Northgate Market · 3 months ago
Category Director (Taqueria Fresh)
Anaheim, California, United States
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff, Director/Executive
$51.24/hr - $81.98/hr
5+ years expNorthgate Market is a premier provider of Authentic Mexican Food Experience, and they are seeking a Category Director for the Taqueria Category. This role involves managing merchandising, marketing, and financial strategies to optimize product offerings and enhance customer satisfaction across all taqueria locations.
E-CommerceFood and BeverageRetail
Responsibilities
Maintain and grow our image as the premier Hispanic provider of Authentic Mexican Food Experience (AMFE) Create products and programs that will deliver quality, service and customer satisfaction; Maintain our competitive edge through continuous improvement of products, processes, suppliers, training and development
Collaborate with operations and training teams to equip store leaders and teams with the knowledge and tools to deliver Authentic Mexican Food Experience taqueria experience
Perform frequent and regular store visits to monitor and adjust store strategies. Minimum of 8 hours per week
Partner with the commissary and culinary teams to align production, portioning, and flavor profiles with store-level execution and brand standards
Maintain close collaboration with the commissary to streamline communication, forecasting, and fulfillment, ensuring stores are supported without compromising authenticity
Lead store implementation and operational consistency for new menu items, seasonal offerings, and category updates
Develop and enforce operational standards that maintain quality, speed, and authenticity in all taqueria locations
Drive store-level engagement and accountability to ensure consistent guest experience, visual presentation, and product quality across all locations
Analyze sales, margins, and guest feedback to identify performance gaps and opportunities to strengthen category results
Partner cross-functionally with marketing, operations, and culinary leadership to align execution with brand strategy and long-term business goals
Lead continuous improvement efforts, balancing operational efficiency with cultural integrity and culinary excellence
Serve as the bridge between corporate strategy and field execution, ensuring that growth initiatives are achievable, sustainable, and true to brand roots
Develops and executes promotional and brand building plans, such as ad-planner, price changes, retail & cost, for each category to drive sales and support margin goals
Monitors raw materials and other food costs to ensure best quality ingredients and vendor pricing
Ability to manage retail prices effectively
Applies understanding of cost drivers along with negotiating skills to effectively negotiate the best costs with suppliers for all Northgate entities
Partner with Operations to review and constantly strive for improved processes that emphasize 5S cleanliness and sanitation, workplace organization, labor efficiency, associate safety, delivery of exceptional customer service, consistency of product quality, just in time, provision and utilization of appropriate equipment, and attractiveness of presentation
Partner with the replenishment function to ensure product availability, consistency of supply, maintaining collaborative relationships with suppliers, service level objectives and apply cost-of-goods insights to drive increased efficiency
Collects all funds available to support Shopper Marketing initiatives as appropriate
Follows the Category Role Strategic Guidelines relative to pricing, assortment, plan-o-grams
Assesses the competitive landscape to understand their strengths and weaknesses and identify opportunities and threats, including all trade channels
Identifies and develops new sourcing of products with the goal of enhancing assortments and driving sales
Qualification
Required
5-10 years of retail experience
2-5 years' experience with category management practices
Skilled in the following areas using internal, market and/or Nielsen/IRI data: Product assortment, Strategic retail planning, Promotional planning, Placement on shelf, Sales analysis and planning
Demonstrated excellence in Strategic Planning as it relates to Merchandising and setting a plan for a category
Proficient with Microsoft Excel and other business applications
Working knowledge of Private Label strategies
Excellent financial and data analysis capabilities
Excellent supply chain knowledge
Self-distributing and warehouse experience
Able to discuss and negotiate: Terms, Competitive cost of goods, Menu pricing, Fund management
Excellent communication and team building skills
Preferred
College degree preferred or minimum of 5 years equivalent experience in relevant field of work
5-10 years of retail experience preferred
Strong preference is given to applicants who have completed the WAFC Retail Management Certificate Program (RMCP)
Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) strongly preferred
Company
Northgate Market
Authentic food. Committed people. Better Communities for our employees and customers. This is who we are at Northgate.
5001-10000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageLeadership Team
John Franklin
CFO
Adriana Gonzalez
Talent Acquisition Partner
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