Director, Sprouts Brand Category Strategy

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.; Phoenix (AZ); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Vacation accrual plan

Sprouts employee discount (15%)

Career growth opportunities

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

401(k) with company match

Company paid life insurance

Job summary

Sprouts Farmers Market is seeking a Director of Category Strategy to lead the Sprouts Brand portfolio from our Store Support Office in Phoenix, with a hybrid in-office schedule (Tue-Thu).

You will own commercial strategy, category planning, supplier management, and speed to market, partnering with Merchandising, Product Development, Quality, and Supply Chain to identify growth opportunities and optimize profitability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred with 10+ years in category management, merchandising, or related roles
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing teams and cross-functional initiatives
• Experience in merchandising/category management with product development knowledge
• Track record of developing and commercializing innovative consumer products and driving growth
• Experience presenting strategic recommendations to senior/executive leadership
• Strong long-term strategic and financial planning skills
• Ability to handle confidential information and work to tight deadlines
• Solid understanding of P/L statements, ledgers, and margins
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office
• Some travel required

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the strategic vision and growth agenda for Sprouts Brand portfolio
• Lead category strategy and portfolio planning to drive sales growth and profitability
• Partner with senior leaders to establish category priorities and deliver business results
• Own category performance using market intelligence, customer insights, and financial metrics
• Establish category performance metrics, governance, and planning processes
• Direct innovation roadmaps and commercialization strategies for growth
• Build and manage strategic supplier relationships and partnerships
• Drive margin, cost optimization, and productivity initiatives
• Champion cross-functional execution and go-to-market excellence
• Influence enterprise decisions with strategic recommendations and business cases
• Lead and scale the Category Strategy organization and talent development
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and customer focus

Skills

Strategic thinking

Category management

Leadership

P/L understanding

Vendor relations

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Overview

The Director, CategoryStrategyleads the Category Strategy team and serves as the primary business owner for Sprouts Brand categories. This roleis responsible fordeveloping and executing category strategies that drive sales growth, profitability, competitive differentiation, customer loyalty, and long-term business performance.

The Director partners closely with Merchandising, Supply Chain, Store Operations, Product Development, Brand, Packaging, Quality, and supplier partners toidentifygrowth opportunities, improve category productivity,identify and implement COGS savings opportunities, optimizeassortments, strengthen supplier partnerships, and accelerate speed to market.

This leader owns the commercial strategy for Sprouts Brand categories, including category planning, assortment optimization, supplier management, commercialization, operational effectiveness, and near-term innovation. The role is accountable foridentifyingcategory opportunities in conjunction with the Merchandising Category management teams and partnering with the Product Development team to bring more complex and differentiated innovations to market.

This position is located at our Store Support Office in Phoenix, Arizona, and operates on a hybrid schedule (in office Tuesday - Thursday).

Overview of Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the strategic vision, operating plans, and growth agenda for the Sprouts Brand portfolio, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives and long-term business
• Lead category strategy and portfolio planning to drive Sprouts Brand sales growth, gross profit expansion, category penetration where relevant, customer loyalty, and competitive
• Partner with senior leaders across Merchandising, Product Development, Supply Chain, Operations, Brand, and Quality to establish category priorities and deliver business
• Own category portfolio performance, leveraging market intelligence, customer insights, competitive analysis, and financial metrics to identify growth opportunities, mitigate risks, and optimize
• Establish and govern category performance metrics, operating reviews, and business planning processes to drive accountability and continuous
• Direct innovation roadmaps and commercialization strategies, prioritizing opportunities that accelerate growth, strengthen brand differentiation, and expand market
• Build and lead strategic supplier relationships, sourcing strategies, and external partnerships that enhance innovation capabilities, operational effectiveness, and speed to
• Drive financial performance through margin enhancement, cost optimization, sourcing strategies, and productivity initiatives while balancing customer value and business
• Champion cross-functional execution and go-to-market excellence, ensuring successful product launches, operational readiness, inventory health, and in-store
• Influence enterprise-level decisions through strategic recommendations, business case development, and executive-level communication of category opportunities, risks, and
• Lead, develop, and scale a high-performing Category Strategy organization, including talent development, succession planning, capability building, and workforce
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, customer focus, and operational excellence while strengthening organizational capabilities and future leadership

#LI-KO1

Qualifications

• Preferred bachelor’s degrees with 10+ years of progressive experience in category management, merchandising, private brand, or related functions
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing teams, developing talent, and leading cross-functional business initiatives
• Experience in merchandising and category managementwith relevant experience in product development or merchandising with product knowledge preferred
• Demonstrated success developing and commercializing innovative consumer products and driving measurable business growth is beneficial
• Experience presenting strategic recommendations and business performance updates to senior and executive leadership teams
• Requires long-term strategic and financial planning skills
• Ability to preserve confidentiality of information, communicate with all levels of management and work within stricttime framesand resolute deadlines
• Complete understanding of P/L statements, general ledgers, and margins
• Thorough understanding Microsoft Office suite
• Some travelrequired

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Sick time plan that you can use to support you or your immediate families health
• Vacation accrual plan
• Opportunities for career growth
• 15% discount for you and one other family member in your household on all purchases made at Sprouts
• Flexible schedules
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401(K) Retirement savings plan with a generous company match
• Company paid life insurance
• Contests and appreciation events throughout the year full of prizes, food and fun!

Eligibility requirements may apply for the following benefits:

• Bonus based on company and/or individual performance
• Affordable benefit coverage, including medical, dental and vision
• Health Savings Account with company match
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care
• Company paid short-term disability coverage
• Paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers
• Paid holidays

Get Paid Every Day!

Sprouts Farmers Market offers DailyPay - if you’re hired as an eligible employee, you’ll be able to transfer the money you’ve already earned at no extra cost, and get it the next business day, for free. We offer DailyPay so you don’t have to wait for payday to access the money you’ve already worked for. With DailyPay, you can see how much you’ve made every day and you can transfer your money any time before payday.

You can learn more by visiting https://www.dailypay.com/partners/sprouts-farmers-market/.

Why Sprouts

Grow with us!

If you have a passion for inspiring people and a flair for fresh food, consider applying for a job at Sprouts! With a focus on customer service, our neighborhood grocery stores offer high-quality, farm fresh produce, natural meats, plenty of scoop-your-own bulk goods and much more in a fun, friendly, old-fashioned farmer’s market setting. Come grow your career in healthy living with a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and teams that pride themselves on empowering others along their journey.

At Sprouts, we’re committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and caring workplace culture.

Our Team Member Resource Groups (TMRGs) create spaces for connection, support, and growth. Every team member is welcome to join one or more of our five groups:

• Inspiring Women at Sprouts
• Rainbow Alliance at Sprouts
• Sabor at Sprouts
• Soul at Sprouts
• Honored to Serve at Sprouts

Together, these groups celebrate diversity and empower our team to thrive.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people assigned to this work. This is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Sprouts’ management reserves the right to amend and change duties, responsibilities, and requirements to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.

Sprouts will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Chance in Hiring Ordinance.

California Residents: We collect information in accordance with California law, please see here for more information.