Director of Vendor Engagement

The Fresh Market Inc • Greensboro, NC

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Vendor Engagement is responsible for defining and leading the enterprise vendor engagement strategy across The Fresh Market. This role shifts vendor management from a transactional function to a strategic capability focusing on joint business planning, negotiation excellence, supplier segmentation, and partnership development. You will own the vendor lifecycle while building scalable processes, tools, and capabilities that enable best-in-class vendor partnerships and negotiations.

Requirements

• 8–12+ years of experience in merchandising, vendor management, procurement, or retail partnerships
• Proven experience in vendor negotiations, joint business planning, or strategic partnerships
• Strong analytical and financial acumen with ability to translate insights into action
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives in a complex retail environment
• Exceptional communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills

Nice To Haves

• Experience in grocery, food retail, or consumer packaged goods
• Exposure to vendor performance management, supplier segmentation, or procurement strategy
• Experience building new capabilities, processes, or operating models within merchandising organizations

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive vendor engagement strategy aligned with merchandising and enterprise priorities
• Establish vendor segmentation (strategic, core, emerging) and differentiated engagement models
• Define and standardize vendor processes, tools, and playbooks across the organization
• Lead enterprise-wide joint business planning processes focused on a set of strategic vendors, ensuring alignment on growth, funding, innovation, and performance goals
• Partner with merchants and vendors to build mutually beneficial strategies that drive sales, margin, and differentiation
• Create visibility and accountability for vendor performance vs. agreed plans and financial commitments
• Facilitate strategic business reviews with top vendors to identify opportunities for growth and improvement
• Elevate negotiation capabilities across merchandising through tools, training, and frameworks
• Partner with merchants to structure deals that maximize value (cost, funding, innovation, supply reliability)
• Integrate insights (e.g., commodities) into negotiations to strengthen outcomes
• Establish KPI frameworks, scorecards, and reporting to track vendor performance
• Monitor vendor performance against financial commitments and business objectives
• Identify opportunities for vendor consolidation, optimization, and cost savings in partnership with Cencosud
• Partner with Merchandising, Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations to ensure alignment on vendor strategies
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure vendor strategies support assortment, pricing, promotions, and operational execution
• Build vendor engagement capabilities across the organization, including negotiation, analytics, and partnership development
• Develop training, tools, and processes to enable merchants to manage vendors more effectively
• Foster a culture of collaborative partnerships vs. purely transactional relationships

Benefits

• Team member discount up to 40%
• Health, Dental & Vision insurance available for individual, spouse, partner, and family.
• 401K contribution and match for part-time and full-time team members.
• Personal time off and additional time off purchase plans available

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed