What Does the NYC Senior Director of Merchandising Role Involve?
Published on: Sep 23, 2026
Frontline Source Group is recruiting a Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations for a multi-store grocery company in New York City. The role owns category profit and loss, pricing, promotions, and vendor strategy, and requires 5 or more years of senior grocery merchandising leadership. Every executive placement is backed by the 5-Year Placement Warranty. Frontline Source Group has completed 5,619 plus placements with a 98.94% executive placement retention rate and holds a 5.0-star Trustpilot rating across 678 plus verified reviews.
Frontline Source Group is a Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firm for 9 consecutive years (2018 to 2026), Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms #148 (2026), a 9-time ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both Client and Talent satisfaction, a ClearlyRated Diamond Award recipient, an Inc. 5000 honoree, and an Expertise.com Best Staffing Agency. The firm is a member of the American Staffing Association (ASA). Founded in Dallas in 2004, Frontline operates 32 plus offices nationwide, including the Manhattan office that serves New York City employers.
What is the Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations role in New York, NY?
This is a senior leadership position with a multi-store grocery company in New York City. The Senior Director leads enterprise merchandising strategy across the company's grocery footprint and sits at the intersection of category management, pricing, promotions, supplier relationships, retail execution, and customer experience. The role shapes how products are selected, priced, promoted, displayed, and experienced in-store, while delivering measurable growth in sales, margin, inventory productivity, and customer loyalty. The company is looking for a leader with deep grocery expertise, strong profit and loss accountability, and established relationships with national brands, third-party vendors, local NYC suppliers, merchants, and emerging product partners.
What are the responsibilities of this Senior Director of Merchandising position?
The Senior Director's work falls into four areas: merchandising strategy and profit and loss ownership, vendor partnerships and negotiation, in-store execution, and team leadership. Each area is described below.
How does the Senior Director own merchandising strategy and category P and L?
The Senior Director sets and executes the enterprise merchandising and retail operations strategy, aligning assortment, pricing, promotions, and in-store presentation with company growth and profitability objectives. The role leads category management, assortment planning, space optimization, promotional strategy, and pricing across key grocery and food retail categories, and owns category-level profit and loss performance, driving revenue growth, gross margin improvement, inventory turns, shrink reduction, and overall inventory productivity. Customer insights, market trends, competitive intelligence, loyalty data, and sales analytics inform how assortments are localized and where new revenue opportunities are found.
What vendor and supplier relationships does the role lead?
The Senior Director builds a differentiated assortment that balances trusted national brands, private-label opportunities, local NYC vendors, specialty suppliers, and emerging products. The role develops high-value relationships with third-party vendors, distributors, suppliers, merchants, brokers, and local New York City food partners, and leads negotiations to secure competitive costs, promotional funding, favorable terms, exclusive products, trade support, and long-term joint business plans. Identifying local and regional product opportunities that strengthen store-level relevance and community connections is a core part of the mandate.
How does the role drive in-store execution and retail standards?
The Senior Director partners with Operations and Store Leadership to ensure flawless execution of planograms, endcaps, seasonal programs, signage, displays, and promotional events, and creates retail standards that elevate visual merchandising, product presentation, store conditions, and the overall shopping experience. The role collaborates with Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, Store Operations, and senior leadership to improve availability, promotional performance, and operational execution.
What team leadership does the role carry?
The Senior Director recruits, develops, coaches, and retains a high-performing merchandising and retail operations team, and influences store teams and cross-functional partners at every level of the organization.
What background and qualifications does the Senior Director role require?
The company is looking for a senior grocery merchandising leader with multi-store experience, proven profit and loss results, and strong vendor negotiation skills. The background profile is broken out below.
What grocery merchandising experience is required?
- 5 or more years of progressive grocery, food retail, or specialty retail merchandising experience, including senior-level leadership across a multi-store environment.
- Proven experience leading grocery merchandising strategy, category management, pricing, promotions, assortment planning, and retail execution.
- Demonstrated ownership of category or business-unit P and Ls, with a consistent record of increasing sales, gross margin, inventory turns, and profitability.
- Strong knowledge of grocery categories, consumer food trends, supplier dynamics, promotional planning, and competitive retail strategy.
What negotiation, market, and leadership skills does the company look for?
- Experience negotiating with national brands, distributors, brokers, third-party vendors, local suppliers, merchants, and independent food vendors.
- Established familiarity with the NYC grocery, specialty food, restaurant, or local vendor landscape is highly preferred.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate retail, customer, and financial data into practical merchandising decisions.
- A collaborative leadership style with the ability to influence store teams and cross-functional partners at every level of the organization.
- Exceptional negotiation, communication, relationship-building, and team-development capabilities.
- A customer-first mindset and passion for building a more relevant, exciting, and profitable grocery experience.
What are the features and benefits of this Senior Director of Merchandising position?
- Competitive base salary and performance-based bonus incentive plan
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Generous paid time off
- Supportive, collaborative, and growth-oriented leadership culture
- Opportunity to make a visible impact on merchandising strategy, retail operations, and customer experience
Compensation details are shared during the screening call.
