Remote Director, Travel Retail Category & Merchandising

SSP Group; Ashburn (VA); Remote; USD 133,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus eligible

Job summary

SSP America seeks a strategic Head of Category Management & Merchandising to shape and scale our multi-category retail program across snack/impulse, beverages, and travel essentials in airports nationwide. You will lead a high-performance team, align with design, procurement, and marketing, and drive revenue growth and margin expansion.

The role emphasizes data-driven decision making, planogram optimization, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver compelling in-store experiences for

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or international equivalent in Marketing, Business Management, Finance, or related field.
• 8–10 years in hospitality/retail/food service with multi-unit experience.
• Deep category management principles for food/beverage and merchandising strategies.
• Proven leadership of category managers, buyers, or merchandisers.
• Strong P&L, sales, and profitability understanding and data-driven decision making.
• Experience advising senior leaders and working under pressure.
• Excellent communication, presentation, organization, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute a holistic retail and category strategy across multiple categories.
• Identify new revenue streams through fresh food, travel essentials, and emerging trends.
• Lead creation and optimization of planograms, merchandising frameworks, and space allocations.
• Collaborate with Design & Construction to set retail design standards for new builds and renovations.
• Deliver against KPIs like average transaction value, margin, and incremental sales.
• Develop pricing and promotion strategies with Commercial and Finance; coordinate with Ops and Marketing.

Skills

Category management

Merchandising

P&L awareness

Team leadership

Data analysis

Pricing strategy

Planograms

Vendor negotiations

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Management, Finance, or related field

Tools

Scorpion

Spaceman

MyMicros

MyInventory

Job description

SSP America seeks a strategic Head of Category Management & Merchandising to shape and scale our multi-category retail program across snack/impulse, beverages, and travel essentials in airports nationwide. You will lead a high-performance team, align with design, procurement, and marketing, and drive revenue growth and margin expansion.

The role emphasizes data-driven decision making, planogram optimization, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver compelling in-store experiences for