Job Description

Job Title: Head of Merchandising, Food and Beverages

Location: Corporate

Department: Marketing

Job Summary:  The Head of Merchandising, Food and Beverages plays a critical role in shaping and executing the strategy for the company’s fresh food and beverage offerings. This individual ensures that the company's food service products are aligned with broader corporate and marketing objectives while driving key performance indicators such as transaction growth, higher margins, and reduced complexity in operations. This individual works closely with various teams within the organization, external vendor partners, and key stakeholders to create and implement strategies that meet customer needs while supporting store associates with an efficient and manageable workload.
 

Areas of Focus:

•   Strategic Direction Alignment: Ensures the Fresh Food and Beverage strategy aligns with overall marketing and corporate goals.

•   Driving Performance: Focuses on increasing transaction volumes, improving profit margins, and simplifying operational complexity.

•   Team Management: Leads the Foodservice Marketing Category Teams, guiding them in creating strategies to enhance the customer experience.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Works with marketing teams, internal stakeholders, and vendor partners to develop and execute category strategies that are both effective and operationally streamlined.

•   Customer Satisfaction & Store Efficiency: Balances customer satisfaction with the need to keep processes efficient and manageable for store associates.

This role is essential for ensuring that the Fresh Food and Beverage offerings remain competitive and well-integrated into the broader business objectives. The individual must be adept at managing both the strategic and operational aspects of the food service category while leading teams to drive growth and customer satisfaction.
 

Grow brands and create customer loyalty so that Wawa meets its operating plan, which includes customer count/transaction goals while achieving Merch GP goals. Set objectives and create effective processes for the category teams to use in building the brands. Accountable for determining the breadth of offer, cost and price management, priority of new product development initiatives, forecasting, financial measurement, competitive research, and managing vendor partnerships.

Responsible for leading integration of data and analysis to ensure appropriate offer decisions (e.g., direct product profitability, assortment and space planning and times and minimums for foodservice products).

Work with Finance and IT partners to drive improvements of analytical tools that assist in category planning and execution (space, price, assortment, and promotion), direct product profitability analysis, cost management/process improvement and budgeting/re-forecasting.

Work with Advertising to maximize the impact of advertising funds and resources in promoting the categories.  Develop and execute advertising/promotional programs designed to grow the categories and support corporate initiatives.

Recommend and work with Consumer Insights and Strategic Vendor Partners to design advertising and consumer research initiatives needed to meet category objectives. Conduct competitive market research required to maximize, monitor, evaluate and benchmark the progress of the category business plans and financial performance.

Lead the Long-Range Planning process for identifying key strategic food service initiatives.  Monitor performance to plan and present updates to Management (i.e. PIM, Management Committee).

Influence key store design and equipment decisions related to fresh food and beverages to support strategic plans and ROI.

Work with the Marketing Department to coordinate and prioritize all marketing activities and develop the marketing organization.

Provide overall direction and support for the team and monitor and assess individual work in accordance with high standards of excellence.  Provide feedback, coaching, support, and development opportunities, complete performance appraisals, take corrective action when appropriate, and participate in hiring decisions.

Attributes:

Communicate effectively to all levels of the organization both orally and in writing

Align and collaborate across organizational boundaries

Articulate strategy and initiatives into action plans

Analyze information and effectively propose solutions

Highly developed consultative, facilitative, negotiating and project management skills

Handle multiple priorities simultaneously

Work independently as well as in a team environment

Establish and maintain a working environment conducive to positive morale, individual style, quality, creativity, and teamwork

Demonstrated Servant Leadership skills

Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well leading a team or working as part of a team to accomplish collective organizational goals

Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams

Stimulates creative thinking in others and takes calculated risks

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing preferred; Master’s Degree with a concentration in Marketing a plus

Significant retail food marketing and food service experience

Ten years of management experience

Five + years of Category Management/Marketing experience

Direct experience with P&L responsibility

Proficient in Microsoft Office, advanced Excel skills

Proven track record in leading and driving change

Wawa will provide reasonable accommodation to complete an application upon request, consistent with applicable law. If you require an accommodation, please contact our Associate Service Center at asc@wawa.com or 1-800-444-9292.

Wawa, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Wawa maintains a work environment in which Associates are treated fairly and with respect and in which discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. In accordance with federal, state and local laws, we recruit, hire, promote and evaluate all applicants and Associates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity or expression, citizenship status, disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, domestic or sexual violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Unlawful discrimination will not be a factor in any employment decision.