Merchandising Manager

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Research potential customer requirements, menu design, business size, current suppliers, etc.; analyze current trends within the market and remain informed of seafood market conditions, product innovations, competitors' products, prices, and sales. Share information with chefs/specialists to provide customers with new menu ideas and products. In coordination with local merchandising & sales leadership teams, develop and implement plan for seafood share growth strategy. Ensure implementation is in alignment with overall US Foods category strategy and goals, as defined by Region & Area.

• Drive KPIs across category (including sales case growth, category penetration, EB penetration, and TM feedback) and competitive market pricing; work with TMs to refine customer product offering, order guides and potential pricing for new accounts.
• Communicate changing market conditions and weekly talking points for the sales team and top seafood customers.
• Become an expert on assigned US Foods exclusive brands programs. Understanding full product specifications, sourcing model, seasonality, and product variations to work directly with vendors & customers.
• Work with merchandising & marketing to communicate incoming products, current inventory, item movement/history, seasonal projections, and potential/current outages to all. Communicate with sales management on existing contract inventory levels, future buys and dead inventory.
• Work directly with local merchandising team to review NPD and NLP to develop species strategy and development plan.
• Train sales reps and specialists throughout the market area on key features and benefits of the category and how to better position the product with our customers. Develop species and seasonality tracker for training and buying.
• Build relationships with all sales management and tier 1 seafood customers to develop sales plans for excessive inventory, customer bids and segment strategy. Maintain ongoing relationships with key decision makers; leverage industry contacts to "follow" decision makers as they move.
• Leverage SME to support Specialists/NBMs/DSMs/RSMs in opening new accounts with highest potential and accompany them on high potential accounts visits to provide strategic category expertise.
• Other duties as assigned by manager

SUPERVISION :

• N/A

RELATIONSHIPS

• Internal: Will work directly with local sales, sales support, and merch teams. Will work closely with seafood commodity procurement manager and field category manager to build and execute strategy.

• External: Manage relationships with approved corporate and local seafood vendors. Also responsible for building and maintaining customer relationships with top tier seafood customers and prospects.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Onsi t e: The associate in this role is expected to perform assigned responsibilities inside

  a US Foods office-based environment.

• Build & Maintain relationships with top tier seafood customers through a combination of in person visits and telecommunication. Will require use of personal vehicle and in-person visits to accounts.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum 4 years sales experience required, with some project management experience preferred, ideally this experience will derive from the food service or food manufacturing industries.
• 20% of overnight travel required.
• Strong knowledge of a wide variety of seafood species and seasonality preferred.

EDUCATION

• Four-year college degree in business or related field, or equivalent field experience required.

CERTIFICATIONS/TRAINING

• N/A

LICENSES

• N/A

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Must possess the ability to operate successfully within a matrix organization, working effectively with multiple groups. Must be able to work in a team setting, drive organizational transformations and support change management within the organization. Must be able to provide fact-based recommendations across a variety of management levels resulting in buy-in and improvement in category performance. Must be self-directed and highly motivated, possessing a strong business acumen, sound interpersonal skills, and excellent presentation skills. Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel required; working knowledge of PowerPoint is required.

This role will also receive an annual incentive plan bonus

?Benefits for this role may include health insurance, pre-tax spending accounts, retirement benefits, paid time off, short-term and long-term disability, employee stock purchase plan, and life insurance. To review available benefits, please click here:

PHYSICAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Standard required physical activities including length of time performing each activity.

• HR/Manager: The Corporate Support Office physical activities chart below is defaulted based on the majority support office roles. It is important to review and update the chart as needed to ensure the roles physical activities are documented appropriately.

OCCASIONALLY: 1% - 33 / FREQUENTLY: 34% - 66% / CONTINUOUSLY: 67% - 100% or NEVER

JOB REQUIRES WORKER TO:

FREQUENCY:

STAND: OCCASIONALLY

WALK: OCCASIONALLY

DRIVE: FREQUENTLY

SIT: FREQUENTLY

LIFT

1-10 lbs (Sedentary): OCCASIONALLY

11-20 lbs (Light): OCCASIONALLY

21-50 lbs (Medium): NEVER

51-100 lbs (Heavy): NEVER

Over 100 lbs (Very Heavy): NEVER

CARRY

1-10 lbs (Sedentary): OCCASIONALLY

11-20 lbs (Light): OCCASIONALLY

21-50 lbs (Medium): NEVER

51-100 lbs (Heavy): NEVER

Over 100 lbs (Very Heavy): NEVER

PUSH/PULL 1: NEVER

CLIMB/BALANCE: NEVER

STOOP/SQUAT: NEVER

KNEEL: NEVER

BEND: NEVER

REACH ABOVE SHOULDER: OCCASIONALLY

TWIST: OCCASIONALLY

GRASP OBJECTS 2: OCCASIONALLY

MANIPULATE OBJECTS 3: OCCASIONALLY

MANUAL DEXTERITY 4: CONTINUOUSLY

1 (Push/Pull: Hand truck, gate, straps, metal ramp, truck door, dolly, boxes, truck gear shift)

2 (Grasp Objects: Hand truck, boxes, cartons, steering wheel)

3 (Manipulate Objects: Boxes, dolly, metal truck ramp, hand truck, paperwork, truck gate, straps)

4 (Manual Dexterity: Typing, use of office machines such as copiers, printers)