Sr. Director of Merchandising, Local and Emerging Brands

The Sr. Director of Merchandising, Local and Emerging Brands is a visionary and transformational leadership role that embodies and elevates the role of Local and Emerging Brands at Whole Foods Market and in the food industry. This leader is accountable for creating the strategic direction for Local and Emerging brand development in support of the Whole Foods Market and Merchandising strategies. This role will lead a team of foragers focused on finding Local and Emerging growth brands and supporting community connection through taste of place. Success is measured by creating a locally relevant customer experience and successfully establishing an emerging brand pipeline. This leader will play a leading role within the industry and supplier community to amplify Whole Foods Market status as the growth destination for founders and early-stage brands. This role will engage with the Local and Emerging supplier community through various platforms including trade-show supplier summits, as well as the Local and Emerging Accelerator Platform (LEAP). This role will identify and develop partnership opportunities with industry organizations in support of brand incubation, business development, and brand development through development stages. This role will be an industry change agent who fosters community to support the emerging brand ecosystem. This leader will support their team to nurture relationships by meeting suppliers where they are and providing the right tools for brand growth, development, and Local advocacy.
As the leader of the team, the leader is responsible for identifying roadblocks to advancing the Local and Emerging program and securing the necessary resources to develop merchandising solutions. This leader partners cross-functionally with Merchandising, Marketing, and Operations to integrate Local team outputs into broader team efforts in areas of supplier engagement, assortment activation, product discovery, supplier storytelling, and store level execution.
This role will report to the Vice President of Merchandising, Dairy and Frozen.
Location: Austin, Texas – this is a hybrid role, and we are in office 3 days a week  

Responsibilities

• Creates the strategic direction for Local and Emerging (L&E) brands in support of WFM and Merchandising strategies.

• Ensures that Whole Foods Market’s customers have an unparalleled locally relevant experience by supporting relevant brands and surfacing geographical taste preferences.

• Leads and develops a team of local foragers for team and individual growth through goal establishment, personal growth plans, coaching & mentoring, and succession planning.

• Establishes success metrics for Local programming initiatives.

• Creates the strategy and supports the facilitation of LEAP, Early Growth, and On The Verge programs.

• Identifies partnership opportunities with brand incubators, incubator kitchens, distributor partners, operating partners, and ad agencies.

• Identifies a focused framework and uses it to prioritize investment of which categories Local matters most to customers.

• Works with a bias for action to identify high potential suppliers for accelerated scaling opportunities.

• Engages in industry facing platforms like panels, speaking engagements, and PR opportunities.

• Set new suppliers up for success by leading a team to provide onboarding resources and support.

• Partners with L&D on TM facing curriculum for local program engagement, including culture champion program and new TM onboarding.

• Partners cross-functionally with Merchants, Marketing, and Retail/Regional Operations to drive speed to market, strong execution in stores, and storytelling.

• Supports the development for Local and Emerging suppliers to onboard, activate and grow including quality standards compliance, distribution, promo planning, demo activation, and marketing support.

Qualifications:

• BA/BS degree and 8-10 years’ relevant merchandise experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience

• Graduate degree preferred

• 4-6 years leadership experience

• Exemplify the qualities of a strategic visionary, demonstrating their ability to craft and execute visionary plans that drive organizational success. Proven history of inspiring and leading teams, motivating them to achieve exceptional results.

• A track record of success in recruiting top talent and cultivating a high-performing team. They should be skilled in identifying and attracting exceptional candidates, as well as fostering an environment that nurtures individual growth and team collaboration. a track record of creative problem-solving in previous roles, demonstrating the ability to think innovatively and find effective solutions to complex challenges.

• Ability to leverage their resources effectively to overcome obstacles and achieve successful hiring outcomes.

• Experience leveraging analytics in decision-making.

• A passion for Organics, Fair Trade, Quality Standards, Natural Products Industry

• Nuanced understanding of the grocery retail industry and the business models of key strategic partners and competitors

• Commitment to animal welfare and sustainability in the WFM supply chain.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including executive presence.

• Proven ability to work under pressure, prioritize work, and balance a portfolio of programs

• Passion for sustainability, win-win supplier relationships and world class retail.

• Able to shift comfortably between big picture strategic thinking and the tactics required to achieve outcomes

• Ability to travel up to 35%

• This is a hybrid role, and we are in office 3 days a week

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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