Category Manager, Essentials | Food and General Merchandise in Princeton, New Jersey at The Princeton University Store

Lead an established business—and shape what it becomes next.

About Princeton University Retail

Princeton University Retail is an independent nonprofit retailer serving Princeton students, faculty, staff, alumni, families, and visitors. Through our stores and ecommerce business, we provide products and services that support daily campus life and strengthen connection to the Princeton community.

Why This Role Matters

The Category Manager, Essentials owns a broad portfolio that includes food and beverage, prepared and ready-to-eat food, health and beauty, home and dorm products, stationery and supplies, and technology accessories.

This leader will strengthen the daily management of the existing business while repositioning it for greater relevance, growth, and customer engagement. The role requires strong food and convenience expertise, disciplined merchandising execution, and the judgment to identify new products, services, partnerships, and uses of space.

This is not simply a purchasing position. It is an opportunity to lead and develop an important business division within a distinctive retail organization.

What Success Looks Like

The Category Manager will:
- Improve sales, margin, inventory productivity, in-stock position, and customer relevance.
- Strengthen freshness, replenishment, purchasing, vendor performance, and inventory control.
- Build clear operating routines, reports, and accountability across the division.
- Improve the food, beverage, grab-and-go, and convenience assortment.
- Identify commercially sound opportunities for new categories, services, partnerships, and customer experiences.
- Balance daily execution with longer-term business development.
What You Will Do

Lead the Essentials Business
- Own the merchandising strategy and financial performance of the Essentials division.
- Develop annual, seasonal, and monthly plans for sales, margin, inventory, and category growth.
- Use sales results, inventory data, customer insights, competitive activity, and vendor knowledge to guide decisions.
- Establish clear priorities across a diverse and evolving category portfolio.

Strengthen Food and Convenience
- Lead the food, beverage, prepared food, grab-and-go, and convenience business with close attention to freshness, quality, value, availability, and service.
- Preserve successful programs while addressing underperforming products, vendors, categories, and practices.
- Introduce relevant choices that respond to changing customer needs and preferences.
- Partner with store operations to ensure that assortment decisions can be executed through available equipment, storage, labor, replenishment, and selling space.

Improve Merchandising and Inventory Discipline
- Establish effective routines for purchasing, replenishment, open orders, stock availability, aging inventory, waste, markdowns, and vendor follow-through.
- Address stockouts, overstocks, quality concerns, missed sales, and other business exceptions.
- Build documented processes and reports that improve consistency, accountability, and decision-making.
- Use NetSuite and related systems to manage items, purchase orders, inventory, replenishment, reporting, and business reviews.

Develop the Business
- Identify new products, categories, vendors, services, partnerships, and customer experiences.
- Evaluate underutilized or underperforming space and recommend practical improvements.
- Develop proposals that address customer need, product strategy, operational requirements, investment, and expected business impact.
- Move approved concepts from evaluation through implementation in partnership with the President and CEO and cross-functional leaders.

Lead Vendor Relationships
- Build productive relationships with distributors, manufacturers, service providers, and local partners.
- Negotiate pricing, terms, allowances, service expectations, promotional support, and inventory commitments.
- Maintain clear documentation of vendor economics, purchasing requirements, incentives, and agreements.
- Hold partners accountable for quality, delivery, responsiveness, and agreed-upon performance.

What You Bring
- Seven or more years of progressive experience in category management, buying, merchandising, grocery, convenience, specialty retail, or a related consumer business.
- Meaningful experience leading food, beverage, grocery, prepared food, or convenience categories.
- Demonstrated ability to use sales, margin, inventory, replenishment, and vendor data to improve performance.
- Strong vendor management, negotiation, planning, and financial analysis capabilities.
- Experience with an ERP, inventory management, or retail reporting system; NetSuite experience is preferred.
- A bachelor’s degree in merchandising, business, finance, retail management, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- The ability to balance strategic development with detailed daily execution.
- Strong judgment, organization, accountability, and cross-functional communication.
Independent motivation and a willingness to work hands-on in an evolving retail environment.

Why You Will Enjoy This Role

You will have the opportunity to lead an established business, improve how it operates, and help define its future. The position offers significant ownership, direct access to senior leadership, and the ability to see ideas move from evaluation to execution.

To Apply

Please submit a resume and a brief note describing your relevant experience in food, grocery, convenience, general merchandise, buying, or category management.