Vice President, Merchandising

Job Summary:

This position provides corporate-level leadership for merchandising through product assortment, product development, national pricing routines and management. Works in partnership with leaders (region leaders, sales, merchandising, and finance) across SSMG & USBL to optimize assortment revenue and margin results, embed pricing and margin routines, conduct analysis to provide strategic recommendations and tailor market strategies across SSMG & USBL to optimize revenue and margin. Reviews SSMG contracts, pricing, and margin. This position should develop and proactively provide insight to support local, national, and internal sales growth strategies and improve commercialization initiatives.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Own product lifecycle through leadership of merchandising team

• Capture internal & external conversion opportunities

• Build out demand planning capabilities

• SKU rationalization, standardization and clean up

• Create standard for product capabilities for proteins across all regions

• Work with SSMG & USBL on new products and establish product capabilities

• Co-pack/retail strategy development and implementation (Pro-Link)

• Evaluate RTE (ready to eat) strategy

• Owns sourcing strategy for SSMG over $2.5 billion spend

• Merchandising – working closely with GSC team

  • Category Mgt- define consistent national/local assortment, good/better/best. 

  • Sourcing, including indirect, national accounts- build strategy to aggerated buys to provide lower COGS and consistent approach to national customers

    • Develop sourcing strategies including suspend fresh/frozen

  • Demand Planning- aggregate demand for both local and national business to leverage scale

  • SKU rationalization- common assortment, reduce sku’s and better descriptions,  images

  • Standardized Costing-  Consistent driver costs and national pricing for USBL/CBL

  • Margin management- elimination of leakage, capture market gains

• Product Conversions – capturing internal opportunities

• Product capabilities- build out entire suite across all regions (poultry, seafood, RTC, Grinds)

• Product development- new products & capabilities

• Co pack/ Retail strategy development and implementation (Pro-Link)

• Manage national & local pricing

• Margin management

• Evaluate RTE strategy

• Commercial sales strategy for USBL aligning with sales enablement and merchandising

Qualifications:

Education Required:  Bachelors Degree

Experience Required:  Protein expertise, 15+ years of progressive experience in Merchandising or Retail Consulting, or senior leadership roles in the meat industry

Physical Demands:  Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Professional Skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, effective written/oral communication skills, strong analytical skills

• Manages local OpCo (operating company) assortment to meet sales demands and execute and support category growth initiatives

• Monitor market to increase market share

• Negotiate and manage local level programs

• Projection and budget management

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