Director, Merchandising

** Position Overview
** The Dir, Merchandising is responsible for establishing the short term and long term strategic plans for the merchandising team for assigned portfolio, in conjunction with executive leadership  The Dir, Merchandising provides leadership and direction to develop strategy and create sales and margin driving programs and events that lead to strong sales for Independent retail customers with corresponding on target sales and gross profit for C&S  The Dir, Merchandising will be responsible for the execution of merchandising initiatives and business development plans for categories while leading merchandising teams to ensure the integrity of established initiatives  The Dir, Merchandising is responsible for the merchandising P&L and overall margin contribution for their assigned portfolio s  and region s   The Dir, Merchandising will interact directly with vendors and suppliers to build relationships and negotiate best in class cost and promotional support for the company and our Independent customers  The Dir, Merchandsing is responsible for leading and implementing category strategies, leveraging scale, building strategic vendor relationships to support financial growth, and meeting Regional customer needs  The Dir, Merchandising will lead and collaborate with cross functional teams to meet the needs of the ever changing competitive landscape through innovation, strategic planning, and continued development and training for merchandising teams

** Job Description*
* ** Description*
* + Strategy Implementation/Plan of Action:
Execute plans and initiatives to achieve set goals and strategic direction for the merchandising function  Responsible to lead merchandising teams with Customer first mindset and ensure regional needs and selling opportunities are fully embedded in strategies and target setting  Drive strategic negotiations with external vendors to build portfolio share  Build long term strategic relationships with suppliers and manufacturers  Execute category planning process across assigned product portfolio of responsibility, including development and implementation of category plans;

leveraging insights in order to formulate key strategies and category initiatives to achieve incremental sales and margin growth  Responsible to negotiate cost, assortment, and promotional strategies reflective of assigned regional Independent customer needs  Develop recommended pricing strategy for Independent Retail Customers to ensure delivery of agreed upon gross margin targets

+ Financial Management Manage a full P&L, including planning, forecasting and driving growth for assigned category ies , possessing a complete understanding of internal and external variables that impact the business Perform monthly verification of plans and provide explanation for variances in budgeted sales/gross profit & other metrics as well as provide projections for upcoming month  Accountable for the strategic development, planning, costing, execution and financial performance for assigned categories across the total business  Develop plans to close gaps and improve sale /margin performance year on year  Review competitive cost and pricing information and lead negotiations with vendors/brokers for best cost and targeted margin performance for assigned regions

+ Oversight & Execution:
Implement strategies to drive business improvements, innovation, and scale within the category and across the Independent Retail business Identify industry trends relevant to customer selection and experience leveraging competitive insights and internal and external benchmarks and syndicated data Collaborate on Sales, Marketing and Merchandising initiatives with Promotional Planning mgrs  And Commercial team to ensure regional needs including seasonal selling and local events are included in overall strategy and vendor negotiations Innovate and implement new customer and vendor programs  Share market intelligence, best practices and provide category expertise to improve cost, drive efficiencies and minimize potential supply chain risks  Provide direction/management of all assigned categories in the areas of cost, assortment, and promotional strategies  Proactively assess and manage commodity market risk to the organization negotiate terms & conditions consistent with corporate objectives, standards and ethics, while delivering best overall value  Perform SKU rationalization of categories and work with suppliers to continually offer the right assortment to customers  Collaborate with Category Merchandising to validate assortment and ensure new items, promoted items and best fit the retail environment and across each region and ensure best placement in POG's  Meet with Regional Customers to understand perspectives on product, placement, price and promotion from Independent customers and their shoppers  Work with Marketing Department or Advertising/Promotions to drive incremental sales and margin for assigned portfolio Maintains strong…