Experience

European Imports

• United States
• Food and Beverage Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• VP Merchandising & Marketing

  • Jun 2023 - Present

• Director Merchandising and Marketing

  • Jun 2022 - Jun 2023



Perfect Day

• United States
• Food and Beverage Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Category Director - Foodservice

  • Apr 2021 - Nov 2021



US Foods

• United States
• Food and Beverage Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Sr Manager - Merchandising Strategy & Effectiveness

  • Jul 2018 - Aug 2020

  • Champion key merchandising initiatives and priorities across the organization from start to finish. Responsibilities include securing cross functional leadership alignment, developing processes, establishing metrics, building reporting tools, monitoring results and improving existing processes based on feedback and results. • Review & Evaluate Merchandising initiatives to ensure alignment to overall organizational calendar and quarterly prioritization plan. Responsibilities include assessing alignment to key results, bandwidth requirement, change management needs, reporting metrics and launch readiness. • Serve as point of contact to escalate and expedite key ‘at risk’ merchandising projects. Responsibilities include evaluating existing ‘at risk’ project plan, resource needs & timelines, making fact-based suggestions to close performance gaps and taking on ownership for part or whole of the project to ensure timely accurate execution. • Lead ongoing alignment with Cross Functional Leaders and Collaboration efforts with teams across the organization including Pricing, E commerce, Category Management, Field Operations, Sales & Field teams to understand and solve for obstacles to growth. Show less

• Category Manager

  • Apr 2014 - Jul 2018

  • Oversee development of national strategy for assigned categories worth over $1.8 Billion in annual sales • Own P&L for the private brands/labels and ensure the right product portfolio, pricing and promotion strategy is in place to drive sales and margin. • Establish, maintain and grow relationships with critical national vendors. Evaluate overall vendor performance on a consistent basis and provide feedback for improvement. • Lead vendor negotiation efforts to achieve lower Net Cost of Goods, higher Purchase Allowances (Buying margin) & support for category promotions. • Lead team of Associate Category Managers in planning, developing and executing national category plans. • Develop long and short-term sourcing plans and continue to monitor and change as required to drive the goals set at the beginning of the planning process. • Work with Senior leadership at Corporate & Region HQ to gain support for the developed strategy and execution roadmap. • Collaborate with Region/Area/Market teams nationwide to leverage opportunities, mitigate obstacles and drive performance. • Work closely with corporate legal counsel to ensure the agreed upon business terms are represented accurately in legal agreements and amendments. • Collaborate with internal cross functional teams assigned to categories including Product Development, Marketing, Logistics, Packaging & Food Safety & Quality to ensure alignment and execution of the category vision. • Work with Vendor Collaboration team on acute service level vendors to drive vendor on time and complete delivery metrics and escalate issues within vendor organizations when necessary. • Mentor and Develop assigned Cross Functional Team members and Associate Category Managers Show less

• Associate Category Manager

  • Feb 2012 - Mar 2014

  • Execute national category strategy for assigned categories at Region/Area/Market level across the country.• Manage category performance including growth objectives, product assortment, pricing and promotions. • Conduct product assortment and private label void analysis to determine core assortment portfolio at markets nationwide. • Identify market trends and opportunities and proactively work with cross functional teams to develop and launch new products in the private label portfolio. • Manage and maintain relationships with vendors - Lead business reviews, identify opportunities and negotiate promotions and purchasing allowances. • Review vendor contracts and work with legal counsel to present contracts for approval to Category Manager. Show less

• Category Buyer

  • Apr 2011 - Jan 2012

  • Guide assigned cross functional teams through transition to centralized buying structure and build relationships to ensure successful implementation of the new procurement structure. • Achieve inventory and customer service level goals across all Florida markets; Maintain optimum inventory level to fulfill 99.5% client orders at minimum inventory spend. • Act as a liaison between internal and external stakeholders including vendors, brokers, sales, operations and logistics/load planners to resolve replenishment issues. • Consult with category management on upcoming product launches, vendor transitions, assortment changes to accurately manage inventory for each market. • Collaborate with local teams to stay ahead of seasonal and market specific initiatives to avoid product shorts to customers. Show less



Hinda Incentives

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Associate Buyer - International

  • Jan 2007 - Aug 2010

  • Research and analyze client, vendor and product line requirements in select International markets to determine viability of starting and maintaining loyalty programs. • Coordinate product catalog development with vendors in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. • Review new and existing product lines, track performance, and determine best way to increase redemption. • Participate in vendor search, negotiations, and execution of vendor agreements and pricing options. • Monitor variables (Ex: currency exchange rates) in the international market place to maintain the most stable pricing and margin structure. • Review product trends including seasonality & market trends to manage inventory and service levels. Show less

• Marketing Intern

  • Jan 2006 - Jan 2007