Director, Category Management – Food

Summary

The Director, Food Category Management will report to the Sr Director, Category Management and will be instrumental in shaping Buffalo Wild Wings’ menu strategy & innovation roadmap while working in a dynamic, demanding environment with a team that values bold thinking, collaboration, and results driven execution. This individual will help guide where and how Buffalo Wild Wings looks for and executes menu opportunities to drive sustainable, profitable sales growth and will work cross-functionally to understand trends, category growth, and business needs, as well as working with teams to develop strategies and key initiatives to address identified opportunities.

The role will require an individual to identify, develop, and test food innovation within existing core & white space categories, while managing the day-to-day processes for the Food Category Management team to ensure proper execution of activation windows within the brand calendar. This person will also be responsible for managing the team’s research budget and generating insights on how existing categories are performing from a sales/profit standpoint and how Buffalo Wild Wings can optimize those categories as an organization.

This role demands an individual who is skilled at partnering with internal and external cross-functional groups to work together to find solutions for complex projects. This role has high visibility and this individual will interact regularly with senior management to provide recommendations and guidance that supports Buffalo Wild Wing’s overall business objectives.

Responsibilities

•  Project oversight - ensure successful execution of key calendar initiatives including timely completion of stage gate decks, intake forms, & activation window playbooks.
• Partner with Sr. Director to define short and long-term food menu strategies in order to meet brand and business objectives and drive sustainable long term growth.
• Define the roadmap for core & white space innovation while leading the workstream to develop and test new items in innovation stores.
• Monitor item and category performance to deliver actionable insights for categories to maximize sales and profit growth.
• Serve as a people leader within the organization, leading team meetings, providing guidance & feedback in 1:1s, and reviewing team member career goals and interests on an ongoing basis.
• Serve as a leader in change management, continually seeking methods to improve ways of working and improve team efficiencies.
• Manage research budget and ensure the team is maximizing learnings and insights to inform decisions.
  
  

Education Qualifications

• Required minimum: bachelor’s degree
  
  

Experience Qualification

• 4+ years’ experience in brand strategy or category management
  
  

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS Or ABILITIES

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability in working with key executives and stakeholders to solve and drive to business outcomes.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills; comfortable with P&L workings.
• Ability to lead a team as a people-manager in a fast-paced environment.
• Understands how to take products or programs through a commercialization process.
• Data-driven thinking with the ability to effectively diagnose a problem or assess a situation to drive to a smart business solution.
• Self-starter with a bias for action, who takes ownership of projects and drives them forward without constant supervision.
• Has a passion for the restaurant industry, particularly for food, & enjoys seeing the impact of their work in the organization.
• Is willing to train in stores and connect with operators on an ongoing basis to evaluate opportunities for menu innovation, renovation, & operation.
• Carries a positive attitude every day and is someone who desires to grow in the role and within the marketing organization.
  
  

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.

We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.