Catagory Manager

Category Manager - Port Saint Lucie, FL

Commercial kitchens fail when the wrong equipment arrives, a core SKU is out of stock, or a quote cannot be installed as drawn. You will own the categories behind full-service setups - heavy equipment, smallwares, paper, and chemicals - so sales can specify with confidence and operators get a finished kitchen that works. The job is margin, availability, and a catalog people trust.

Performance Objectives

• Set assortments that cover a complete restaurant build, from cooking lines to daily consumables, and retire lines that no longer earn their shelf.
• Hit agreed gross-margin and inventory-turn targets through vendor cost, price architecture, and fewer slow movers.
• Hold fill rates on core SKUs so quotes and installations are not stalled by missing product.
• Match specifications to real kitchen layouts and install constraints before a line is promoted or a special order is accepted.
• Score vendors on cost, lead time, quality, and support, and shift volume to those who perform.
• Publish a quarterly category review: sales mix, margin, fill rate, turns, and the next actions.

Environment & Resources You will work with a small sales, purchasing, and installation team and report to operations leadership. Decisions run through vendor relationships, inventory and order systems, and a defined buy-and-price budget - not a distant merchandising layer. Because the team also handles kitchen design and installation, your category decisions are shaped by how kitchens are actually built.

Essential Qualifications

• Category, buying, or merchandising ownership in foodservice equipment, restaurant supply, or closely related wholesale.
• Evidence you moved margin, turns, or fill rate - not only maintained a price list.
• Ability to read equipment specs and judge fit for layout and installation.
• Direct negotiation with manufacturers or distributors, including lead-time accountability.
• Clear pricing, assortment, and handoff communication that sales can use without rework.

Role Selling Points

• Ownership is real: your calls show up in what ships and what the business earns.
• Breadth spans equipment, smallwares, paper, and chemicals - not one narrow line.
• Category work is tied to design, layout, and installation, so results are visible on the job.
• The standard is straightforward: integrity, customer follow-through, and a job done correctly.

Tom Collingbourne is the American Recruiters expert leading this search. Please upload your resume today!

Tom Collingbourne American Recruiters tcollingbourne@ariteam.com

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