Senior Manager, Fresh Food & Deli Strategy

Entity:

Customers & Products

Job Family Group:

Retail Group

Job Description:

This role is ideal for leaders with experience in fresh food, prepared foods, deli, or foodservice category management within convenience retail, travel centers, or multi-unit foodservice environments.

This role is based in Ohio; however, we are open to considering remote candidates or those willing to relocate. Periodic travel to field locations would be expected.

This is a senior-level strategic leader responsible for shaping and executing the company’s end‑to‑end proprietary Deli strategy, supporting more than $80 million in annual food sales. This role oversees the development, performance, and profitability of all deli offerings—including proprietary programs, branded partnerships, and leased deli concepts. The Senior Manager drives enterprise-wide food program innovation, operational excellence, and guest experience differentiation across the Travel Center network.

This position influences long-term strategic direction, leads cross-functional initiatives, and ensures deli platforms meet enterprise financial, brand, and operational expectations.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Program Development

• Lead the creation and execution of a comprehensive long-term proprietary Deli strategy that positions the company as an industry leader in fresh, on-the-go foodservice.

• Oversee the development of scalable, profitable deli programs—including offer roadmap, menu engineering, product development, supply chain strategy, equipment specifications, and operational standards.

• Conduct ongoing assessments of deli performance to diagnose issues, identify growth opportunities, and recommend strategic and financial actions.

• Build and deliver multi-year business cases, capital plans, financial models, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.

• Serve as the company’s subject matter expert for deli innovation, competitive benchmarking, and industry trends.

Cross-Functional Enterprise Leadership

• Partner with Operations leadership to ensure deli programs meet execution, throughput, quality, and service expectations across all locations.

• Collaborate with Facilities to define deli equipment packages, cost-optimized layouts, preventive maintenance standards, and lifecycle planning.

• Work with Marketing and Digital teams to create data-driven promotional plans, customer engagement strategies, and brand positioning for deli offerings.

• Lead collaboration with Technology, Finance, HR, Learning and Development, Work Force Planning and Supply Chain to implement systems, accounting processes, training platforms, data models, and reporting tools required to support deli operations at scale.

• Ensure all deli initiatives meet required ROI thresholds and align with corporate strategic and financial goals.

Operational Excellence & Compliance

• Drive a culture of excellence in food safety, cleanliness, product quality, and operational discipline across all deli locations.

• Lead the development of SOPs, training programs, and operational standards to support consistent deli execution.

• Serve as a senior escalation point for deli-related operational challenges, enabling field teams to deliver seamless execution.

• Maintain oversight of deli production processes, labor efficiency, throughput optimization, and margin performance.

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team responsible for deli program management, product development, and field support.

• Build strong relationships across internal teams, franchisees, and external vendors to support seamless program rollout and sustained performance.

• Represent Deli Operations in enterprise leadership forums, strategic councils, cross-functional initiatives, and capital planning discussions.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience developing or leading fresh food, prepared foods, or deli programs within convenience retail, travel centers, grocery, or foodservice environments.

• Proven success in strategic food program development, operational planning, category management, and multi-site execution.

• Strong financial acumen, including P&L ownership, menu engineering, ROI modeling, and forecast/budget development.

• Extensive experience in recipe development, theoretical/actual margin management, costing systems, and food cost optimization.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influen