Category Manager, Center of the Plate (COP) - Foodservice

Job Description We Deliver the Goods: Competitive pay and benefits, including Day 1 Health & Wellness Benefits, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, 401K Employer Matching, Education Assistance, Paid Time Off, and much more Growth opportunities performing essential work to support America’s food distribution system Safe and inclusive working environment, including culture of rewards, recognition, and respect Position Summary To manage the customer relations, purchasing, and financial management functions related to your product category in order to achieve maximum profits and customer satisfaction. To coordinate the buying, selling, and merchandising efforts of the vendor and distributor, resulting in satisfied customers, profitable sales and above average in-stock percentages, inventory turns, and days accounts payable outstanding. Position Responsibilities: Supplier and Vendor Management - Develop and execute category strategies aligned with company objectives. Manage category business plans and annual targets. Analyze market trends, customer demands and competitor activity to identify growth opportunities and category gaps. Negotiate buy brackets, inbound freight rates, backhaul dollars, cash discounts, extended terms, and earned income. Ensure costing and pricing accuracy, with special attention to changes, discrepancies, and customer audits. Review over-committed, urgent items, buyer’s outs, stock adjustments, receiving discrepancies, and sales below cost reports. Process returns to vendors including entering vendor bill backs before merchandise leaves our buildings. Product Management- Optimize product assortment and SKU Rationalization. Conduct Assortment reviews to eliminate underperforming items. Introduce new products and category innovations. Manage products from launch to discontinuation. Pricing and Profitability - Develop strategies to balance margin and competitiveness. Manage category profitability and gross margin performance. Analyze cost changes and implement pricing adjustments. Manage promotional pricing programs. Sales and marketing collaboration on POS materials, sell sheets and promotions. Support customer presentations and category reviews. Data analysis and reporting - Analyze sales, margin, market share and customer behavior to driver assortment and pricing decisions. Develop KPIs and reporting to share orogress and enable decision marking for results. Keep your product knowledge up to date by attending and participating in special events such as food shows, buying shows, and seminars. Be responsible for knowing your products and for product knowledge training for customers. Work with Accounts Payable to negotiate, approve, and resolve all billing vs. receiving discrepancies, vendor bill back issues, lost cash discount negotiations, etc. Performs other duties as assigned. Complies with all policies and standards. Required Qualifications Bachelor's Degree Center of the Plate - 2 years COP knowledge 5 Years related experience in category 6 months - 1 year supervisory or management experience Presentation MS Office proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint for presentations Compensation 100-120k

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