Strategic Grocery Category Manager

Vaco by Highspring; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring is hiring a Category Manager for the Greater Pasadena Area, CA. This onsite role focuses on owning category strategy, vendor management, pricing, and inventory performance within a food-focused retail organization.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in category management or related fields, with strong supplier negotiations and experience in grocery or perishable categories. Bachelor's degree or equivalent is preferred for this senior role.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in category management, buying, sourcing, or merchandising.
• Dairy, refrigerated, fresh, or perishable food category experience preferred.
• Strong vendor management and negotiation experience.
• Understanding of commodity markets, pricing, margins, and retail math.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own category strategy across product selection, value, vendor relationships, fulfillment, negotiations, and inventory quality
• Partner with merchandising leadership to establish and achieve sales, margin, SKU, and unit targets
• Stay closely informed on category trends, commodity pricing, market conditions, production capacity, and emerging products
• Manage vendor relationships and supply chain performance, ensuring negotiated agreements, quality standards, and fulfillment expectations are met
• Source, evaluate, and introduce new products while identifying opportunities to strengthen and diversify the vendor base
• Partner with buyers and broader product teams to support fill rates, inventory quality, and fulfillment goals
• Evaluate product quality, pricing, customer value, and overall category performance
• Build strong relationships with manufacturers and vendors while leading negotiations
• Collaborate cross-functionally with merchandising, product development, operations, and other internal teams

Skills

Category management

Vendor management

Negotiation

Communication

Sourcing

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Vaco by Highspring is hiring a Category Manager for the Greater Pasadena Area, CA. This onsite role focuses on owning category strategy, vendor management, pricing, and inventory performance within a food-focused retail organization.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in category management or related fields, with strong supplier negotiations and experience in grocery or perishable categories. Bachelor's degree or equivalent is preferred for this senior role.