Regional Merchant

Description

• On-the-ground support to close key product gaps via sourcing development and production coordination.
• Local presence to accelerate vendor engagement sampling and quality control.
• Real-time competitive analysis with weekly reporting to enable rapid response to market shifts.

• Sales Growth: Deliver comp and total sales growth for Wild Fork Canada in line with (or above) annual plan.
• Margin Growth: Improve gross margin dollars and rate through cost price and mix (including private label penetration).
• Inventory Productivity: Increase turns/GMROI; reduce out-of-stocks and aged inventory.
• Pricing Competitiveness: Maintain targeted price index versus key competitors while protecting margin.
• Innovation Performance: Launch pipeline on time; achieve 90-day velocity targets and SKU productivity thresholds.
• Vendor Performance: Achieve cost savings rebates/funding and OTIF targets; strengthen strategic partnerships.
• Customer Outcomes: Improve product satisfaction/return rates and support store NPS related to product experience.

• Assortment Strategy: Define portfolio architecture (core seasonal innovation local relevance); set role of brands/tiers and private label to drive sales and margin.
• Vendor Strategy & Negotiation: Build a robust Canadian/US/international vendor base; negotiate cost terms vendor-funded promotions/rebates and service levels aligned to margin goals.
• Pricing & Promotion: Establish competitive pricing strategy and guardrails; manage price index targets; optimize promotional calendars for sales lift and ROI.
• Category Plans: Create annual and quarterly category plans with targets for sales margin and productivity; track performance and course-correct.
• Innovation & Commercialization: Prioritize pipeline through stage gates; run tests/learning sprints; partner with Production/QA to deliver spec-accurate launches that meet velocity and margin thresholds.
• Insights & Analytics: Use market scans competitive reviews and shopper data to inform category pricing and promotion decisions; translate insights into action.

• Item Lifecycle Management: Own SKU setup product specifications labels and packaging inventory for accuracy and availability.
• Cost & Spec Integrity: Maintain up-to-date costs; manage cost changes; ensure strict spec adherence with internal production and 3rd-party processors.
• Demand & Inventory: Provide forecasts and inputs to planning; support allocation replenishment and OOS reduction actions across 4 (and growing) Canadian stores.
• Space & Merchandising: Support space planning and planograms; ensure assortments are merchandised for conversion and basket growth.
• Regulatory & Quality: Partner with QA/Regulatory to meet Canadian food/labeling requirements and internal standards.
• Performance Reporting: Maintain category dashboards (weekly/monthly) covering sales margin price index promo ROI inventory health and vendor OTIF.

• Marketing: Align on brand and promotional plans storytelling and content that drive traffic and conversion in Canada.
• Operations/Stores: Gather field feedback; support planogram execution and promotional readiness; address product issues quickly.
• Supply Chain & Logistics: Coordinate to protect availability freshness fill rates and costs (including inbound DC and store-level execution).
• Production/QA: Co-own spec accuracy packaging readiness and change control to safeguard quality and margin.
• Finance & IT: Align on pricing item master integrity P&L views reporting automation and performance governance.

• 5 years in Category Management/Merchandising in Food Retail or Foodservice (grocery preferred).
• Proven track record in pricing strategy cost modeling vendor negotiation and category P&L ownership.
• Strong analytics in Excel/Google Sheets/Smartsheet; familiarity with BI/visualization tools preferred.
• Experience with space planning/planogram tools and item lifecycle management (specs labels packaging).
• Working knowledge of Canadian retail market dynamics and food regulatory environment.
• Lean/Continuous Improvement exposure; Lean Six Sigma training/Black Belt is an asset.

• Strategic Thinking & Decision Quality: Makes sound data-informed tradeoffs that balance growth and margin.
• Collaboration & Influence: Builds trust across functions and vendors; navigates boundaries to deliver outcomes.
• Drive for Results: Bias to action; sets clear targets; course-corrects with urgency in a dynamic environment.
• Customer Obsession: Anticipates Canadian consumer needs; turns insights into winning assortments and experiences.
• Entrepreneurial Agility: Comfortable with start-up pace; iterates quickly through tests and learning sprints.
• Communication & Negotiation: Clear persuasive communicator; secures value through principled negotiations.
• Integrity & Values: Acts consistently with Wild Fork values and ethics; champions the companys best interest.