Buyer

Food Lion; Salisbury (NC); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Food Lion is seeking a Category Manager of Merchandising procurement in Salisbury, NC. The role focuses on negotiating costs with vendors, guiding sourcing strategies for perishables, and supporting promotional plans to drive banner sales.

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's degree, 3+ years in procurement, and experience with systems like WMS and CAO. This on-site position collaborates with cross-functional teams to meet margin and inventory goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and strong proficiency with Microsoft Office.
• 3 years of relevant experience in procurement.
• 2+ years procurement experience in perishable food commodities.
• Retail experience in procurement.
• Fundamental knowledge of company, business and industry practices.
• Understanding of Pre-sell Application, Forward Buy, WMS, CAO, Logistics, and Banner Strategies.
• Knowledge of Perishable Forecasting Tool (PFT), SEGA, INFOREM, MSP, Product Feedback, Control D, Item and Vendor Set Up.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate costs with approved vendors.
• Develop strong vendor relationships to meet cost and quality needs.
• Meet procurement goals: service levels, turns, and inventory dollars.
• Develop projected costs and item movement to support margins.
• Support promotional planning to drive banner sales.
• Analyze trends, seasonal updates, and supply issues.
• Procure fresh commodities meeting food safety and quality standards.
• Coordinate with Demand Planning to enhance demand management.
• Resolve Accounts Payable issues using invoice matching system.
• Ensure accurate item maintenance with Buyer Assistant.

Skills

Procurement experience

Vendor relationship management

Merchandising knowledge

Perishable forecasting

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

WMS

CAO

Job description

Category/Area of Expertise: Merchandising

Job Requisition: 563342

Address: USA-NC-Salisbury-2110 Executive Drive

Store Code: FL Deli/Bake/HMS Category COS (2762673)

At Food Lion, Associates are the most important assets to our organization. We want associates to have meaningful careers full of variety and challenges. Each associate contributes to the overall success of Food Lion, and in return, we strive to provide all associates with a fulfilling work experience and reward performance and commitment. We are committed to the professional development of our associates through on-the-job learning opportunities and training.

Position Summary

Responsible for negotiating cost and procuring items for specific grouping of categories. Provide guidance and direction to central sourcing teams regarding product attributes and specifications to ensure brand needs are met.

Principle Duties And Responsibilities

• Negotiate costs with approved vendors
• Develop strong business relationships with vendors to deliver quality needs at best cost
• Meet established procurement goals, such as service levels, merchandise force outs, buyer adjust accounts, buyer/DC loss, turns, and inventory dollars
• Develop accurate projected costs and item movement to pricing to support margin projections
• Support promotional planning to drive sales
• Analyze and create recommendations regarding item trends, seasonal updates, and product supply issues
• Procure fresh commodities that meet defined food safety and quality expectations.
• Based on respective area of responsibility negotiate costs with approved vendors.
• Meet established procurement goals, such as service levels, merchandise force outs, buyer adjust accounts, buyer/DC loss, turns, and inventory dollars.
• Partners with the Demand Planning Analyst sharing their extensive product knowledge to enable appropriate demand management system enhancements.
• Develop strong business relationships with vendors to deliver quality needs at best cost.
• Provide accurate projected costs and item movement to pricing to support margin projections.
• Be an expert on specifications and sourcing for all products within portfolio.
• Support Category Manager in developing promotional plans that drive banner sales.
• Support promotional planning by recommending items that meet banner promotion strategies.
• Maintain solid communication with business partners (Merchandising, Pricing, Item Lifecycle, and Replenishment) to support Banner needs.
• Communicate item trends, seasonal updates, and product supply issues to appropriate business partners in a proactive, timely manner.
• Resolve any Accounts Payable issues using invoice matching system.
• Resolve vendor accuracy and other issues/exceptions.
• Work with Buyer Assistant to ensure accurate item maintenance.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree
• Microsoft Office
• 3 years
• 2 or more years procurement experience in perishable food commodities
• Retail Experience
• Procurement experience
• Basic professional level of knowledge of company, business and industry practices
• General understanding of Pre-sell Application, Forward Buy system, Warehouse Management System (WMS), Computer Assisted Ordering (CAO), Logistics, and Banner Strategies.
• Solid understanding of Perishable Forecasting Tool (PFT), SEGA, INFOREM, Merchandising Sales Plan (MSP), Product Feedback, Control D, Item and Vendor Set Up.

Travel

• None

Food Lion provides equal employment opportunities to all associates and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions) national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity or gender expression or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you have a disability and require assistance in the application process, please contact our Recruiting Department at [e-mail]