Principal program manager, whole foods market central kitchen strategy, whole foods market culinary merchandising

Whole Foods Market is seeking a Principal Program Manager to help shape the future of how we produce freshly prepared food in centralized commissary kitchens. This is a strategic, senior role for someone who thrives in ambiguity and can define strategy where little exists today. Working across Amazon VP organizations and with senior leadership at WFM and Amazon, you will lead a significant, complex initiative from concept through execution, building the business case, aligning stakeholders, and standing up the mechanisms needed to deliver. The ideal candidate pairs deep strategic program management experience with a strong understanding of food service, kitchen production, supply chain, food safety, and multi-unit retail operations, and can influence and align senior leaders across culinary merchandising, supply chain, operations, finance, and technology.

Key job responsibilities

• Own the vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap for a significant, complex initiative, driving clarity where the business problem and strategy are not yet fully defined.
• Build out business cases and financial plans, framing capital, operational, and strategic tradeoffs for senior leaders and grounding recommendations in data.
• Partner across merchandising, supply chain, operations, quality assurance and food safety, finance, technology, and other functional teams to align the organization on a coherent operating model and clear ownership.
• Establish the planning, forecasting, and performance mechanisms needed to run the program and measure its success.
• Design and launch pilots to validate our strategy, including clear learning plans, and create the stage gates that govern how and when the program scales.
• Prepare and drive executive-ready reviews, business cases, and PR/FAQ and narrative documents, representing complex decisions and tradeoffs clearly to VPs and, when needed, SVPs.
• Identify and mitigate program risks, building in the redundancy and contingency needed to protect continuity of service to stores and customers.
• Actively develop the program management community through mentoring, promotion assessments, and best-practice sharing.
• Travel Requirements: Approximately 30% travel to facilities, stores, and partner sites may be required.

About the team

Our team is at the heart of transforming how customers experience fresh, prepared food at Whole Foods Market and Worldwide Grocery Stores. We set the category strategy and define production models that shape what lands on shelves and in shopping baskets across hundreds of stores nationwide. We work at the intersection of food, data, operations, and retail, partnering closely with supply chain, private brands, operations, e-commerce, finance, and technology to bring innovative, high-quality food programs to life. Our culture rewards curiosity, deep ownership, and creative problem-solving. If you are energized by building something new that directly shapes what customers eat every day, this is the team for you.

Basic Qualifications:

• 7+ years of program or project management experience
• 7+ years of managing, analyzing and communicating results to senior leadership experience
• Bachelor's degree
• Experience implementing repeatable processes and driving automation or standardization
• Experience owning program strategy and end to end delivery
• Experience defining program requirements and using data and metrics to determine improvements
• Experience in food production
• Deep knowledge of food production and kitchen operations, supply chain and distribution, and the associated food safety and regulatory controls.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience delivering projects within scope, time, budget and quality
• MBA
• Experience working in a physical store
• Experience designing or scaling fresh food production and distribution networks.
• Working knowledge of food safety systems (HACCP), allergen and labeling requirements, and quality assurance at scale.

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.