Manager Strategic Initiatives

At Food LionAssociates are the most important assets to our organization. We want associates to have meaningful careers full of variety and challenges. Each associate contributes to the overall success of Food Lion and in return we strive to provide all associates with a fulfilling work experience and reward performance and commitment. We are committed to the professional development of our associates through on-the-job learning opportunities and training.

Position Summary

The Strategic Initiatives Manager delivers sustainable growth in sales profits people and ensures consistent execution of initiatives across a Division. Responsibilities include delivering on the Food Lion Brand Strategy by implementing the banner strategic initiatives and analyzing operational results to discover and capitalize on opportunities for improvement including ensuring Food Safety and Regulatory measures are met.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities

Responsible for implementation planning and rollout of banner initiatives/banner tests/pilot programs as defined annually to include operationalizing and refinement within assigned Division (220 stores).

Accountable for delivery of Divisional KPIs for banner initiatives and trend analysis as well as troubleshooting areas of opportunity for feedback and follow up.

Collaborates with Director of Execution and Implementation and Director of Operations to prioritize opportunities within the Division/Region with a focus on banner initiatives.

Responsible for communication and training of all regional resources. Serves as the subject matter expert for training on new banner initiatives in collaboration with merchandising leads and retail operations.

Manage an effective feedback loop between retail and all business partners on the effectiveness and execution of banner initiatives.

Ensures that banner initiatives are aligned with current retail standard practices and training and partners with the Standard Practice team to create standard practice guidelines for all banner initiatives.

Knowledgeable regarding Divisional competitive landscape and market and reports significant findings including competitive openings and closing to Food Lion Strategy team.

Basic Qualifications

Merchandising Retail Operations and/or Category experience
Thorough understanding of Standard Practices and Merchandising techniques
Proficient in Microsoft Office (including Excel and Power Point)
Cross-functional leadership experience with a demonstrated ability to work with cross-functional teams
Demonstrated leadership and ability to influence others
Must live within their respective division

Preferred Qualifications

• 8-10 years combined experience in retail merchandising or category
• 2 years of multiple retail location responsibility
• Bachelors Degree or equivalent combination of education and related work experience
• Extensive knowledge of Fresh or Center Store categories.
• Experience with organizational change management

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to manage day to day activity in support of identified business area and functional area strategies
• Demonstrated ability to implement and analyze retail business using consumer insights and analyzing trends.
• Active listener with an ability to build trust across varying levels of the organization
• High degree of credibility and the ability to work with and through all levels of management
• Excellent organizational planning influence communication and presentation skills
• Self-motivated and persuasive in presenting and selling ideas and executing their implementation

Travel and Physical Expectations

• Ability to lift push or pull 50lbs
• 100% with 50-75% overnight depending on Divisional geography

Food Lion provides equal employment opportunities to all associates and applicants for employment without regard to race color religion sex (including pregnancy childbirth and related conditions) national origin age disability sexual orientation veteran status gender identity or gender expression or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you have a disability and require assistance in the application process please contact our Recruiting Department