VP Merchandising - Proteins

Purpose The Vice President, Fresh Merchandising will be responsible for collaborating with the leadership team in the development of a selling organization culture with a consumer-centric focus.
This individual will be responsible for developing strategic direction for all Fresh and Frozen categories to help deliver increased sales and gross margin.
Working collaboratively across other functional areas, e.
g.
, Merchandising, Marketing, Pricing, Retail, the Vice President, Fresh Merchandising will ensure that all parties are driving the brand and reputation in a consistent manner.
This individual will be responsible for driving strategic category initiatives to deliver the optimal assortment regarding both product decisions and brand representation.
This role is responsible for executing the distinct merchandising strategies dictated by the company’s go-to-market strategy and customer profile.
The Vice President will be a seasoned category expert who can translate identified opportunities into actionable category specific plans that can be executed by the appropriate merchandising teams in a manner that leads to long-term profitable share and comp store growth.
Additionally, this individual needs to work with merchant partners to quickly assess the current store base, overall company strategy, pricing strategies, current merchandising plans, and relevant competitive landscape, and then initiate and execute innovative, brand-right category strategies to drive growth.
Responsibilities • Develop the strategic vision to achieve best practice merchandising performance.
Clearly communicate that vision, translate it into an execution plan, and effectively lead the merchandising team and cross functional partners to deliver the goals and objectives of the plan.
• Collaborate with the Chief Merchandising, Sales & Marketing Officer and the team leaders in development and evolution of category strategy.
• Collaborate on a weekly basis directly with Retail Partner Owners and Department leads to develop an overall and some custom Promotional plans to meet the Retail Partners objectives to drive traffic, achieve sales, and margin targets.
• Strategic direction and oversight of business approaches for their category that supports and aligns with Merchandising and Pricing to focus on becoming a sales organization with a consumer focus.
• Work collaboratively across departments to meet budgeted key performance metrics, which include, but are not limited to sales, movement, market share, and net contribution metrics.
These key performance metrics are meant to be comprehensive in nature but are not limited to the list above due to changing nature of business priorities.
• Responsible for product assortment, pricing, vendor relations, negotiations, procurement, and promotional planning that will deliver products consumers want at the right time and correct price.
• Build the collective and individual capabilities required of the Merchandising team and leadership to design and execute these strategies, policies, procedures, and transformation programs.
• Ensure a high performing team through attracting, developing, and retaining the best talent possible within the function throughout the organization.
• Govern by guiding principles, financial constraints and overall strategy while working within the confines of a pre-identified structure, but able to identify and push the boundaries of the structure when necessary.
• Actively partner with key cross functional partners to ensure collaborative relationships that deliver greater levels of innovation and competitive advantage than could be achieved independently.
• Foster company-wide sharing of best practices, integrating company resources to leverage scale, drive out non-value-added activities and improve synergies.
• Lead implementation of future growth opportunities through product or program development to meet consumer needs.
• Implement changes to internal process and procedure for areas to streamline efficiencies and introduce savings opportunities.
About You • A bachelor’s degree in business, Merchandising or other discipline relevant to Merchandising Management is recommended.
Master’s degree in business administration or technical discipline, preferred.
• 7-10 years combined experience in merchandising, pricing, logistics, supply chain, procurement, or distribution.
• Strong Fresh Meat and or Produce Category Management retail or wholesale experience.
• Strong financial planning and budgeting experience • Cross-functional project teambuilding and leadership • Demonstrated project management expertise.
• Demonstrated relationship management experience with vendors, brokers, and third-party consultants.
• Seasoned level of knowledge of company, business, and industry practices • Demonstrated passion for food and the retail grocery industry.
• Proven track record of innovation in terms of creating and evolving a best-in-class integrated category management platform within a narrow margin, fresh/perishable based concept.
• Possesses a passion for quality and will understand this customer from previous experience in food retail or a related retail concept.
• Comfortable and effective leading through significant complexity • Proven track record of Servant Leadership and the development of strong Category Management Teams through hiring, teaching, and training.
Physical Requirements • Ability to travel up to ~10% of the time, which may include weekends and evenings, as needed.
• Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled environment.
• Incumbent may sit for long periods of time at a desk or computer terminal.
• Incumbent may use calculators, keyboards, telephone, and other office equipment in the course of a normal workday.
• Stooping, bending, twisting, and reaching may be required in completion of job duties.
Competencies • Drives Results - Pushing management team and other leaders to achieve goals and results.
• Decision Quality - Making high quality decisions in the face of uncertainty or incomplete information.
• Communicates Vision & Purpose - Building commitment to strategy and leading team down the right path.
• Builds Effective Teams - Building a strong bench of high performers with diverse skills.
Our Values Ability to demonstrate, understand and apply our workplace values.
Simplicity (operate) – the drive to identify root cause and innovate to remove complexity to deliver the best outcome Heart (emotion) – the passion that drives you to get up every day and work hard to strive for excellence Performance Excellence (mindset) – clearly defining high expectations, driving ownership of key roles and responsibilities, executing with integrity and emphasis while creating a culture of accountability Respect (philosophy) –taking pride in being inclusive and treating everyone who comes through the doors with respect The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by the employees assigned to this job.
All employees must comply with Company policy and applicable laws.
The responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified may vary within each department and /or location.