Assistant Director – Prepared Foods

Mothers Market•Newport Beach, CA

1d•$90,000 - $110,000

About The Position

At Mother’s Market & Kitchen, Prepared Foods is a key driver of traffic, brand loyalty, and differentiation. The Assistant Director – Prepared Foods will lead the strategy, financial performance, innovation, and long-term growth of this high-impact business across our store fleet. This role requires a commercially minded food leader who can balance culinary excellence with financial discipline while advancing our commitment to natural, organic, and responsibly sourced ingredients. Pay Range: $90,000 ‒ $110,000 Annually Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, & in-store discounts

Requirements

3–5+ years of progressive experience in category management, merchandising, or fresh food leadership.
Experience managing high-volume prepared foods or fresh categories.
Demonstrated ownership of category-level P&L performance.
Strong analytical and financial reporting skills.
Proven success negotiating vendor contracts.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a natural, organic, or specialty grocery retail environment.
Culinary background or knowledge of commercial food production systems.
Experience developing private label programs.

Responsibilities

Lead Category Strategy & Growth
Build and execute a multi-year strategic roadmap for the Prepared Foods category.
Define assortment strategy across hot bar, salad bar, grab-and-go, catering, bakery, and kitchen programs.
Identify emerging trends in natural, organic, plant-based, and clean-label innovation.
Drive product lifecycle management, including new item launches and SKU optimization.
Own Financial Performance
Manage full category-level P&L across all stores.
Deliver against sales growth, gross margin, contribution margin, shrink, and inventory turn targets.
Develop annual budgets and quarterly forecasts.
Analyze performance data and implement corrective action plans.
Optimize pricing architecture to balance customer value perception with profitability goals.
Build Strategic Vendor Partnerships
Lead negotiations to secure favorable cost structures and promotional funding.
Develop long-term partnerships with national, emerging, and local suppliers.
Evaluate and onboard vendors aligned with quality and sustainability standards.
Ensure supplier compliance with food safety and regulatory requirements.
Drive Culinary Innovation
Partner with Culinary and Operations teams on menu development and seasonal innovation.
Protect ingredient integrity (organic, non-GMO, responsibly sourced).
Lead limited-time offerings and innovation pipelines.
Expand and strengthen private label prepared foods programs.
Collaborate Across the Organization
Work closely with Supply Chain to improve forecasting accuracy and reduce waste.
Partner with Marketing on promotional strategy and merchandising execution.
Support Store Operations with training resources and execution standards.
Champion data-driven decision-making across teams.
Advance Sustainability & Brand Standards
Integrate sustainability principles into sourcing decisions.
Expand local sourcing initiatives.
Drive shrink reduction and waste mitigation strategies.
Ensure transparency in ingredient standards and labeling.