The Integrated Planning and Communications Sr. Process & Project Manager will be responsible for contributing to the continued creation, development, and iteration of Seasonal and Integrated Planning and the Retail Execution Planner. Reporting to the Executive Leader of Integrated Planning and Communication, this is a position on the larger Global Retail Marketing Team. The Integrated Planning and Communications Sr. Process & Project Manager is responsible for identifying the tools, tasks, and parties necessary to execute the long-term vision for the Retail Execution Planner. This role is intended to stay well-connected with stakeholders throughout the organization and have a strong understanding of audience needs in communications deliverables. This role is also responsible for developing processes needed to advance the Retail Execution Planner to better represent the vision of the Merchandising, Marketing, and Operations teams to be realized at a high level within stores. This role supports technology development within this scope, both in communication tool development and integration with other organizational tools. This principal also generates and maintains materials supporting the Retail Execution Planner and Seasonal Planning process, including roles & responsibilities, timelines, reference and training materials and content libraries. A secondary function of this position is to maintain and administer the schedule of contributor deadlines for publishing the Retail Execution Planner on an ongoing basis. This role will also partner with the broader Marketing and Merchandising organizations to drive alignment and consistency of programming across the company.

Responsibilities:

· Develops processes for refinement of the Seasonal Planning process and Retail Execution Planner

· Supports development of support technology and integration with organization tools and systems

· Collaborates with key stakeholders to develop actionable execution content relevant to the audience

· Maintains process lists for in-scope tasks, deliverables, and schedules

· Develops and maintains content, reference, and training materials supporting the Retail Execution Planner

· Ensures that tasks and schedules support merchandising content that is regionally and locally relevant

· Implements contributor content deadlines and maintains regular meeting schedules

· Documents and facilities planning for merchandising dedicated and shared space within stores

· Collaborates with Retail Marketing Team on process development

· Partners with stakeholders in Merchandising teams on program development

· Identifies additional merchandising specific, store-facing content in the Retail Execution Planner

· Connects key seasonal Marketing themes with Merchandising programs and prioritization

· Monitors Retail Execution Planner adoption and compliance by audience

· Maintains content for Retail Execution Planner, including copy, images, reference materials, and training tools

· Contributes to communication platform development as a subject matter expert

· Facilitates any store-specific presentation content in conjunction with Merchandising Presentation team

· Assesses audience feedback of the Retail Execution Planner and implements adjustments where appropriate

· Builds relationships with Global, Regional, and Store teams

Qualifications:

· BA/BS degree and 4-6 years’ relevant experience OR equivalent combination of education and relevant experience

· Actively demonstrates and lives Whole Foods Market leadership principles

· Broad understanding of retail fundamentals, including visual merchandising, product affinity, marketing collateral

· Demonstrates an understanding of the WFM, retail industry and business models of strategic partners and competitors

· Ability to engage with other leaders to formulate the organization’s long-term strategic direction

· Ability to define strategies to empower and equip leaders to be effective in interactions with stakeholders

· Experience in building out innovative, effective tools and reporting vehicles

· Experience in providing clear, actionable verbal and written communication to large groups

· Ability to lead and motivate Team Members and partners to advance projects amid complexity and ambiguity

· Ability to foster a collaborative working environment, fostering cooperation and leading through influence

· Business maturity and the ability to offer sound recommendations and make key decisions

· Ability to define opportunities and problems, collect and analyze data, establish facts and make valid conclusions

· Excellent organization and time management skills. Strong project management or operations background

· Ability to form strong partnerships and create common ground with multiple stakeholders across WFM to ensure the effective delivery of Merchandising Processes and Systems

· Knowledge of and passion for Whole Foods Market core values and company mission

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.