Whole Foods Market is seeking a dynamic leader to lead our bakery category merchant team in Austin, TX. Are you a data-driven leader with a passion for building high-performing teams? Join our team and drive team development, operational excellence, and business results.

In this role, you'll lead a team of category merchants, influence your team's roadmap, and help drive innovation and execution in our categories. You'll collaborate cross-functionally to execute category strategies, develop talent, and ensure operational excellence through data-rich decision making and customer-centric execution.

Key job responsibilities:

• Take ownership of team delivery and operational performance
• Establish the right team structure to respond to customer needs and business goals while meeting SLAs and delivering high-quality results
• Lead and develop a team of category merchants, providing tactical management while building strategic leadership capabilities
• Lead your team to deliver results, manage difficult problems, and mitigate risks before they become roadblocks
• Make trade-offs between time, quality, and resources to meet business objectives
• Facilitate career growth conversations, provide constructive feedback, and align individual goals with organizational objectives
• Create customized onboarding plans for new team members
• Attract, hire, and retain a team of high performing merchants.
• Dive into details, ask the right questions, and drive the right customer outcomes
• Maintain solid understanding of design approaches, technologies, products, and processes utilized by your team
• Work closely with stakeholders across diverse functions to ensure smooth execution of team goals
• Communicate clearly and concisely in verbal and written formats
• Identify and optimize workflows and best practices for operational excellence
• Prioritize root cause resolution and process improvements
• Create an inclusive team environment where every employee feels valued, trusted, connected, and informed
• Evaluate employee performance against expectations and navigate challenging conversations with empathy and professionalism
• Present decisions to senior leaders
• Foster shared understanding to meet business needs and reach consensus on approach

Skills:

• Proven ability to manage teams and deliver results in areas with defined strategy
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to influence outcomes in a complex, fast-paced environment
• Proficient in analyzing business trends, assessing underlying drivers of results, and making data-driven decisions
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook)
• Adept at learning new tools and systems
• Creative mindset with a knack for solving problems and managing ambiguity
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to different audiences
• Strong listening, empathy, and partnership skills to work cross-functionally and build trust