As an integral part of the Corporate Product Team, the Head of Produce & Dairy manages the success of Eataly North America’s buying categories – produce and dairy - through executing procurement strategy, assisting in selecting the product offerings, overseeing catalog development and maintenance, inventory and forecasting management, building producer and vendor relationships, identifying product opportunities, market trends, and ensuring product assortment is in line with sales and margin goals. This position is based in New York, NY.
Reports to the Director of Fresh Products, manages the category manager(s) assigned to produce and dairy and works closely with adjacent fellow senior buyers and other corporate and in-store departments.
- Oversees the day-to-day procurement strategies and tasks across the categories produce and dairy
- Sources, negotiates costing, develops supply chain, and executes of product curation for all Eataly North America locations across retail and foodservice for assigned categories
- Manages Category Manager(s) to develop and analyze buying catalog, maintain assortment, and routinely monitor quoted pricing, margin analysis and performance by category
- Maintains relationships with vendor and producer partners, negotiates contracts and researches new supply chain opportunities
- Works closely with the Director of Fresh on new product brands, partnerships, and overall catalog assortment goals
- Researches opportunities for cost savings, product innovation, supply chain consolidation, SKU rationalization, and market pricing optimization
- Evaluates and audits key suppliers on a regular basis to meet purchasing goals
- Strategizes and executes new product launches, annual promotions, and activations tied to producer agreements
- Works closely with the Training and Operations team to hold retail teams accountable to merchandising and assortment standards by category
- Works closely with R&D and Culinary team to identify high quality offering ingredients, seasonal products and cost-efficient solutions for Restaurant and QSR operations, aiming at cost and labor efficiency
- Collaborates and works cross functionally with other corporate teams, including Marketing, Graphics, Accounting, Finance, HR/Training
- Collaborates and works cross functionally with Retail Managers, Fresh Market Managers, and Department Managers on projects defined by the Product Team and store leadership
- Supports and positively influences Product Team financial goals, product mix, business relationships, and operational innovation needs
- Plays a key role in curating selection for new markets and supporting new store openings
- Completes special projects on an ad-hoc basis
- Performs other duties as required or assigned