Fresh Operations Manager

This role is hybrid out of the Edina, MN location.

The Fresh Operations Manager provides elevated field leadership and strategic operational oversight across all fresh perishable departments, including Meat, Seafood, Produce, Floral, Bakery, and Deli. This role is accountable for improving fresh department execution, financial performance, shrink results, merchandising consistency, food safety compliance, and customer experience across assigned stores or markets.

As a higher-level leadership role, the Fresh Operations Manager is expected to influence Store Directors, Department Managers, District Directors, Merchandising, and other cross-functional partners to deliver measurable business results. The role moves beyond support and monitoring by establishing clear expectations, diagnosing root causes, leading market-level action plans, developing leadership capability, and holding teams accountable for sustained improvement in sales, gross profit, shrink, labor productivity, inventory accuracy, freshness, and operational standards.

• Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for six fresh departments – Meat, Seafood, Produce, Floral, Bakery, and Deli - demonstrating deep knowledge of department-specific operations, tools, processes, standards, merchandising, production, inventory management, labor practices, and financial drivers.
• Lead fresh operational execution across assigned stores or markets, by translating company standards, priorities, and business strategies into clear expectations, routines, measurable outcomes, and accountability across Meat, Seafood, Produce, Floral, Bakery, and Deli.
• Conduct regular store visits and operational assessments across the six fresh departments to evaluate merchandising, freshness, cleanliness, food safety, in-stock conditions, inventory accuracy, pricing and signing, production execution, labor effectiveness, and compliance with company standards.
• Own the identification of performance gaps, root causes, and develop sustainable corrective action plans that address both immediate execution issues and underlying capability gaps, driving measurable improvements in operational performance, accountability, and financial results.
• Own and influence fresh financial performance by analyzing and improving sales, gross profit, shrink, labor, productivity, inventory turns, ordering effectiveness, production planning, and other department-level operating metrics across districts.
• Develop fresh operational strategies and execution frameworks that improve long-term business performance.
• Develop and implement fresh operational strategies, standards, routines, and execution frameworks that strengthen consistency across the six departments and improve long-term business performance. Serve as a trusted operational resource to Store Directors and District leadership, providing hands-on expertise, recommendations, escalation support, and practical solutions that strengthen execution across all six fresh departments.
• Lead shrink reduction strategy and execution by identifying department-specific loss drivers, strengthening inventory controls, improving product rotation and handling practices, reinforcing production discipline, and building store leadership capability to sustain results.
• Improve ordering, forecasting, inventory, and production disciplines by leveraging department expertise and business data to optimize inventory levels, reduce out-of-stocks and overstock, improve freshness and waste, and support sales and customer satisfaction.
• Build fresh leadership capability across the organization by coaching Store Directors, Department Managers, and emerging leaders through practical application of department-specific knowledge, including…