Category Manager – Fresh Produce & Grocery

Fresh Thyme Market; Aurora (IL); Hybride; USD 75 000 - 117 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Weekly pay

Scheduling flexibility

Paid parental leave

Team member discount

Career growth opportunities

Résumé du poste

Fresh Thyme Market is seeking a Category Manager to oversee assigned grocery categories, driving revenue, margin, and inventory health across the Midwest. You will coordinate with stores, vendors, and districts to execute pricing, promotions, and assortment strategies.

The role requires strong category analytics, vendor negotiation skills, and a deep knowledge of produce merchandising. Hybrid schedule applies with Downers Grove, IL in-office days and remote days later in the week.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent Grocery industry experience required.
• Minimum of 6 years’ professional experience.
• 5-7 years of grocery retail experience with Produce merchandising, category management, pricing, promotions, and assortment planning. Previous experience in the natural foods industry is a plus.
• Strong Produce category knowledge, including seasonality, freshness standards, merchandising best practices, and consumer trends.

Responsabilités

• Creates and implements pricing, promotion, assortment and shelf schematics for each assigned category, based on detailed analysis of past performance, results, industry best practices, and consumer trends.
• Creates yearly business plan and budgets by category based on department/company initiatives, consumer and market trends.
• Negotiates and collaborates with vendors on pricing, product assortment, promotion, ads, services, promotional calendars, and support; acts as primary contact with vendors in assigned categories.
• Reviews category and department financials (i.e. Profit & Loss Statement) monthly and reacts as necessary to ensure budgets are achieved; meets sales and margin budget expectations.
• Ensures store inventory levels are within company standards and reports inventory discrepancies.
• Manages category performance through effective assortment, merchandising, freshness, quality, and shrink control strategies.
• Authorizes new items entering the market; Researches new vendors for products, requests quotes, analyzes responses, selects products, and implements product placement.
• Develops and executes category business plans, including assortment, merchandising, pricing, promotional, and seasonal strategies.
• Leads category merchandising initiatives, seasonal programs, and innovation efforts to drive sales, customer engagement, and market differentiation.
• Helps to ensure stores meet all company and health code standards.
• Attends key vendor company planning meetings.

Connaissances

Produce merchandising

Category analytics

Seasonal planning

Freshness management

Shrink control

Promotional effectiveness

MS Office

Formation

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent Grocery industry experience

Outils

MS Office

Excel

Description du poste

Fresh Thyme Market is seeking a Category Manager to oversee assigned grocery categories, driving revenue, margin, and inventory health across the Midwest. You will coordinate with stores, vendors, and districts to execute pricing, promotions, and assortment strategies.

The role requires strong category analytics, vendor negotiation skills, and a deep knowledge of produce merchandising. Hybrid schedule applies with Downers Grove, IL in-office days and remote days later in the week.