Director of HBW/GM Sales & Merchandising

Job Description

Executive Director of HBW/GM Merchandising & Sales

Location: 5000 Kansas Avenue Kansas City, KS 66106

Department: Center Store

You will lead and manage Health, Beauty & Wellness (HBW) and General Merchandise (GM) brands and products, ensuring optimal cost of goods and impactful programs that help member retailers excel on shelf with profitable sales. Develop strategies and initiatives based on category trends to maintain a competitive edge for our retail member's. Build and manage strong vendor partnerships to guarantee best pricing and consistent supply for member success.

Responsibilities:

• Negotiate everyday best cost of goods, promotional funding and general vendor agreements delivering optimal programing for retail member's to drive profitable sales
• Develop category and item strategies to include within mainstream categories - product, placement, promotions and price
• Partner with vendor and broker community developing annual plans, promotional programs, downstream division and retailer member communication delivering optimal retail member results
• Partner with buying organization and vendor partners to maintain proper supply within AWG warehouses associated with specialty foods - inbound and outbound service level, on time vendor PO's, managing of manufacturer supply outs, maintenance of new and discontinued items, etc.
• Establish and maintain a professional relationship with retail member's supporting and guiding with superior customer service and follow through
• Manage warehouse sales and gross profit performance while understanding results compared to budget and prior year - week, period, quarterly and annually
• Continuously stay informed with category insights and trends providing expertise guidance to retail members and internal organization - internal data, external data and third party insights
• Work in coordination with other internal AWG teams to meet mutual company goals - center store merchandising, fresh merchandising, marketing, retail member services, operations and more
• Provide leadership to employees through goals, feedback and effective performance appraisals to develop skills and future growth

Education/Experience:

• College degree or equivalent grocery, in-store, category management, and/or center store experience.
• 10+ years of grocery experience with at least 5+ years of category management and center store experience
• Valid driver's license
• Microsoft Office skills
• Strong financial acumen
• Understanding of AWG systems & AWG members, divisions, & resources
• Understanding of accounting principals
• Ability to read and analyze P&L

Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG) is the nation's largest cooperative food wholesaler to independently owned supermarkets, serving 1,100 member companies and more than 3,400 locations throughout 33 states from 9 wholesale divisions. Consolidated sales for AWG in 2023 were $12.4 billion. In addition to its cooperative wholesale operations, the company also operates subsidiary companies that provide certain real estate and supermarket development services, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit AWGinc.com.

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Paid Vacation, Holiday, and Sick Time
• 401(k) with 4% match along with 3 other contributions
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Basic & Supplemental Life and AD&D
• Employee Assistance Program
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
• Wellness Program
• Yearly Holiday Bonus