CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER - GROCERY - HYBRID IN CHARLOTTE

Foodbuy is the industry leader in procurement and supply chain solutions, a subsidiary of Compass Group PLC—the 6th largest company in the world. We source and provide a variety of products and services to help customers in Hospitality, Restaurant, Healthcare, Education, Entertainment, and Gaming industries run their businesses more easily and cost-effectively. We also support Compass Group, the world’s largest contract food and support services provider.

We care about our associates, clients, and community. We encourage innovation, debate, and seek out game changers. Our benefits and PTO offerings are strong, compensation packages are competitive, and we promote a collaborative, open-door environment. We follow a value system called People FIRST: Flexibility, Inclusion, Results, Sustainability, and Transparency.

About the role

This position is responsible for executing category strategy or category member strategy and business plans, delivering category purchasing income for defined categories. This includes negotiation, aligning customer needs with program opportunities, fostering supplier relationships, and engaging cross-functional resources.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive category strategy or category member strategy for assigned categories, delivering strong financial results, improvement opportunities, and recommendations.
• Prepare analyses, communicate sourcing trends, and present results.
• Conduct system catalog clean-up audits to ensure mapping accuracy.
• Research current state and future needs, analyze market trends and potential suppliers, and identify continuous improvement opportunities.
• Participate in vendor management—performance against contract and resolution of constraints.
• Maintain system data integrity, category data needs, and liaison with cross-functional groups to ensure accurate pricing and volume allowances released to distributors.
• Manage business relationships with key internal stakeholders and external suppliers, including ownership and enhancements to agreements, communication of demand/volume changes, updating contracts, and sharing end-user feedback.
• Own required internal processes including budgeting, contract attributes, benchmarking, pricing, and product recommendations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 4 years’ experience in supply chain, category management, finance, or ESG-related field.
• Strong negotiations experience.
• Presentation experience.
• Ability to extract insights from complex data sets using advanced Excel skills.
• Ability to influence through direct and indirect teams.
• Knowledge/experience of budgets and forecasting.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Up to 5% travel annually.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life insurance, AD&D, and disability insurance.
• Retirement plan.
• Paid time off, paid parental leave, and holiday time off (varies by site/state).
• Personal leave.
• Associate shopping program.
• Health and wellness programs.
• Discount marketplace.
• Identity theft protection.
• Pet insurance.
• Commuter benefits.
• Employee assistance program.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).