Vice President of Merchandising and Category Management

for prose. We need to parse the posting. Sections: About the role? There's description: "A Taste of Who We Are:" etc. That's like company overview. Could be "About the role" or "About the company". The instruction says use headings like About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We should map content accordingly. We have: Description includes mission, core values, etc. That's more about company. Could be placed under "About the role" maybe. But we need to decide. We have responsibilities: "Primary Accountabilities" with bullet-like paragraphs (but not bullet list). We need to convert to

• for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. The primary accountabilities are paragraphs each starting with a bold heading? Actually they are headings like "Enterprise Merchandising Strategy", "Category Management & Assortment Ownership", etc. Each has multiple sentences. We could treat each as a list item? The instruction: Use
  • for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. So we should create a
    with
    • for each duty/accountability. Probably each bullet is a duty. So we can list each primary accountability as a
    • . Inside each
    • we can keep the prose. Similarly, "Ingredients For Thriving" is qualifications/requirements. That's a list of bullet-like sentences (not bullet). We'll treat as requirements list. "Leadership Profile" maybe skills? Could be skills/competencies. We'll treat as skills. "Savor The Benefits" is benefits list. No explicit Pay or Schedule. Thus sections: About the role (maybe include company overview), Responsibilities (Primary Accountabilities), Requirements (Ingredients For Thriving), Skills (Leadership Profile), Benefits (Savor The Benefits). Possibly also Qualifications? But Ingredients For Thriving includes qualifications and experience. Could be Requirements. We'll follow. We must not create empty sections. We need to preserve all substantive information. Must not invent or summarize away detail. Must not repeat job title. Must not include Job ID etc. We must remove boilerplate: cookie/navigation/legal/EEO etc. Not present. We must not include application instructions. Not present. We must not include duplicated lines. Now craft HTML. Start with

      About the role

      then

      containing the company overview: "A Taste of Who We Are: ..." plus mission, core values, etc. Also maybe include "The Experience You’ll Create" paragraph? That is more about role. Could be included in About the role or Responsibilities. But we already have Responsibilities separate. The "The Experience You’ll Create" describes the role. Could be part of About the role. We'll include that as prose. Thus About the role paragraph(s) will include: "A Taste of Who We Are: Backed by a tireless commitment..." then mission, core values, then "The Experience You’ll Create: The Vice President of Merchandising and Category Management is the enterprise leader..." etc. We'll keep as one

      maybe multiple

      but okay. Then Responsibilities:

      Responsibilities

      then
      with each primary accountability as
      • . Need to capture each bullet's content. Primary Accountabilities list: - Enterprise Merchandising Strategy - Category Management & Assortment Ownership - Pricing & Gross Margin Protection - Performance Management & Business Rhythm - Cross-Functional Leadership & Execution - Team Leadership & Capability Building Each has multiple sentences. We'll put the whole block as
      • . Then Requirements:

        Requirements

        then
        with each ingredient. Ingredients For Thriving list: - Progressive executive leadership experience in merchandising, category management, pricing, retail, foodservice, convenience, consumer products, or a related multi-site operating environment. - Demonstrated success building category strategies and converting them into measurable sales, margin, mix, and customer outcomes. - Deep understanding of pricing architecture, category economics, cost and margin drivers, assortment optimization, vendor programs, and promotional effectiveness. - Experience leading cross-functional initiatives across Operations, Finance, Procurement, Sales, Marketing, and technology or analytics teams. - Ability to lead a distributed team and influence field execution across multiple regions, business units, or channels. - Strong financial and analytical acumen, including the ability to interpret item, category, regional, and enterprise performance and make sound commercial decisions. - Experience establishing governance, operating rhythms, scorecards, and accountability for complex enterprise initiatives. - Bachelor’s degree in business, merchandising, marketing, finance, supply chain, analytics, or a related discipline; advanced degree is a plus. We'll make each a
        • . Then Skills:

          Skills

          then
          with Leadership Profile items. Leadership Profile list: - Commercially strategic and operationally practical; connects enterprise strategy to field execution. - Decisive and accountable; moves quickly when performance indicates a need for action. - Guest- and client-centered while maintaining disciplined stewardship of margin and profitability. - Highly collaborative, with the credibility to align executives, functional leaders, regional operators, and field teams. - Data-informed, not data-dependent; combines analytics, market insight, and sound judgment. - Clear communicator who can simplify complex issues, articulate tradeoffs, and secure decisions. - Builder of talent, process, and organizational capability in a changing environment. Make each
          • . Then Benefits:

