Director of Merchandising

Job Summary:

The Director of Merchandising has a critical role in facilitating growth of marketing income by increasing engagement with strategic suppliers. This role has the responsibility for collaborating with sales, merchandising and marketing to deliver a high-level of execution with company promotions and events. The Director of Merchandising will also be responsible for supporting profitable case growth by driving exclusive brand penetration with targeted execution of product launches, seasonal promotions and category initiatives.

Essential Job Functions:

• Lead merchandising planning and execution to support all major company events, sales meetings and food shows.
• Partner with marketing to build event schedules/agendas while incorporating feedback from senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Negotiate marketing income with strategic suppliers in collaboration with category management team.
• Drive exclusive brand penetration across all divisions through clinical execution of product launches and company initiatives.
• Collaborate with sales, marketing and category management to develop a calendar of seasonal promotions around major holidays and events.
• Coordinate regional sales promotions focused on category product lines, partnering with local sales teams to increase penetration with customers.
• Implement brand strategy initiatives by working closely with category management to enhance product offerings.
• Enhance customer retention and penetration efforts by partnering with sales leadership to expand product portfolio.
• Identify and develop initiatives that support growth with strategic suppliers by converting accounts to exclusive brands and key product lines.
• Ownership for processing agreements and Trackmax billing for all marketing income associated with major events and promotions
• Report results to senior leadership on a regular basis while working cross-functionally across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

• Seasonal sales and holiday planning for key promotional activities.
• Accelerate exclusive brand penetration via product spotlights and showcases during company events throughout the marketing calendar.
• Marketing income improvement by driving supplier participation in company events while also supporting category management negotiations of annual corporate supplier agreements.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships to drive engagement and a higher level of partnership to align with corporate initiatives.

Minimum Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s Degree required with ~10 years of progressive experience in merchandising, category management and/or foodservice marketing.
• Expertise in private brand product development and commercialization.
• Experience with developing and executing marketing programs.
• Strategic thinker with a proven ability to execute tactical initiatives.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present to executive leadership.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Experience using Trackmax and Tableau reporting is a plus.
• Willingness to travel as needed to support company events, general sales meetings and supplier meetings.

Salary to commensurate with experience.

Ferraro Foods is an equal opportunity employer.