DRY GOODS & PANTRY MERCHANT

Wild Fork Foods•Miami, FL

About The Position

As the Category Merchant, Pantry, you are accountable for the ownership for Pantry products sold by the business and supporting rapid product development sprints. Reporting to the Head of Commercial – Products, the Category Merchant is a key member of the Commercial team and is responsible for supporting continuous improvement in a fast-paced and demanding production & innovation environment. The scope of category management covers the Wild Fork business units in both the US & Canada markets. Additionally, you will maintain positive relationships with Operations, Logistics, Supply Chain, Finance & Marketing teams as well as your vendor community and other internal and external contacts. You have a customer-centric approach and are comfortable flexing between regulatory execution and innovation / product development.

Requirements

Minimum 5 years’ experience in Retail Center of Store Category Management. Grocery/Pantry experience preferred. Experience in other categories is a plus.
Deep understanding of trends in retail & food service environments
Passion for Food & obsession for quality
Strong focus for continuous improvement within category and throughout the business
Strong command of various analytical tools in MS Office (Excel/ Smart Sheets as example)
Establishes trust and inspires others
Command of negotiation and relationship building skills
Makes effective organization and people decisions in a manner consistent with Wild Fork Foods values and ethics.
Champions the organization and advocates solutions in the overall Company's best interest.
Uses business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
Exceptional written, verbal communication & systems skills (including MS Office)

Nice To Haves

Prior start up experiences an asset, in Tech or Food-Tech environments

Responsibilities

Responsible for category sales & contribution margin for the Pantry business with a clear goal to grow the category and achieve or exceed the business plan
Develop and own strategic vision for Pantry expansion at Wild Fork
Directly work with internal and vendor partners to manage products within your categories with a hands-on approach
Lead department level category management using analytical tools such as QlikView & Excel to find opportunities to optimize margins, reduce costs & improve ROI on new products
Work with distributors & key National Brands to bring top volume brands to the assortment
Develop long-term relationships that allow Wild Fork to develop its own private label brand and products in the category
Maintain brand and business guardrails throughout product development process
Own the movement of the products through the product development lifecycle
Manage large-scale implementation of products across various channels of the business through close collaboration with functional areas: Marketing, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain & Digital
Formulate purchasing strategies for the business through the analysis of market & trends
Collaborate across the established retail partnerships in Canada, Mexico & Brazil to find synergies in product development, and develop a global platform for sharing best business and product development practices. Strong cross-cultural competence and communication skills is ideal to carry out such initiatives
Monitor operational statistics, reports trends, variances and issues, and takes appropriate action.
Coordinate and disseminate product information to Marketing through product review process and to Retail through appropriate communication processes.