Associate Category Manager - CHEF'STORE

US Foods • West Linn, OR

1d • $65,000 - $100,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

CHEF’STORE® is your destination for the best in restaurant shopping – serving both professional chefs and home chefs alike. Get great food at wholesale prices: fresh produce, meat, dairy and more, in the variety and volume you need. It’s a fresh take on shopping for restaurant equipment and supplies, with easy access and a superior customer experience in our clutter-free stores. No memberships. Public welcome. CHEF’STORE means savings on everything you need.

When you join the CHEF'STORE® team you'll notice that you keep encountering the same smiling faces. Many of our employees have been with us for 20 years or more. We value employees who care about the relationships they build with our customers, know the ins and outs of our stores, are ready to offer cost-saving tips, and help customers find exactly what they're looking for.

The Associate Category Manager - CHEF’STORE partners closely with the Category Manager to own the overall performance and strategic direction of assigned categories, including assortment, pricing, promotions, planograms, and vendor relationships, to deliver sales, margin, and financial plan objectives. This role partners with the Category Manager to develop and execute merchandising strategies that align with CHEF’STORE goals while meeting local market and customer needs.

The Associate Category Manager works with the Category Manager to lead category strategy through data-driven decision making, vendor collaboration, and cross-functional partnership with Operations, Finance, Pricing, Inventory, and Space Planning. This role continuously evaluates category performance, market trends, and customer insights to optimize assortment, pricing integrity, promotional effectiveness, and in-store execution.
Hybrid: 2 days remote (Monday and Friday), 3 days onsite (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) in either Rosemont IL or West Linn Or.

Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in retail, foodservice, wholesale, or merchandising-related roles
• Knowledge of merchandising principles, pricing, and product lifecycle management.
• Computer skills required: Proficient in Microsoft Office - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Office 365, and Teams.
• Ability to travel: 10%.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in buying, category management, inventory planning, or business analysis strongly.
• Prior Experience with Dynamics and RELEX Planogram Optimization is a plus.
• Category management/merchandising experience.
• Prior experience with Microsoft Access a plus.
• Understanding of food retail or foodservice customers and category dynamics.
• Knowledge of core merchandising drivers: pricing, promotion, assortment, and space.
• Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills.
• Effective communication and negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated negotiation skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with vendors and internal partners to support pricing, promotions, and margin objectives.
• High level of initiative, curiosity, and passion for retail and food.
• Must have solid quantitative and analytical skills and the ability to work in a team setting.
• Demonstrate a high degree of motivation, the ability to prioritize and self-direct, strong business acumen and sound interpersonal skills.
• Strong verbal, written and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Category Manager to develop the end-to-end category strategy for assigned categories, including assortment, pricing, promotion, planogram placement, and vendor management to deliver the annual financial plan.
• Drive the strategic direction of assigned categories by focusing on product selection, promotion planning, pricing strategy, and in-store presentation.
• Partner with Category manager to lead the category review process to develop, communicate, and implement category strategies aligned with CHEF’STORE objectives.
• Utilize internal and external market data, competitive intelligence, and customer insights to anticipate trends and future customer needs.
• Define assortment strategies and execute tactics to capture sales, margin, and profit targets while ensuring the optimal product mix for each CHEF’STORE location.
• Collaborate with Category Manager in partnership with Pricing team to review analytics and optimize pricing decisions.
• Create promotional strategies and calendars that support category objectives and financial targets.
• Evaluate promotional effectiveness and implement improvements to drive year-over-year volume and profitability growth performance.
• Collaborate with Inventory Analysts to align inventory levels with promotional and assortment strategies.
• Build and maintain strong vendor relationships that drive both short- and long-term growth.
• Collaborate with Category Manager to negotiate product costs, net landed cost, vendor funding, markdown support, and returns to optimize category profitability.
• Deliver profitable sales by actively managing category mix, vendor costs, pricing, promotions, and assortment.
• Work closely with Finance to develop annual financial plans, forecasts, and ongoing performance reviews.
• Monitor daily and weekly category performance to ensure margin and sales targets are met.
• Conduct action-oriented analysis to identify underperforming SKUs, growth opportunities, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Partner with Space Planning to develop, approve, and maintain planograms, store layouts, and adjacency plans.
• Regularly visit CHEF’STORE locations and competitive stores to assess assortments, pricing, merchandising execution, and store presentation.
• Collaborate with Store Operations to ensure effective execution and the right local product mix.
• Mentor, train, and develop cross-functional partners as needed.
• Lead or participate in special projects as assigned.

Benefits

• Benefits for this role may include health insurance, pre-tax spending accounts, retirement benefits, paid time off, short-term and long-term disability, employee stock purchase plan, and life insurance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level