for negotiating the best total cost of ownership and level of inventory availability for all products offered on Perpay marketplace.

Our greatest strength is our people and we’d love for you to be one of them!

What You'll Do:

Expand assortment: Identify whitespace, source new brands, and launch 500–1,000 SKUs in your first year
Negotiate total cost of ownership: Reduce cost of goods sold by ≥ 5 % while minimizing inventory-unavailable rates through creative vendor programs
Analyze to win: Pull marketplace data, analyze sales trends, and turn insights into action
Represent Perpay externally: Attend trade shows and pitch our credit-building value prop to C-suite vendor contacts
Collaborate cross-functionally:
- Partner with Product to prioritize and implement site functionality that accelerates assortment growth
- Work with Data Analytics to refine product pricing and cost decisions
- Provide Marketing with brands and assortments that fuel customer acquisition and elevate the shopping experience
Within your first 90 days:
- Ramp quickly: Master our BI tools and deliver a 30-day category audit highlighting immediate wins and long-term opportunities
- Own relationships: Begin leading weekly vendor meetings for your assigned category—setting agendas, driving action items, and reporting outcomes
- Chart the future: Present a 12-month category growth roadmap (assortment, cost, and marketing levers) to leadership for approval

Why You'll Love This Role:

Own a multi-million-dollar P&L from day one
Shape category strategy at a company still growing 50%+ YoY
Work in a culture that values data over hierarchy and experimentation over status quo

What You'll Bring:

2–4 years in buying, category management, vendor management, or marketplace operations
Advanced Excel/Sheets skills (pivot tables, INDEX-MATCH; basic SQL a plus)
Comfort negotiating six-figure deals and balancing margin vs. growth
Proven grit—you deliver when data is messy, suppliers are stubborn, or launch windows are tight
Passion for Perpay’s social mission and curiosity for fintech-enabled retail.

Hey, we know not everybody checks all the boxes, so if you’re interested, please apply because you could be just what we’re looking for!

What We’ll Bring to Full-time Team Members:

Meaningful compensation and equity
Premium medical benefits (fully paid base plan, and very reasonable premium for the buy-up option)
4% employer 401k match
Unlimited PTO policy
Remote weeks around major holidays + extra holiday on weekends like MDW and LDW
High quality catered lunch by local chefs, 4 days / week
Gym subsidy
Paid cell phone + plan
Student loan repayment program
Relocation assistance
Generous team member discounts

This is not a remote opportunity; it is 100% onsite (#LI-Onsite) (#LI-TH1) (#LI-AK1)

Perpay is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity in all its forms and are committed to creating an inclusive environment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex (including pregnancy), marital status, political affiliation, age, veteran status, disability status or other non-merit factor. Please contact us at [email protected] to request accommodation.

Associate Category Manager

Perpay

The Role: Building assortments that help Americans build credit

What You'll Do:

Why You'll Love This Role:

What You'll Bring:

What We’ll Bring to Full-time Team Members:

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