Meal Category Lead

• Lead the strategic development and management of Hungryroot’s Prepared Meals and Sides categories, curating a high-quality, health-forward assortment that meets customer needs.
• Partner closely with the R&D and Culinary teams to identify innovation opportunities and bring new product concepts to life, ensuring they align with Hungryroot’s standards for nutrition, convenience, and taste.
• Proactively identify and source innovative brands and products that drive customer satisfaction, sales, and margin.
• Own the end-to-end product lifecycle, leading cross-functional execution from pipeline planning and vendor negotiations through onboarding, launch, and in-market performance management.
• Leverage data and customer insights to inform category strategy, guiding decisions on product mix, pricing, promotion, and placement to improve business performance and customer value.
• Identify and deliver cost-saving initiatives, renegotiating vendor agreements or exploring alternative sourcing while preserving quality, performance, and margin goals.
• Steer long-term assortment health, identifying assortment gaps, whitespace opportunities, market trends, and rationalization needs to ensure the mix evolves with customer preferences and business priorities.
• Build and manage best-in-class supplier relationships, holding vendors accountable to performance standards across cost, quality, food safety, and service.
• Own category compliance and quality, partnering closely with food safety and regulatory teams to uphold federal, state, and internal standards.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with supply chain and fulfillment teams to ensure product availability, minimize disruptions, and maintain healthy inventory aligned with demand.
• Work with brand partners and our partnerships team to design and activate promotional opportunities that elevate category performance and support revenue goals.

• 5+ years of experience in category management, buying, or merchandising—ideally within eCommerce.
• Deep familiarity with the prepared meals and sides category—including ready-to-eat, and heat-and-eat formats—with a strong understanding of consumer preferences, supply chain dynamics, and packaging considerations.
• Experience collaborating on product development or private-label innovation in a fresh or perishable food category is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to negotiate, manage projects, and communicate effectively across internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience building vendor partnerships and developing private-label products.
• Working knowledge of retail and eCommerce food safety standards.
• Strong analytical mindset with strong proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets.
• Highly collaborative, with a track record of effective cross-functional partnership.
• Agile and solutions-oriented; thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Self-motivated, positive, and proactive with a transparent communication style.
• Passion for food, health, and wellness, with a pulse on industry trends and consumer behavior.
• Familiarity with tools like NetSuite, Airtable, Looker, or other ERP systems is a plus.

Pay range: $100K - $130K

• Remote-first: work from home, work from our NYC office, work from anywhere in the U.S. - you decide!
• Equity
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Universal paid parental leave
• Monthly Hungryroot credit for delicious, healthy groceries
• Comprehensive health, vision, dental, and life insurance
• 401k with Company Match
• A work from home stipend to support your initial home-office setup