Executive Director, Growth Solutions & Field Category Management - KeHE Distributors, LLC

• Health/Rx
• Dental
• Vision
• Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
• Supplemental life insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid time off
• Paid sick time
• Short term & long term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
• Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
• Holiday pay for company designated holidays

Good people, working with good people, for our common good.

Sound good?

KeHE-a natural, organic, specialty and fresh food distributor-is all about "good" and is growing, so there's never been a more exciting time to join our team. If you're enthusiastic about working in an environment with a people-first culture and an organization committed to good living, good food and good service, we'd love to talk to you!

The Executive Director, Growth Solutions (Field Category Management) is a high-level leader overseeing category championing for all KeHE’s 100+ managed categories. They are responsible for being a subject matter expert in market dynamics affecting the natural, organic, and specialty food industry across multiple retailers in the natural and grocery chain and independent channels. This role is responsible for leading team members in helping KeHE customers increase sales and trade area relevance though assortment and merchandising with synthesizing multiple sources of data, analytics, and insights integration. As with all positions at KeHE we expect that all actions will be consistent with KeHE’s Mission, Vision, and Values.

• Create category, assortment, and merchandising strategy for the organization’s continued growth and industry knowledge.
• Lead a team that identifies product trends for retailer partners by analyzing:
• Category, attribute, and marketplace trends
• Consumer behavior shifts
• Shopper purchase patterns
• Syndicated, panel, and demographic data
• Market visits, trade shows, industry events
• Seek industry speaking engagements to provide thought leadership from an assortment, category trends and merchandising perspective to brands, retailers, brokers, and other industry professionals.
• Attend and present during senior leadership meetings, including but not limited to retailer top to top meetings, requests for proposals, and contract negotiations.
• Effectively present best in class PowerPoint presentations for existing and potential retailer partners showcasing category insights, hot trends, new and emerging items, and merchandising concepts.
• Lead cross-functional projects and meetings with Category Management, Marketing, Sales, and Sales Enablement teams.
• Curate consumer, demographic, syndicated, and internal data to create optimum, innovative, and actionable assortment and merchandising solutions.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key retailers based on trust, marketplace knowledge, and results.
• Report out on team member’s ROI reporting metrics, such as implementation rate at retail, product success rates, and sales growth in retailer partners.

• Apply and lead others to apply analytical and strategic thinking skills to develop category assortment strategies that are aligned to the business objectives and responsive to the internal and external environment.
• Support training and development of Category Management and Growth Solutions team members.
• Maintain safeguards of confidential company information.

• 4-year Bachelor’s Degree in Business or related field of study.
• Minimum of seven years prior experience in food industry analytics (retailer, supplier, distributor or data provider).
• Natural, organic, specialty, and fresh product experience preferred. 
• A minimum of 5 years of leadership and people development experience required.

• Knowledge in market dynamics, industry shifts, and retailer landscapes is mandatory.
• Experience in mass and conventional channel merchandising and assortment analysis preferred.
• Ability to effectively manage a wide variety of projects simultaneously and often with time conflicting pressures.
• Ability to multi-task in a very fast-paced business environment.
• Natural, specialty and fresh product knowledge with ability to recognize brands and trends.
• Project management, attention to detail, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated thought leadership and creativity skills.
• Strong understanding of merchandising tactics and strategies.
• Demonstrated strength in oral and written communication skills.
• Willingness to take initiative on projects with minimal supervision.
• Proficiency with SPINS, Circana, CSIA, ShopperSights, Mintel software.
• Proficiency with MS Office, primarily Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with visualization tools, such as PowerBI, a plus.
• Willingness to travel (30-50%).