Category Manager - Food Categories
About The Position
The Category Manager - Food Categories will be responsible for leading the commercial performance of prepared foods, packaged meals, commissary products, and dairy and deli categories by developing a relevant, profitable convenience food offering. Drive category strategy through assortment optimization, pricing, promotions, supplier management, and category reviews. Partner cross-functionally with Operations to ensure effective execution and collaborate with Innovation and Private Label teams to introduce validated products, enhance assortment performance, and continuously improve the customer experience.
Requirements
- Relevant degree in Business, Marketing, Foodservice or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- Demonstrated category management or buying experience in convenience retail, foodservice or another multi-site fresh food business; experience with prepared meals, commissary and refrigerated ranges preferred.
- Strong commercial and analytical capability in assortment, pricing, promotions, forecasting, supplier negotiations and category profitability.
- Practical understanding of perishability, cold-chain distribution, food safety and store preparation constraints, working with specialist teams.
- Ability to turn insights into executable category plans and influence Operations, suppliers and cross-functional partners.
Responsibilities
- Own annual category plans, sales and profit budgets, forecasts and corrective actions; use customer missions, dayparts, store segmentation and market benchmarks to set priorities.
- Set assortment, pricing, promotions and merchandising strategy; use sales mix, customer insights and item economics to improve value, availability and profitable basket growth.
- Manage menu and assortment productivity across hot food, grab-and-go meals, sandwiches, salads, bakery, dairy and deli; balance core ranges and seasonal offers with shelf life, preparation capacity and local demand.
- Lead supplier business reviews and negotiate commercial terms within delegated authority, partnering with Procurement; document costs, rebates and promotional funding for Price Book and Supplier Income teams to administer.
- Work with Supply Chain, commissary partners and Operations on ordering parameters, delivery frequency, cold-chain requirements and shelf availability; reduce spoilage and waste without compromising freshness or service.
- Partner with the Innovation and Private Label Development Manager on product briefs, pilots and launch decisions; own category business cases, assortment adoption and commercial results while that role owns product development and specifications.
- Translate category plans into clear execution requirements for Operations and Space Planning; coordinate item and price setup with Price Book, and confirm supply, communication and store readiness before activation.
- Lead category and post-promotion reviews using sales, units, margin after waste, availability and customer response; recommend range changes and agree corrective actions with Operations and suppliers.
- Require complete commercial terms and launch readiness; escalate supply, margin, execution and quality risks to the accountable functions.
- Operations owns store execution and operating compliance; specialist teams approve food safety and quality requirements. The Category Manager coordinates commercial corrective actions.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
Associate degree