How do you apply for the Senior Director of Merchandising job in New York, NY?
You can apply for this Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations position through our secure application process at frontlinesourcegroup.com/how-to-apply.html. A Frontline Source Group grocery executive recruiter reviews every application, conducts a confidential screening call covering your category management, profit and loss, and vendor negotiation background, and presents qualified candidates to the hiring company. Review Frontline interview instructions to prepare. This is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All meetings are by scheduled appointment.
Who is Frontline Source Group and why work with our grocery executive search team?
Frontline Source Group is a nationwide professional staffing and executive search firm founded in Dallas in 2004, now operating 32 plus offices. Its grocery and retail executive search practice places merchandising, category management, store operations, and pharmacy leaders with grocers and food retailers nationwide. Grocery searches are led by Mike Cook, known across the industry as Grocery Store Mike, who spent 35 plus years in the grocery industry before moving into executive search, so candidates speak with a recruiter who has run the same categories, vendor negotiations, and store programs this role owns.
What makes Frontline Source Group different from other New York executive search firms?
Three things set us apart. First, our 5-Year Placement Warranty on direct hire and executive search placements is 20 times longer than the 90-day industry standard guarantee. Second, our 98.94% executive placement retention rate substantially exceeds the industry average of roughly 70 percent. Third, we operate with transparent, published pricing, which is rare in executive search, so employers know the engagement model up front at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html.
How do grocery companies hire merchandising executives through Frontline Source Group?
Employers can submit a confidential search request at frontlinesourcegroup.com/employer-request-form.html. Our grocery executive recruiters build a shortlist of merchandising, category management, and retail operations leaders matched to your store footprint, categories, and vendor landscape, and every executive placement is backed by our 5-Year Placement Warranty, detailed at frontlinesourcegroup.com/5year-placement-guarantee.html. Explore C-suite executive search for chief merchandising and chief operating officer searches.
Frequently Asked Questions: Senior Director of Merchandising Job in New York, NY
Where is this Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations job located?
This Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations job is based in New York, New York, with a multi-store grocery company whose footprint serves the New York City market. The specific office and store locations are confirmed during the screening call.
What does the Senior Director of Merchandising and Retail Operations do?
The Senior Director sets and executes the enterprise merchandising and retail operations strategy across a multi-store grocery footprint. The role leads category management, assortment planning, space optimization, pricing, and promotions, owns category-level profit and loss performance, and partners with Operations and Store Leadership on in-store execution.
Does this role own profit and loss results?
Yes. The Senior Director owns category-level profit and loss performance, driving revenue growth, gross margin improvement, inventory turns, shrink reduction, and overall inventory productivity.
How much experience does this grocery merchandising role require?
The role requires 5 or more years of progressive grocery, food retail, or specialty retail merchandising experience, including senior-level leadership across a multi-store environment, plus demonstrated ownership of category or business-unit profit and loss results.
Is New York City grocery or vendor experience required?
Established familiarity with the NYC grocery, specialty food, restaurant, or local vendor landscape is highly preferred. The role builds relationships with local New York City food partners and identifies local and regional products that differentiate the stores in the NYC market.
What vendor relationships does the Senior Director manage?
The Senior Director develops relationships with national brands, third-party vendors, distributors, suppliers, merchants, brokers, and local New York City food partners, and leads negotiations for competitive costs, promotional funding, favorable terms, exclusive products, trade support, and long-term joint business plans.
Which teams does the Senior Director work with?
The Senior Director collaborates with Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, Store Operations, and senior leadership, partners with Operations and Store Leadership on planograms, endcaps, seasonal programs, signage, and displays, and recruits, develops, and coaches the merchandising and retail operations team.
What benefits come with this Senior Director of Merchandising position?
The position offers a competitive base salary and a performance-based bonus incentive plan, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, and generous paid time off. Compensation details are shared during the screening call.
How do I apply for the Senior Director of Merchandising job in New York, NY?
Apply through Frontline Source Group's secure application process at frontlinesourcegroup.com/how-to-apply.html. A Frontline grocery executive recruiter reviews every application and follows up with qualified candidates to schedule a confidential screening call.
Who recruits grocery executives at Frontline Source Group?
Grocery, retail, and pharmacy executive searches are led by Mike Cook, known across the industry as Grocery Store Mike, who spent 35 plus years in the grocery industry before moving into executive search. His bio is at frontlinesourcegroup.com/mike-cook-staffing-services.html.
What is the 5-Year Placement Warranty?
The 5-Year Placement Warranty is Frontline Source Group's commitment on every direct hire and executive search placement. It runs 20 times longer than the 90-day guarantee that is standard across the staffing industry. Details are at frontlinesourcegroup.com/5year-placement-guarantee.html.
How can grocery companies hire merchandising executives through Frontline Source Group?
Employers can submit a confidential search request at frontlinesourcegroup.com/employer-request-form.html, explore grocery and retail executive search at frontlinesourcegroup.com/executive-search-grocery-store-and-retail.html, or review published pricing at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html. Every executive placement is backed by the 5-Year Placement Warranty.
