VP of Perishable Merchandising

Our mission is to make everyday eating extraordinary for our guests. We create a warm, welcoming, memorable experience with exceptional, personal service. We’re looking for a new team member who strives for excellence and brings positive energy, commitment, and a “can-do” attitude to work every day. We value teamwork and celebrate our successes as a team and will value your contribution!  

Added Benefits for choosing The Fresh Market Team: 

• Team member discount up to 40%
• Health, Dental & Vision insurance available for individual, spouse, partner, and family.
• 401K contribution and match for part-time and full-time team members.
• Personal time off andadditionaltime off purchase plans available 
• And much more!

The Fresh Market currently has an opening for a VP of Perishables in our Store Support Center, located in Greensboro, NC. These individual leads and sets the long-term Fresh strategy to elevate product quality, innovation, assortment leadership, and operational excellence, while delivering an exceptional guest experience. The leader oversees Meat, Seafood, Produce, Floral, Bakery, Convenient Meal Solutions, Deli, and Culinary. This is a high-impact, transformational role with an outsized influence on business performance, brand perception, and future growth.

This role will report to the Chief Merchandising Officer.

• Lead the Fresh division (Meat, Seafood, Produce, Floral, Bakery, Convenient Meal Solutions, Deli, and Culinary), advancing a differentiated Fresh experience that is core to our brand and guest loyalty.
• Define and drive the Fresh strategy, elevating quality, differentiation, innovation, and financial performance across all departments.
• Own P&L performance for the Fresh portfolio, including sales, margin, shrink, sourcing costs, and inventory.
• Set overarching division direction and multi-year roadmaps, while holding Directors accountable for category strategy, assortment, pricing, and in-market execution.
• Strengthen sourcing and supplier partnerships, enhancing cost positions, product quality, and supply continuity.
• Elevate Fresh operational excellence and the in-store guest experience by partnering with Store Operations on standards, food safety, shrink reduction, labor planning, production planning, and presentation.
• Drive culinary and prepared foods innovation, developing signature programs and offerings that grow household penetration and basket size.
• Leverage data and analytics to assess Fresh category performance, track consumer and market trends, and inform decisions on assortment, pricing, shrink management, and promotional strategies; use insights to improve sales forecasts, inventory and production planning, and merchandising execution.
• Champion transformation initiatives that modernize capabilities, simplify processes, reduce waste, and accelerate speed-to-market in highly perishable categories.
• Lead, coach, and develop top Fresh talent, building a best-in-class organization with depth in merchandising, culinary, and category expertise.
• Optimize processes through partnership across the enterprise and, where appropriate, with our parent company (Cencosud) to align platforms, standards, and best practices.

At a minimum, what you’ll need: 

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in Fresh/Perishable categories (Meat, Produce, Bakery, Deli, Prepared Foods, etc.).
• Direct P&L ownership and proven ability to drive sales, margin, shrink, and labor outcomes.
• Deep understanding of Fresh operations, food safety, quality standards, sourcing, and supply chain dynamics.
• Demonstrated success building high-performing teams across category management, merchandising, and culinary.
• Executive-level communication with the presence to influence across the enterprise and represent the Fresh business externally.
• Strong negotiation skills and experience managing supplier and sourcing relationships.
• Ability to lead through complexity and volatility in perishable markets while maintaining high quality and freshness standards.

Preferred qualifications: 

• Experience in grocery or food retail organizations known for Fresh excellence.
• Background in culinary program development, meal solutions, prepared foods, or private brand innovation.
• Expertise in shrink reduction, waste management, demand forecasting, and operational workflows specific to Fresh.
• Experience implementing differentiating Fresh concepts (e.g., prepared foods programs, signature bakery, value-added produce).
• Culinary degree or training (for leaders overseeing culinary functions) or experience leading culinary teams.
• MBA or advanced degree.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS: Consistent with applicable laws, TFM will make reasonable accommodations for qualified applicants and team members, unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to TFM. This guiding principle applies to all aspects of employment, including hiring and job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination, and access to benefits and training.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and related medical conditions, national origin, genetic information, uniformed service, veteran status, disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal or state law. 

The statements in this job description are provided to describe the general nature and level of work expected in this role. While these statements include the essential functions of the job, they are not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. As we work as a team, there may be times team members are needed to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities based on business needs. 

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