Bring your heart to CVS Health. Every one of us at CVS Health shares a single, clear purpose: Bringing our heart to every moment of your health. This purpose guides our commitment to deliver enhanced human-centric health care for a rapidly changing world. Anchored in our brand — with heart at its center — our purpose sends a personal message that how we deliver our services is just as important as what we deliver. Our Heart At Work Behaviors™ support this purpose. We want everyone who works at CVS Health to feel empowered by the role they play in transforming our culture and accelerating our ability to innovate and deliver solutions to make health care more personal, convenient and affordable. The Merch Ops, Business Acceleration team develops and recommends strategies to improve business performance by working closely with Merchandising leadership in analyzing market trends and dynamics, vendor/brand economics and productivities, customer loyalty, and related assortment optimization opportunities. The team leverages strategic sourcing and vendor negotiation tactics to bolster the impact of strategic recommendations and incrementally improve business outcomes. The **Senior Manager, Merch Ops** will lead a team of 1-3 analysts and is charged with developing and driving a portfolio of strategy and profit improvement initiatives in partnership with Category Managers and Category Management leadership. Generally, Senior Managers oversee the Strategy and Profit Improvement project execution plan for 6-10 Categories within a Business Unit (~half of a BU’s Categories). The Senior Manager will report to the Director overseeing the total Business Unit and will assist in annual prioritization of his or her Business Unit’s initiatives within the context of the overall initiative. **Primary Responsibilities:** + Develop and drive a portfolio of strategy and profit improvement initiatives + Build and develop a high-performing Category Strategy & Profit Improvement team + Lead the team to identify sales, cost, and profit opportunities across SKUs and vendors through rigorous analysis and research, including: assessment of SKU/Vendor/Brand/Promotional incrementality, competitive benchmarking (space, brands, SKUs), market insights, customer insights (eg, surveys, Customer analytics), vendor insight (cost structures, motivations), and extensive SKU/brand/vendor-level analysis (relative productivity, profitability, brand loyalty, transferability, etc.) + Oversee the development of analytical materials to be shared internally during category reviews and assortment discussions with the Merchandising team + Oversee the development of "Ask" materials to be shared with vendors during negotiations + Provide direct vendor negotiations support to Merchants, including serving as lead negotiator where warranted + Manage sourcing tools and processes (e.g. RFPs, eAuctions) to ensure selection of best vendors for Store Brand and other commoditized products (considering cost, quality, value, availability, etc) + Enhance and enforce documentation, archiving, and audit processes for agreements with vendors + Assist in the development of annual plans and budgets for category strategy & profit improvement, working with the Merchandising leadership team + Work on special projects, ad hoc analysis, and initiatives related to assortment performance and cost reduction and management **Successful Candidates will exhibit:** + Excellence in managing, developing, and leading a team + Intense interest in learning new things and intellectual curiosity + Outstanding analytical and problem solving skills + Ability to present to senior management with poise and credibility + Ability to communicate effectively and succinctly, both verbally and in writing via Microsoft PowerPoint + Ability to conduct complex quantitative analysis and build analytical models using Microsoft Excel + Ability to manage and prioritize multiple assignments and meet tight deadlines + Ability to develop effective working relationships with Merchandising Directors and VPs + Ability to work independently and adapt to changing work priorities + An open and honest communication style that quickly builds trust and respect + The candidate selected for this position will be a creative, out-of-the-box thinker who is intellectually curious with a demonstrated interest in learning. This person will also need to be a self-motivated, entrepreneurial, high-energy individual who can easily function in a high demand, performance-driven environment. **Preferred Qualifications:** + Merchandising expertise - strong understanding of retail merchandising basics (ie, category management), and merchandising organizational structures and processes + Mastery of Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint **Minimum Requirements:** + **Education** : Four-year college degree; MBA strongly preferred; Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and/or other quantitative analytical degree a plus + **Experience:** 3+ years of relevant experience, part of experience must be in either management consulting or retail/CPG – with strong preference towards management consulting for a top tier firm. Specific experience in retail category management, CPG, vendor management, or sourcing a strong plus **Pay Range** The typical pay range for this role is: $82,940.00 - $182,549.40 This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors. This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. This position also includes an award target in the company’s equity award program. In addition to your compensation, enjoy the rewards of an organization that puts our heart into caring for our colleagues and our communities. The Company offers a full range of medical, dental, and vision benefits. Eligible employees may enroll in the Company’s 401(k) retirement savings plan, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan is also available for eligible employees. The Company provides a fully-paid term life insurance plan to eligible employees, and short-term and long term disability benefits. CVS Health also offers numerous well-being programs, education assistance, free development courses, a CVS store discount, and discount programs with participating partners. As for time off, Company employees enjoy Paid Time Off (“PTO”) or vacation pay, as well as paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Number of paid holidays, sick time and other time off are provided consistent with relevant state law and Company policies. For more detailed information on available benefits, please visit Benefits | CVS Health (https://jobs.cvshealth.com/us/en/benefits) We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on: 01/31/2025 Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state and local laws. We are an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, promotion, or any other personnel action based on race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.