Merchandise Manager - Meat & Seafood at Woolworths Group Limited

Woolworths Ltd.; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Team discounts across Woolworths Group

Rewards program

Job summary

Woolworths Ltd. in Auckland seeks a commercially focused retail leader to drive long-term strategy and daily trading for the high-volume Meat & Seafood portfolio.

You will lead and mentor a team of Category Managers to deliver a differentiated product proposition across digital and physical networks. You will collaborate with Marketing, Operations, and Finance to meet financial targets and enhance the customer shopping experience, with a hybrid work model (3 days in office, 2 days WFH) in a

Qualifications

• Experience leading meat or seafood businesses and managing fast-moving product portfolios.
• Strong commercial acumen with structured category planning.
• Proven ability to coach and mentor teams and build talent pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Deliver sustainable sales, profit, and market share growth through merchandise strategy.
• Lead and mentor Category Managers to build capability and succession.
• Land the meat strategy reset program to improve outcomes and profitability.
• Incorporate customer insights into end-to-end commercial operations to boost satisfaction.
• Optimize profitability by managing stock loss and supply chain costs.
• Collaborate across Replenishment, Finance, and Marketing to implement changes smoothly.
• Manage supplier relationships and onboarding with strategic nuance.

Skills

Leadership

Category management

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiation

Analytical thinking

Job description

This Full time on site position offers great opportunities for career growth. Full time permanent position Auckland location. Hybrid working (3 days in office, 2 days WFH) Key strategic leadership position

We are Woolworths Group | Ko Woolworths Tātou We are Woolworths Group. 200,000+ bright minds, passionate hearts, and unique perspectives across Australia and New Zealand. Connected by a shared Purpose - 'to create better experiences together for a better tomorrow'. That Purpose fuels our ambition to explore new ideas, make brave commitments, and innovate better ways to meet the food and everyday needs of more than 24 million customers every week. If you're excited to turn today's blue-sky thinking into a better tomorrow for future generations, you'll find yourself supported and enriched in a dynamic, inclusive, and empowering workplace. With a culture of genuine care, a flexible approach to work, and opportunities across the group to grow your career and make a meaningful impact, the possibilities for what we can achieve together are endless.

We are seeking a commercial focused retail leader to drive the long-term strategic direction and daily trading performance of our high-volume Meat & Seafood portfolio. In this role, you will lead and mentor a high-performing team of Category Managers to deliver a consistent, high-quality, and differentiated product proposition across our digital and physical store networks. Through strong cross-functional collaboration with Marketing, Operations, and Finance, you will connect customer insights directly to our commercial operations, ensuring we consistently meet our financial targets and deliver an exceptional shopping experience.

What you’ll do

• Deliver sustainable sales, profit, and market share growth by developing and executing a comprehensive merchandise strategy aligned to our wider commercial goals.
• Cultivate a high-performing team of commercial leaders by actively coaching and developing Category Managers to build robust talent pipelines for the future.
• Land our meat strategy reset program to improve customer outcomes, market share and profitability.
• Embed deep customer insights into our end-to-end commercial operations to directly improve customer satisfaction metrics and brand loyalty.
• Optimise commercial profitability in a fluctuating market by implementing robust stock loss mitigation strategies and managing supply chain cost inflation.
• Foster strong cross-functional networks across Replenishment, Finance, and Marketing teams to land seamless product and operational changes in our store network.
• Securing long-term value and commercial viability by managing strategic relationships with our established supply base while continuously identifying and onboarding new suppliers.

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience in leading meat or seafood businesses where you have successfully managed complex, fast-moving product portfolios and understand carcass balance.
• A track record of delivering strong financial outcomes through highly developed commercial acumen and structured category planning.
• Exceptional leadership capabilities with demonstrated success in coaching, mentoring, and building highly capable, collaborative teams.
• A strong understanding of the e2e meat and seafood value chain.
• The ability to influence and negotiate at all levels of an organisation to maintain critical supplier relationships and align multiple internal stakeholders.
• An analytical, customer-first approach to decision making with the ability to turn complex market data and customer insights into actionable retail plans.
• High-level organisational agility and communication skills which allow you to navigate changing market conditions and collaborate easily across various business units.

What you’ll experience

• We embrace diversity of thought and love to take on challenges with a pragmatic and innovative approach.
• Our culture thrives on mutual respect, care, curiosity, openness, and a proactive attitude.
• We continually seek ways to pair, collaborate, support, and learn from each other as a team!
• Team discounts across our range of Woolworths Group brands you know and love and a robust rewards program that celebrates and incentivises purpose-driven work
• A global business with endless career possibilities around every corner and across every discipline - with valuable exposure to a vast and exciting business network
• A progressive and flexible 'work from anywhere' policy that gives you the opportunity to harmonise work, life and your wellbeing
• Parental Leave provisions and various leave types, including but not limited to Study Leave and Sports Representation Leave
• Everyone belongs at Woolworths Group
• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are key to realising our purpose of better together for a better tomorrow.
• We recognise the value our team’s diversity brings to our business, customers, and communities and that teams with diverse experiences and backgrounds enrich our group and are better able to innovate and solve problems.
• As one of the largest employers in Australia and New Zealand, we aim to create a truly inclusive workplace where everyone feels that they belong, can be their best selves, and reach their full potential.