Assistant Category Manager: Merchandising & Vendor Strategy

Food Lion; Salisbury (NC); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Food Lion is seeking a Category Manager responsible for intense negotiations and vendor relationships, leading shelf presentation, assortment decisions, and promotional planning for assigned Categories.

You will work with Shelf, Banner Merchandising, Pricing, and Replenishment to implement a cohesive Category plan aligned with Banner strategy and the Integrated Business Plan, collaborating with Retail Operations and Supply Chain.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and related work experience
• 5-8 years combined experience in retail, merchandising, category, pricing, logistics, supply chain, procurement, and distribution
• Experience with SEGA, DSS, LlamaSoft, WMS, PFT, Inforem, Tableau, Revionics, MSP
• Ability to negotiate and influence across departments
• Strong presentation and analytical skills

Responsibilities

• Assist CM with day-to-day direction for implementation and support of Category, Merchandising & Pricing strategies and initiatives
• Provide leadership coverage for the team when CM is unavailable
• Collaborate across departments to meet budgeted KPIs (Sales, Movement, Market Share, Net Contribution)
• Negotiate the most advantageous programs with vendors and reduce costs
• Manage vendor allowances to meet targets and optimize portfolio value
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Our Brand teams to ensure alignment with the Integrated Business Plan
• Ensure assortment reflects Banner strategy and category role across markets
• Lead planograms, test sets, and on-shelf presentation adherence

Skills

Vendor management

Category management

Negotiation

Merchandising

Pricing

Supply chain

Planograms

Presentation skills

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent

Tools

SEGA

DSS

LlamaSoft

WMS

PFT

Inforem

Tableau

Revionics

MSP

Job description

Food Lion is seeking a Category Manager responsible for intense negotiations and vendor relationships, leading shelf presentation, assortment decisions, and promotional planning for assigned Categories.

You will work with Shelf, Banner Merchandising, Pricing, and Replenishment to implement a cohesive Category plan aligned with Banner strategy and the Integrated Business Plan, collaborating with Retail Operations and Supply Chain.