Project Manager - Purchasing & Merchandising

Grocery Outlet Career•Emeryville, CA

About The Position

As the Project Manager, Purchasing & Merchandising, you will serve as a key strategic and operational partner to the Chief Purchasing & Merchandising Officer and the broader Purchasing & Merchandising leadership team. You will help establish the operating rhythm of the department, drive coordination across key initiatives, and ensure priorities, decisions, and commitments move forward with clarity and accountability. You will manage a portfolio of departmental initiatives, facilitate leadership and department meetings, maintain key planning calendars, and develop tools and processes that provide visibility into priorities, milestones, risks, and dependencies. You will also help ensure presentations, meeting materials, and executive communications are clear, accurate, and ready for senior leadership audiences. You will partner closely with the Head of Enterprise Transformation to connect Purchasing & Merchandising priorities to broader cross-functional and enterprise initiatives, ensuring key dependencies, milestones, risks, and commitments are visible and appropriately tracked. This role requires someone who can move seamlessly between strategic priorities and day-to-day execution. You will work across Purchasing, Merchandising, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Technology, and other functions to connect workstreams, identify issues early, and help leaders stay focused on the highest-priority work.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, project management, merchandising, supply chain, operations, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience will also be considered.
Typically five or more years of experience managing complex projects, cross-functional initiatives, business operations, merchandising operations, program management, or a related area.
Demonstrated experience managing multiple priorities, developing project plans, tracking milestones and dependencies, mitigating risks, and driving work through completion.
Experience supporting senior executives or senior leadership teams in a fast-paced, highly visible environment.
Experience planning and facilitating meetings, documenting decisions, tracking commitments, and driving accountability across multiple stakeholders.
Strong business acumen with the ability to understand how functional priorities connect to broader enterprise objectives.
Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and follow-through, with the ability to create structure in ambiguous or evolving situations.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear, concise executive-level updates.
Strong presentation skills with experience developing, reviewing, and refining PowerPoint presentations and materials for senior leadership audiences.
Strong relationship-building and influencing skills, with the ability to collaborate across functions and levels without relying on formal authority.
High degree of judgment, professionalism, discretion, and comfort working with sensitive or confidential information.
Proactive approach with the ability to anticipate needs, identify risks, and solve problems with limited direction.
Proficiency with project management, presentation, spreadsheet, and collaboration tools; experience with portfolio management or dashboarding tools is preferred.

Nice To Haves

Experience within retail, grocery, merchandising, purchasing, supply chain, or another fast-paced commercial environment is preferred.
Experience supporting transformation, organizational change, or enterprise-wide initiatives is a plus.
Project management certification, such as PMP, is a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage and maintain a holistic portfolio view of key Purchasing & Merchandising priorities, projects, and strategic initiatives.
Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, risks, action items, and status reporting for key departmental initiatives.
Partner with initiative owners to establish clear objectives, deliverables, ownership, timelines, and measures of success.
Serve as a key connection point between Purchasing & Merchandising and the Enterprise Transformation function, ensuring departmental priorities and commitments are appropriately integrated into broader enterprise plans.
Coordinate complex, cross-functional initiatives involving Store Operations, Finance, Marketing, Business Technology, Supply Chain, Real Estate, and other business partners.
Create and manage the Purchasing & Merchandising operating calendar, including key business milestones, leadership meetings, department meetings, strategic planning sessions, business reviews, major initiatives, and other important deliverables.
Coordinate and facilitate Purchasing & Merchandising leadership meetings, department meetings, planning sessions, and other key forums.
Develop agendas, coordinate presenters and pre-reads, facilitate discussions as appropriate, document decisions, and ensure follow-up actions are clearly assigned and completed.
Maintain action logs, decision trackers, project dashboards, meeting summaries, risk registers, and other tools that reinforce accountability and organizational discipline.
Track decisions, owners, due dates, risks, dependencies, escalations, and follow-up actions to prevent important work from stalling between meetings.
Prepare and coordinate executive briefings, business updates, status reports, dashboards, decision documents, and other materials for the Chief Purchasing & Merchandising Officer and senior leadership.
Review presentations and other materials for clarity, accuracy, consistency, and executive readiness.
Partner with leaders to strengthen the structure, storyline, and messaging of presentations for department meetings, executive reviews, and other leadership forums.
Consolidate information from multiple leaders and workstreams into clear, concise executive-level updates.
Facilitate effective decision-making by synthesizing complex information, identifying tradeoffs, clarifying decisions needed, and documenting outcomes.
Proactively identify risks, issues, competing priorities, and dependencies and work with leaders and project owners to drive timely resolution.
Translate leadership priorities into actionable plans with clear ownership, milestones, and accountability.
Support the implementation of new programs, processes, capabilities, organizational changes, and other strategic priorities across Purchasing & Merchandising.
Establish consistent project management, meeting, and communication practices that improve visibility and coordination across the department.
Anticipate upcoming needs, identify potential issues before they become problems, escalate concerns appropriately, and develop practical solutions that keep work moving forward.
Build strong, trusted relationships with senior leaders and cross-functional partners through reliable execution, clear communication, sound judgment, and discretion.
Perform other related duties and support special projects as assigned.