            Benefits

            then
            with benefits list. Benefits list from "Savor The Benefits": - Health Coverage – Medical, Dental and Vision - Voluntary Life/AD&D, Short-Term and Long-Term Disability, Critical Illness, Parental Leave - 401(k) with company match - Paid Time Off - Wellness Programs - Referral bonus - Additional Perks (link to benefits page). We should keep the link? The instruction: preserve ALL substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. The link is substantive. Should we include it? Probably yes as part of benefits. We'll include as
            • with the link. Thus
            • Additional Perks – To see a summary of current benefits, please visit https://www.continentalserves.com/work-at-continental/#benefits
            maybe. But we must not include application instructions; this is not that. Now ensure we don't repeat job title. Not included. Now output only HTML fragment. Let's craft. We need to ensure proper nesting. We'll output:

            About the role

            A Taste of Who We Are: Backed by a tireless commitment to high quality, innovative culinary offerings and unparalleled client and guest services, Continental consistently ranks among the top contract dining and refreshment providers in the nation according to Food Management Magazine, the industry’s source for food service news and trends. Our Mission Delight our guest. Every meal. Every day. Our Core Values Exceptional – We recruit and retain phenomenal people who consistently go the extra mile to deliver results that lead the industry. Hospitality – We are tirelessly committed to providing the highest quality food, beverages, and service by anticipating our guests' needs so they can count on memorable experiences every time. Collaboration – We prioritize working together with a shared vision and effective & transparent communication, we unite as one team to achieve remarkable experiences. Responsibility – we hold ourselves accountable to be there for our team and clients, to deliver what we say we will, when we say we will and check in on progress along the way. Innovation – We are forward-thinkers always looking for new processes, technologies, and techniques to increase efficiencies and scalability to improve our services. The Experience You’ll Create The Vice President of Merchandising and Category Management is the enterprise leader responsible for building and executing the merchandising, category, assortment, and pricing strategies that drive same store sales, protect gross margin, and strengthen the guest experience across Refreshment Services Group channels. This role owns the operating model that connects category strategy to field execution, ensuring the right products are offered, placed, priced, promoted, replenished, and measured consistently across regions and lines of business. This leader will establish category-specific margin and performance targets, create clear decision rights, and lead disciplined performance rhythms with Finance, Procurement, Operations, Sales, and Marketing. The role requires a commercially minded operator who can translate market, cost, customer, and item-level performance insights into timely decisions that improve revenue, product mix, front-end margin, waste, rebate value, and long-term profitability.

            Then Responsibilities. We'll need to escape any HTML special characters like & inside text. Use & for &. Also ensure proper quotes. Let's construct. Responsibilities
            • Enterprise Merchandising StrategyDevelop and lead the enterprise merchandising strategy across vending, markets, office coffee, and adjacent RSG channelsCreate a consistent approach to assortment, menu architecture, product placement, planograms, resets, seasonal programs, and local market relevance.Balance consumer demand, client needs, operational practicality, vendor programs, and financial performance when setting the product strategy.Build an annual merchandising and promotional calendar that supports traffic, basket growth, product discovery, loyalty engagement, and same store sales.Develop and evaluate promotion and loyalty strategies that drive repeat engagement, customer retention, larger basket size, and profitable same store sales growth.Ensure merchandising standards are translated into clear field processes, tools, training, and measures of compliance.
            ... etc. But note there is no spacing between heading and sentences; we should keep as is but maybe add spaces for readability. It's okay. We'll keep the text exactly as in posting but ensure we don't lose any content. Let's copy each block. From posting: **Enterprise Merchandising Strategy** Develop and lead the enterprise merchandising strategy across vending, markets, office coffee, and adjacent RSG channels Create a consistent approach to assortment, menu architecture, product placement, planograms, resets, seasonal programs, and local market relevance. Balance consumer demand, client needs, operational practicality, vendor programs, and financial performance when setting the product strategy. Build an annual merchandising and promotional calendar that supports traffic, basket growth, product discovery, loyalty engagement, and same store sales. Develop and evaluate promotion and loyalty strategies that drive repeat engagement, customer retention, larger basket size, and profitable same store sales growth. Ensure merchandising standards are translated into clear field processes, tools, training, and measures of compliance. **Category Management & Assortment Ownership** Own category strategy, architecture, and performance standards, including category roles, product mix, SKU productivity, space allocation, and lifecycle decisions. Lead category managers in developing item-level and category-level plans based on sales velocity, margin, cost trends, waste, stockouts, customer preferences, and market dynamics. Establish disciplined processes for new item introduction, product rationalization, substitutions, discontinuations, and regional exceptions. Expand formal category management practices beyond core categories and ensure category-specific targets are maintained across the full assortment. Partner with Procurement to align vendor selection, costs, terms, rebates, growth programs, and innovation with category and guest strategies. **Pricing & Gross Margin Protection** Own the enterprise pricing strategy and governance model, category price architecture, price tiers, market basket alignment, and promotional pricing. Establish category-specific front-end gross margin targets and ensure pricing, assortment, mix, and cost actions are sufficient to deliver divisional financial commitments. Move the organization from reactive, supplier-cost-driven price changes to a proactive, recurring pricing and margin review process. Lead timely decisions on price gaps, margin erosion, mix shifts, cost changes