Category Manager (Tempo)

Home Chef • Chicago, IL

44d

About The Position

Home Chef is seeking a Category Manager for its new brand, Tempo, which offers ready-to-heat meals. This role will own the end-to-end strategy and execution for the Tempo Protein category, focusing on customer experience, supply continuity, product innovation, and financial performance. The ideal candidate will be comfortable building processes in ambiguous and rapidly changing environments. This is a highly visible role that requires cross-functional partnership to identify opportunities, solve problems, and deliver results.

Requirements

• 5+ years of procurement and sourcing experience (food category-related preferred).
• Background in the food and beverage industry highly preferred.
• Executive-level succinct communication, both verbal and written; discernment when delivering updates.
• Strong data and numerical orientation; baseline Excel/GSheet knowledge (index/match, pivot tables, gut-checking data).
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate complex data into actionable business recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage multiple cross-functional initiatives with competing timelines.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and stakeholders, and respectfully hold them accountable.
• Completion of a four-year degree program in a related field.

Nice To Haves

• Passion for food and for working in a fast-paced, quickly-growing, entrepreneurial environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain category strategy in alignment with company-wide goals.
• Identify, evaluate, and select suppliers and SKUs for the category.
• Coordinate, negotiate, and manage RFPs with new and current suppliers.
• Build strategic supplier partnerships to foster innovation, improve performance, reduce costs, and ensure long-term supply continuity.
• Conduct supply market analysis and gather supplier intelligence to inform the sourcing process.
• Collaborate with the culinary team to identify new ingredient needs and test new suppliers.
• Ensure all new suppliers meet Home Chef guidelines and expectations by coordinating with cross-functional partners.
• Act as the point person for highly visible new protein A/B and Market tests.
• Partner with legal to negotiate contract terms with key suppliers and manage contract compliance.
• Work with Procurement Operations, Warehouse, and site teams to enhance supply chain performance.
• Collaborate with local sites and supplier partners to resolve supply disruptions and secure product for weekly meal production.
• Own category performance by monitoring key metrics including cost, quality, supply continuity, customer feedback, inventory health, and supplier performance.
• Attend industry conferences to identify new trends, suppliers, and ingredients.
• Identify, prioritize, and commercialize new product opportunities that support customer experience, operational efficiency, and financial goals.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance available
• Paid holidays, sick time and vacation time
• 401k program
• Flexible spending accounts for qualified medical, dependent care, parking, or transit expenses

What This Job Offers

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