Company Name: Kroger General Office
Position Type: Employee
FLSA Status: Exempt

Kroger Family of Companies employs nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. At The Kroger Co., we are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. Careers with The Kroger Co. and our family of companies offer competitive wages, flexible schedules, benefits and room for advancement.

Position Summary

Act as the hub for all Our Brands (OB) product development. Effectively lead cross-functional and cross-departmental teams through OB category business plans and product development projects to deliver results in the timelines established. Communicate our OB vision and goals, as well as how they align with overall category merchandiser strategies and the Customer 1st promise. Demonstrate the company’s core values of respect, honesty, integrity, diversity, inclusion and safety.

Essential Job Functions

• Act as the OB subject matter expert for assigned categories
• Drive growth by applying knowledge of competitive set, consumer trends and business needs
• Partner with merchandising to build long and short-term strategic plans to drive category growth and profitability
• Articulate respective business plans, OB’s category role(s) and new product development plans to senior leadership
• Lead the commercialization of projects as identified in business plans
• Provide guidance on vendor selection, product segmentation, and sales planning
• Provide input to other OB functional teams, such as innovation and branding, to ensure respective plans support business needs
• Remain current with food, cultural and ethnic, category and product trends
• Actively participate in the sensory phase of product development and approve reformulations, packaging, sourcing, and specification changes
• Monitor and optimize retail execution, conduct post-launch analysis against OB initiatives and make recommendations
• Travel to divisions and store locations to support OB initiatives
• Follow established programs, policies, practices to produce safe, quality foods that meet regulatory and company requirements
• Accountable to the Kroger Manufacturing Food Safety and Quality Principles
• Must be able to perform the essential job functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation

Minimum Position Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, marketing or related field or comparable work experience
• Excellent leadership/collaboration skills
• Demonstrate initiative and willingness to take risks
• Proven ability to make critical decisions
• Strong business analytical skills in sales, volume and profit forecasts
• Proven ability to communicate to all levels of the organization via written and oral communication and presentations
• Ability to function in a fast-paced, retail/office environment
• Highly motivated and self-directed
• Ability to manage complex and/or large portfolio of categories with some supervision

Desired Previous Experience/Education

• Master’s Degree
• 2+ years of experience in retail, consumer packaged goods, sales or innovation
• Orchestration of commercialization plans for new product development pipelines
• Demonstrated success in project management
• Product development knowledge or experience
• Familiar with manufacturing operations and profit and loss (P&L)

Education Level: Bachelor’s Required
Required Travel: Up to 25%
Required Certifications/Licenses: None
Position Type: Full-Time
Regions: General Office- Cincinnati

Jobs at Kroger: At Kroger, we hire people who have a passion for helping others and who want to build a relationship with our Customers. No matter what stage of your career, you can build your future at Kroger. We look for people who want more, aspire to be more and work hard to achieve their goals. Our focus on keeping the Customer first is what makes us successful. As the largest traditional grocery chain in the U.S. and one of the world’s largest retailers, we employee more nearly half a million Associates across 35 states. We offer many opportunities not only in our stores, but in Manufacturing, Logistics, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, and many other fields.