Principal Program Manager, Assortment Capabilities

Job DescriptionJoin us in shaping the future of retail at Whole Foods Market! We're seeking a dynamic Principal Program Manager to lead our Assortment Capabilities initiatives as part of our ambitious 10-year Growing with Purpose strategy. This is your opportunity to make a significant impact at the intersection of merchandising, technology, and innovation.
As a Principal Program Manager, you'll serve as a key thought leader and subject matter expert in Merchandising, driving transformational change across our organization. You'll collaborate with senior leaders from Whole Foods Market and Amazon to develop industry-leading capabilities in assortment planning, pricing, promotions, and space planning.
This role is based in our Austin, Texas office with the requirement of being onsite 5 days a week.

What You’ll Do:

• Serves as Merchandising subject matter expert (SME) and thought leader to represent business needs across all merchandising categories.
• Represent Merchandising business needs through Process Design, Tool Development, Tool Testing, and Success Criteria Assessment. 
• Serves as onboarding support Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Category Merchant tool testing efforts. 
• Supports the development, execution, and iteration of the Assortment capabilities and process.
• Contributes to the strategic roadmap to deliver value through unparalleled and industry leading capabilities. 
• Collaborate with business partners across WFM and Amazon to represent business needs and develop the long-term value creation expansion roadmap. 
• Owns specific capability project completion that ladder up to total program success. 
• Identifies and escalates project risks, opportunities, and contingency plans. 
• Contributes to regular Merchandising leadership and E-Team Business Updates. 
• Supports content creation for training and onboarding practices for end users. 
• Serves as a change agent to support end user adoption during training sessions. 
• Serves as a thought-leader within the merchandising team and broader organization. 
• Ensures alignment between projects and streams.
• Act as an agent of change, championing a data driven approach for merchandising decision making, focused on assortment planning.

What You'll Bring:

• BA/BS degree with 6-8 years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination
• Proven experience in Category Management or enterprise-level retail operations
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data analysis
• Strong understanding of merchandising, store operations, distribution, and marketing
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive change in a complex organization
• Track record of successfully leading cross-functional initiatives

Why You'll Love Working Here:

• Highly visible role with direct impact on company strategy
• Opportunity to work with cutting-edge retail technology
• Collaboration with industry leaders across Whole Foods Market and Amazon
• Platform to drive innovation in the natural and organic foods retail sector

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.

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