Divisional Manager Food

As Divisional Manager Food, you play a crucial role in the further development of Food as a strategic growth category. You set the course, develop new opportunities, and ensure that commercial ambitions are translated into a distinctive assortment, strong brand partnerships, and an inspiring customer experience. Both online and in our stores.

You inspire, connect, and build a team that continuously seeks commercial opportunities and distinctiveness.

• You create a culture in which collaboration, entrepreneurship, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement are central.
• You stimulate ownership and commercial impact within the team.
• You coach, develop, and inspire Buyers and indirectly Junior and Assistant Buyers.
• You are a visible leader who leads by example in customer focus, innovation, and result orientation.

As Divisional Manager Food, you translate the strategy of De Bijenkorf into a distinctive food proposition that surprises and inspires customers.

• You develop and implement the division strategy for Food, fully in line with the brand and growth strategy of De Bijenkorf.
• You give substance to curating by carefully selecting and bringing together brands, products, concepts, and collaborations to create a unique food destination.
• You translate local relevance into a distinctive food offering per location, based on customer, city, and market insights.
• You build long-term partnerships with brands and suppliers that contribute to a relevant and distinctive assortment.
• You ensure a strong omnichannel approach where online and physical stores optimally reinforce each other.

You see opportunities before others do.

• You signal trends, innovation, and new business opportunities within the premium food market.
• You identify new brands, concepts, and collaborations that contribute to growth and distinctiveness.
• You initiate innovations within assortment, store concepts, and customer experience.
• You introduce new ways of working and tools in the areas of forecasting, category management, and portfolio analysis.
• You drive commercial performance, revenue growth, margin improvement, and a healthy P&L.

Strong relationships form the basis for success.

• You build and maintain sustainable relationships with a wide supplier network, ranging from international food brands to local producers and partners.
• You negotiate commercial terms, margins, and strategic collaborations.
• You work intensively with Supply Chain to optimize performance in terms of availability, freshness, shelf life, and shrinkage.
• You connect Buying with CRM, Finance, Retail Marketing, and other stakeholders to realize maximum customer value.

You are an entrepreneurial, strategic, and commercially strong leader with a passion for food. You combine vision with execution power, build relationships effortlessly, and know how to inspire teams to achieve ambitious goals.

In addition, you possess:

• HBO/WO working and thinking level
• At least 5 years of experience within Buying, Category Management, or Merchandising, preferably within premium food retail
• Demonstrable knowledge of the food market and relevant developments within the field
• A strong network of food brands, suppliers, and partners
• Experience in leading and developing teams
• Strong negotiation skills
• Experience with P&L responsibility
• Excellent command of the Dutch and English languages