Produce Dept Leader & Team Mentor

La-Montanita-Food-Cooperative; New Mexico; On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

La Montañita Food Cooperative is seeking a Produce Department Team Leader to oversee all aspects of Produce operations, ensuring high-quality products and exceptional customer service. You will mentor and direct the team, implement efficient processes, and manage departmental financial performance with guidance from store leadership.

The role requires extensive supervisory experience, product knowledge, and a strong commitment to safety and regulatory compliance.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of customer service experience.
• Minimum three years in food service purchasing, preparation, or merchandising perishable products.
• Minimum three years of supervisory experience.
• Knowledge of products, buying, pricing, merchandising, and inventory management.
• Excellent interpersonal, motivational, team-building, and customer relationship skills.
• Capable of teaching others positively and constructively.
• Proficient mathematical skills for financial performance, monitoring profitability, and inventory management.
• Experience with email, Microsoft Office, and operations-related applications.
• Demonstrates excellent interpersonal and written communication skills; able to work with diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to adhere to safety, regulatory, and wellness guidelines; PPE usage required.
• Integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Ability to identify and resolve problems promptly; adapt to changes.
• Able to work with a diverse group; strong prioritization and multi-tasking.

Responsibilities

• Creates, develops, communicates, implements, audits, and evaluates operating standards and procedures and makes adjustments as needed.
• Supervises work performance and conduct of team members and supports performance management per policies and legal guidelines.
• Models leadership behaviors that promote cooperation, teamwork, and goal achievement.
• Delegates tasks for department team members and ensures completion.
• Addresses and reports concerns about team members' performance with guidance.
• Helps create and facilitates trainings to build skills and knowledge.
• Conducts regular performance evaluations, feedback sessions, and coaching to promote growth.
• Responsible for recruitment, retention, and engagement of department staff.
• Ensures new hires are trained appropriately.
• Supports safety protocols and strong departmental control measures.
• Supports marketing and outreach initiatives and contributes to events as requested.
• Orders, receives, and merchandises products following guidelines for merchandising and quality.
• Establishes annual department budgets including sales, margin, labor, and net profit.
• Monitors labor and margin ranges and department expenses against budget.
• Oversees costing and pricing accuracy for all produce items.
• Maintains product freshness and visibility through replenishment.
• Maintains knowledge of store products to assist customers effectively.
• Assists in inventory counts, store cleaning, and other projects as needed.
• Ensures regulatory standards for freshness, safety, sanitation, weights and measures are met.
• Follows opening/closing procedures and maintains ServSafe certification for team members.

Skills

Customer service

Food merchandising

Supervisory experience

Product knowledge

Inventory management

Interpersonal skills

Mentoring/teaching

Financial acumen

Computer skills (email, Office)

Communication skills

Safety awareness

Integrity and confidentiality

Problem solving

Adaptability

Teamwork

Multi-tasking

Job description

La Montañita Food Cooperative is seeking a Produce Department Team Leader to oversee all aspects of Produce operations, ensuring high-quality products and exceptional customer service. You will mentor and direct the team, implement efficient processes, and manage departmental financial performance with guidance from store leadership.

The role requires extensive supervisory experience, product knowledge, and a strong commitment to safety and regulatory compliance.