Vice President, Category Development, Food

Job Summary

The Vice President, Category Development, Food serves as a visionary leader driving strategic growth and supplier excellence across assigned food categories. This role leads a high-performing team responsible for defining and executing category strategies that deliver measurable value to Compass Group and Foodbuy LLC members.

The categories assigned are all foods being purchased through broadline distribution including Center of Plate (Protein), Grocery and Bakery.
Through deep industry insight and strong supplier partnerships, the VP will shape the future of procurement by aligning business needs with market opportunities—leveraging expertise in negotiation, analytics, and strategic planning to achieve competitive advantage, optimize contracts, and deliver sustainable financial outcomes.

This position requires a forward-thinking leader capable of influencing at the highest levels internally and externally while fostering collaboration, innovation, and accountability across diverse functions and business units.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Category Excellence

• Define, lead, and execute comprehensive category strategies that align with Foodbuy’s strategic objectives, ensuring growth, innovation, and long-term competitive advantage.
• Partner with suppliers and stakeholders to identify emerging trends, optimize category performance, and create differentiated value propositions for sectors/members.
• Oversee end-to-end category lifecycle management from opportunity assessment through budgeting, negotiation, implementation, and performance measurement.

Supplier Management & Negotiation

• Serve as an escalation point for suppliers and distributors to secure optimal pricing.
• Build and sustain senior-level partnerships with key suppliers to promote collaboration, innovation, and mutual success.
• Champion Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) best practices, including supplier scorecards, business reviews, performance tracking, and risk mitigation.

Contract Management & Optimization

• Lead the team in overseeing commercial aspects of contract management.
• Drive continuous improvement in contract structures and terms to enhance flexibility and savings.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with sourcing and legal to manage sourcing strategy, renewals, amendments, and enforcement of commercial terms.

Financial & Operational Accountability

• Own financial performance for assigned categories, including income targets, budget management, and detailed supplier-level forecasting.
• Develop and execute cost-savings and inflation mitigation plans to meet or exceed annual financial goals.
• Drive and coach the team to identify commercial opportunities, optimize spending, and reduce risk.

Team Leadership & Development

• Inspire, coach, and develop a team of category leaders to build robust category strategies and strengthen Foodbuy’s market leadership.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement across the organization.
• Promote collaboration across procurement, distribution, operations, and account management to drive alignment and execution excellence.

Requirements

• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in procurement or category management,
• Minimum 7 years in a senior leadership role managing high-performing teams.
• Foodservice industry experience highly preferred.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
   

Skills & Competencies

• Proven success in leading large-scale negotiations and complex supplier relationships.
• Expertise in contract management, financial planning, and category strategy development.
• Exceptional influencing, communication, and executive presentation skills.
• Strong business acumen with analytical, strategic, and operational depth.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Motivated change leader with a track record of delivering results in fast-paced environments.
• Travel: Up to 20% annually.