Food Promotions Specialist

Lidl US; Arlington (VA); Hybrid; USD 46,000 - 53,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive hourly pay

Employee discount

Medical & dental coverage

401K with company match

Paid time off

Training programs

DailyPay

Job summary

Lidl US is seeking a Food Promotions Specialist to support the management team in profitably planning weekly and seasonal promotions. You will leverage market analysis and historical data to forecast volume and coordinate with Purchasing, Marketing, and Supply Chain to meet deadlines.

The role requires 1–3 years in purchasing or category management, strong analytical and communication skills, and a bachelor’s degree or equivalent retail experience.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Retail, Supply Chain, Merchandising, or related field (or 1–2 years retail floor experience).
• 1–3 years of professional experience in purchasing, procurement, or category management.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Co-develop promotional strategies for assigned categories in collaboration with Managers and Sr. Managers, utilizing market analysis and historical sales data to optimize future volume forecasting.
• Conduct weekly store and market pricing research on promotional items to ensure competitive positioning and accuracy across all retail channels.
• Maintain the Promotional Planning System (APT) and item planning databases with high accuracy, ensuring seamless execution of weekly pricing and promotional builds.
• Partner with Purchasing/Buying teams to coordinate domestic item inclusion in seasonal and weekly In/Out assortments and track new and repeat product life cycle timelines to assure target-week launches.
• Liaise across Supply Chain, Marketing, and Purchasing Administration to monitor critical deadlines, resolve operational bottlenecks, and safeguard promotional execution.
• Audit weekly circulars and marketing materials for price and item accuracy prior to customer release, minimizing discrepancies.
• Identify and execute process improvements, streamlining planning workflows and updating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and instructional guidelines.
• Support national and international cross-functional projects, ensuring deliverables align with key promotional deadlines and corporate business goals.

Skills

Analytical skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Retail, Supply Chain, Merchandising, or related field

Retail floor experience 1–2 years (in lieu of degree)

Job description

Purpose

The Food Promotions Specialist - Food Promo 2 is responsible for supporting the management team with tasks to profitably plan for all weekly and seasonal food promotions, based on market analysis and company objectives.

Responsibilities

Promotional Planning & Category Strategy:

• Co-develop promotional strategies for assigned categories in collaboration with Managers and Sr. Managers, utilizing market analysis and historical sales data to optimize future volume forecasting.
• Conduct weekly store and market pricing research on promotional items to ensure competitive positioning and accuracy across all retail channels.
• Maintain the Promotional Planning System (APT) and item planning databases with high accuracy, ensuring seamless execution of weekly pricing and promotional builds.
• Partner with Purchasing/Buying teams to coordinate domestic item inclusion in seasonal and weekly In/Out assortments and track new and repeat product life cycle timelines to assure target-week launches.
• Liaise across Supply Chain, Marketing, and Purchasing Administration to monitor critical deadlines, resolve operational bottlenecks, and safeguard promotional execution.
• Audit weekly circulars and marketing materials for price and item accuracy prior to customer release, minimizing discrepancies.
• Identify and execute process improvements, streamlining planning workflows and updating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and instructional guidelines.
• Support national and international cross-functional projects, ensuring deliverables align with key promotional deadlines and corporate business goals.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Retail, Supply Chain, Merchandising, or related field. (In lieu of degree: 1–2 years of retail floor experience and demonstrated success supporting store processes).
• 1–3 years of professional experience in purchasing, procurement, or category management.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.

Physical Requirements

• Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled office environment.
• Must be able to sit for prolonged periods of time at a desk or computer terminal.
• May use keyboards, telephone, and standard office equipment in the course of a normal workday.
• Stooping, bending, twisting, and reaching may be required in the completion of job duties.
• Must be able to lift up to 25 pounds at times.

Competencies

• Personal Competencies: Continuously updates technical expertise, adapts flexibly to changing departmental standards, and evaluates problem spaces from multiple viewpoints. Maintains quality results under high pressure, respects individual capacity boundaries, and proposes concrete solutions to improve day-to-day procedures.
• Business Competencies: Prioritizes tasks effectively based on importance and urgency, manages company resources with care, and takes accountability for meeting strict deadlines while proactively flags risks to leaders. Understands cross-functional process connections and solves standard operational problems under time and budget boundaries.
• Social Competencies: Communicates concepts clearly, provides prompt progress updates, and practices active listening to ensure stakeholder alignment. Builds trust-based relationships across departments, completes assignments collaboratively, addresses conflict early in an objective, solution-oriented manner, and advocates for viewpoints with balanced diplomacy.

Our Values

Ability to demonstrate, understand, and continuously apply our workplace values:

• Performance: We thrive together to passionately pursue ambitious goals, constantly develop ourselves, and turn complex organizational challenges into opportunities.
• Respect: We put people at the center of what we do by treating each other fairly, ensuring equal opportunities, and valuing diversity as a key cultural strength.
• Trust: We believe in each other, communicate openly and honestly, remain completely reliable, and treat mistakes as valuable learning opportunities.
• Grounded: We dream big while staying down to earth, remaining approachable, choosing simplicity over complexity, and focusing firmly on meaningful results.
• Belonging: We are stronger together than we are alone, standing up for one another, leveraging our collective strengths, and focusing on sustainable, long-term relationships.

Scope

• Number of team members directly supervised: None
• Number of team members indirectly supervised: None
• Annual budget/expenditures: Manages assigned tasks responsibly, ensuring that all deliverables explicitly meet predefined time and budget constraints in close consultation with their manager.

What You’ll Receive

At Lidl, we know that in order for our people to do their best, they must be at their best. That’s why as a company, we offer one of the most generous benefits packages in the industry.

All our Lidl employees are eligible to receive the following benefits:

• Starting pay of $33.66 per hour (with potential to earn $38.47 per hour in the future)
• 10% employee-only discount on purchases made at Lidl stores
• Medical & Prescription | Dental | Vision coverage
• Paid Holiday & Paid Time Off (PTO) to use for sickness or vacation
• Dedicated training plans to ensure you are set up for success
• 401K Plan (+ 5% company match)
• Voluntary Term Life & AD&D Insurance
• Total Well-Being Program
• DailyPay, a voluntary benefit to offer employees access to their pay on their own schedule

Lidl US views our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through a lens of actions that are Good for the Environment, Good for People, and Good for You.

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