ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND STANDARDS:
I. Function: The Procurement Manager leads the Valley Wide Retail Buying Team and is responsible for enterprise-wide retail procurement, merchandising strategy, category management, supplier relationships, assortment planning, inventory productivity, pricing support, and margin improvement across farm and ranch, feed and animal health, hardware, convenience, deli and foodservice, seasonal, pet, and other retail categories.
The position establishes disciplined buying practices, develops buyers and category-management capabilities, negotiates costs and vendor programs, improves inventory productivity, and ensures assortments meet customer demand while delivering strong financial performance. This is an on-site leadership position based in Nampa, Idaho and is not eligible for remote work.
Position Evaluation: Along with attitude and policy compliance, position will be evaluated according to the following Key Performance Indicators:
• Total retail sales growth
• Gross-margin dollars and rate
• GMROI
• Inventory turns
• In-stock and fill-rate performance
• Aged and excess inventory reduction
• Assortment productivity
• Vendor rebates and promotional funding
• Procurement savings and cost avoidance
• Promotional performance
• Forecast accuracy
• Open-to-buy compliance
• Buyer performance vs. category plans
• Supplier service and quality performance
II. Job Summary:
These are the
basic requirements of the position and must be performed competently.
Retail Buying Team Leadership- Lead, coach, develop, and hold accountable the Valley Wide Retail Buying Team.
- Establish category ownership, annual business plans, performance expectations, and decision rights.
- Develop buyer capabilities in category management, assortment planning, negotiations, pricing, promotions, and inventory management.
- Conduct regular buyer and category performance reviews tied to measurable financial and operating results.
Merchandise and Category Management- Lead assortment and category strategy across all Valley Wide Retail formats and merchandise categories.
- Ensure product selections reflect customer demand, store format, local-market needs, seasonality, and company strategy.
- Identify assortment gaps, duplication, underperforming SKUs, and category growth opportunities.
- Manage category lifecycle decisions, including additions, deletions, resets, and product transitions.
Procurement and Supplier Leadership- Develop and implement disciplined retail procurement standards and processes.
- Negotiate product costs, freight, rebates, promotional funding, payment terms, and supplier support.
- Build strategic supplier relationships and establish vendor scorecards for service, quality, profitability, fill rate, and responsiveness.
- Identify alternative sourcing opportunities and manage supply and availability risks.
Pricing, Promotions, and Margin Management- Establish category-level sales, gross-margin, GMROI, and inventory objectives.
- Drive margin improvement through sourcing, vendor funding, assortment productivity, and pricing discipline.
- Partner with Operations and Marketing on promotional calendars and merchandise events.
- Evaluate promotional effectiveness and implement corrective actions for underperforming categories.
Inventory and Working Capital Management- Improve inventory turns, in-stock performance, replenishment effectiveness, and order discipline.
- Reduce aged, excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory through clear ownership and action plans.
- Create and maintain inventory analysis systems, reporting processes, forecasting methods, and governance standards.
- Establish open-to-buy and seasonal inventory planning disciplines aligned with demand and store potential.
Systems, Analytics, and Retail Execution- Use ERP, POS, procurement, inventory-management, and business-intelligence platforms to support decisions and execution.
- Develop category, buyer, supplier, and inventory scorecards.
- Translate sales, margin, inventory, and customer data into actionable category and purchasing decisions.
- Partner with Retail Operations to improve merchandising consistency, resets, promotions, and new-item execution.
ESSENTIAL JOB QUALIFICATIONS/PREREQUISITES:
- Bachelor's degree in business, merchandising, supply chain, retail management, or a related field preferred; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
- Seven (7) or more years of progressive experience in retail buying, merchandising, category management, or procurement.
- At least two (2) years of direct experience leading, managing, and developing a retail buying, merchandising, category-management, or retail operations team. Candidates who do not meet this requirement will not advance beyond the initial review.
- Demonstrated success leading buyers and managing multiple merchandise categories across retail formats.
- Experience working with ERP and point-of-sale (POS) systems, procurement platforms, inventory-management systems, and retail analytics or business-intelligence tools.
- Demonstrated experience creating, implementing, and improving inventory analysis systems and processes, including replenishment, forecasting, inventory reporting, assortment analysis, open-to-buy discipline, and inventory governance.
- Strong negotiation and supplier-management experience, including product costs, freight, rebates, promotional funding, payment terms, and supplier performance.
- Strong financial and analytical skills, including sales, gross margin, GMROI, inventory turns, working capital, and category profitability.
- Strong leadership, coaching, communication, change-management, and organizational skills.
- Ability to work on-site in Nampa, Idaho. This position is not remote.
