The Associate Category Manager - Food & Beverage supports the Senior Category Manager of Beverage in executing category strategies and achieving sales and profit goals. This role assists in managing all aspects of the made-to-order beverage and bakery categories, including financial tracking, product management and assortment, promotional execution, and field readiness coordination. The Associate Category Manager plays a key role in maintaining category performance reporting, supporting key business initiatives, and identifying opportunities to simplify and improve team processes. This role is based on-site at the QuickChek Support Center in Whitehouse Station, NJ.

Some benefits for this role include:

• 401(k) dollar-for-dollar matching up to 6%, as well as a 3% Annual Retirement Contribution from the Company (Matching vests immediately, ARC after 3 years)
• Annual STI (Short-Term Incentive/Bonus) based on company and individual performance
• Health, Dental, Vision insurance available
• Company-paid Life Insurance, with supplemental insurance options available

1. Category Support: Assist the Senior Category Manager in managing the day-to-day operations of the beverage and bakery categories, including item setup, promotional planning, and performance tracking.
2. Cross-Functional F&B Collaboration: Support culinary through new menu item rollouts and evaluation of complexity. Work collaboratively with Culinary, Training, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Operations teams to support execution of category initiatives and maintain alignment across departments.
3. Financial Tracking: Maintain and update financial reporting for the Made-to-Order Beverage and Bakery programs, monitoring sales, margins, and overall performance.
4. Data Analysis: Partner with analytics to analyze category performance, prepare summary reports highlighting trends, risks, and opportunities to support business decisions and evaluate offers.
5. Vendor Coordination: Partner with procurement to support communication with suppliers to ensure timely launches, promotional execution, and information accuracy.
6. Promotional Execution: Assist in planning, implementing, and tracking marketing and merchandising programs in coordination with the Senior Category Manager, Operations and Marketing team.
7. Process Improvement: Partner with the broader F&B team to identify opportunities to simplify and streamline category management and merchandising processes including field execution.
8. Product & Pricing Maintenance: Maintain accurate product, pricing, and promotional data within internal systems to ensure smooth execution at store level.
9. Market & Competitor Insights: Conduct periodic market and store visits to observe trends, pricing, and product performance, providing feedback to the Senior Category Manager.
10. Customer Focus: Assist in gathering and applying customer insights to product offerings, ensuring programs align with guest needs and preferences.
11. Administrative & Project Support: Support general administrative and project-related tasks such as tracking timelines, preparing presentations, and managing vendor samples and documentation.

This list should not be considered exhaustive, and additional responsibilities may be assigned.

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, business administration, culinary arts or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of related experience and/or training.
• 1-3 years of related management experience in food service, retail, merchandising and category management.
• Must have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team environment to work collaboratively in a cross-functional environment.
• Must have excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to communicate to levels throughout the organization.
• Strong analytical skills are also required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 suite.