Executive Leader, Category Merchant jobs in United States
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Amazon · 2 months ago

Executive Leader, Category Merchant

positionAustin, Texas, USA
timeFull-time
remoteOnsite
seniorityDirector/Executive
money$165K/yr - $273K/yr
date8+ years exp

Amazon is seeking an Executive Leader for Local and Emerging Brands at Whole Foods Market. This role is responsible for creating strategic direction for local and emerging brand development and leading a team focused on enhancing customer experience through community connections and supplier partnerships.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)DeliveryE-CommerceFoundational AIRetail
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H1B Sponsor Likelynote

Responsibilities

Create the strategic direction for Local and Emerging (L&E) brands in support of WFM and Merchandising strategies
Establish success metrics for Local and Emerging Brands programming initiatives
Identify a focused framework and use it to prioritize investment in which categories Local and Emerging Brands matters most to customers
Ensure that Whole Foods Market's customers have an unparalleled locally relevant experience by supporting relevant brands and surfacing geographical taste preferences
Lead and develop a team of foragers for team and individual growth through goal establishment, personal growth plans, coaching & mentoring, and succession planning
Coach Foragers to tailor partnership and negotiation approaches by supplier
Create the strategy and support the facilitation of LEAP (Local & Emerging Accelerator Program)
Create a Team Member facing curriculum for program engagement, including culture champion program and new Team Member onboarding
Partner cross-functionally with Merchants, Marketing, and Retail/Regional Operations to drive speed to market, strong execution in stores, and storytelling
Foster a culture of collaboration and accountability within cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment between supplier strategies and broader organizational objectives
Design and implement a comprehensive supplier engagement roadmap, supplier education, supplier success planning, supplier summits, and industry events
Support the development of local and emerging suppliers to onboard, activate and grow including quality standards compliance, distribution, promo planning, demo activation, and marketing support
Set new suppliers up for success by leading a team to provide onboarding resources and support
Work with a bias for action to identify high potential suppliers for accelerated scaling opportunities
Draft and oversee supplier communications for critical updates, programmatic changes, and newsletters
Engage in industry-facing platforms like panels, speaking engagements, and PR opportunities
Identify partnership opportunities with brand incubators, incubator kitchens, distributor partners, operating partners, and ad agencies
Stay informed on emerging industry trends and best practices to enhance supplier engagement capabilities

Qualification

Leadership in merchandisingSupplier relationship managementStrategic engagement roadmapsTeam developmentMentoringBusiness acumenNegotiation skillsCreative problem-solvingCultural transformationMarket insightsVisionary planningCommunication skillsCross-functional collaboration

Required

BA/BS degree and 8+ years relevant merchandise experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience
6+ years of proven success in leadership in merchandising, supplier or founder role
Demonstrated ability to craft and execute visionary plans that drive organizational success. Proven history of inspiring and leading teams, motivating them to achieve exceptional results
4+ years proven success in mentoring and developing high-performing teams through servant leadership principles

Preferred

Passion for Organics, Fair Trade, Quality Standards, Animal Welfare, Sustainability, Win-Win Supplier Relationships and world-class retail

Benefits

Equity
Sign-on payments
Full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits

Company

Amazon

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Amazon is a tech firm with a focus on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence.
dateFounded in 1994
location
Seattle, Washington, USA
people-size10001+ employees
web-link
https://amazon.com

H1B Sponsorship

Amazon has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (22803)
2024 (21175)
2023 (19057)
2022 (24088)
2021 (12233)
2020 (14881)

Funding

Current Stage
Public Company
Total Funding
$8.11B
Key Investors
AmazonKleiner Perkins
2023-01-03Post Ipo Debt· $8B
2001-07-24Post Ipo Equity· $100M
1997-05-15IPO

Leadership Team

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Douglas J. Herrington
CEO, Worldwide Amazon Stores
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Werner Vogels
VP & CTO
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