Sr. Program Mgr., AI Kitchen Initiative, Worldwide Grocery Stores-Tech (WWGST)

Amazon's Worldwide Grocery Stores-Tech (WWGST) team is seeking an experienced Sr. Program Manager to lead the end-to-end launch and scaling of our new kitchen initiative, a first-of-its-kind program that reimagines how customers discover, personalize, and enjoy prepared food. In this role, you will be joining at the ground floor of a new-to-the-world innovation in prepared food experiences. This role sits at the intersection of program management, finance, culinary design, and customer experience, owning the program from site selection through steady-state operations. You will drive cross-functional alignment across real estate, finance, culinary, vendor management, and customer-facing teams to deliver a seamless kitchen experience that delights customers while meeting cost and quality targets. This role requires ensuring a positive customer experience by providing courteous, efficient service and maintaining adherence to all applicable health, safety, and food safety regulations. Key job responsibilities Program Leadership & Site Setup Site Setup & Launch: Own the end-to-end program plan for new kitchen site launches, including facility identification, design requirements, permitting, equipment procurement, and go-live readiness. Define and manage critical-path milestones and cross-functional dependencies. Stakeholder Management: Serve as the single-threaded owner for this 0-to-1 initiative. Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with department leaders, vendors, and cross-functional partners. Drive L10-level program updates and executive reviews. Executive Reporting: Provide regular updates to senior leadership, manage risks/blockers, and drive decision-making across ambiguous, uncharted territory. Consistently communicate and model organizational vision and goals. Financial Management CapEx/OpEx Management: Develop and manage capital expenditure budgets for kitchen buildouts. Own ongoing operating expense forecasting, variance analysis, and cost optimization levers. Partner with Finance to model unit economics and drive P&L accountability. Profitability & Expense Control: Accountable for monitoring and achieving sales, purchasing, and labor targets. Apply proficient mathematical skills for assessing financial performance, monitoring profitability, and managing budgets. Menu & Product Menu Design & Curation: Collaborate with culinary teams to define menu offerings that balance customer demand, operational complexity, food cost targets, and nutritional considerations. Drive menu iteration based on sales data, customer feedback, and seasonal availability. Product Assortment: Maintain proper product assortment and merchandising standards. Sustain exceptional level of knowledge and awareness of relevant competitors and industry trends to inform menu strategy. Vendor & Contract Management 3P Vendor Contracts: Negotiate and manage third-party contracts including food suppliers, equipment vendors, maintenance providers, and logistics partners. Define SLAs, performance metrics, and escalation paths. Vendor Performance: Drive vendor performance reviews and continuous improvement. Establish and maintain collaborative and productive working relationships with all vendor partners. Customer Enrollment & Feedback Customer Enrollment: Design and execute customer acquisition and enrollment strategies for the kitchen program. Partner with Marketing to develop go-to-market plans, trial programs, and retention mechanisms. Track enrollment funnels and optimize conversion rates. Customer Feedback Processing: Build and own the voice-of-customer (VoC) program. Leverage GenAI for sentiment analysis, theme extraction, and automated insight generation to establish scalable feedback collection mechanisms and closed-loop response processes. Customer Service Standards: Hold team members accountable for delivering exceptional customer service. Maintain awareness of customer flows and needs; direct teams as necessary to satisfy and delight customers. Regulatory Compliance Compliance Oversight: Ensure adherence to all applicable health and safety regulations including Food Safety and regulatory duties. Maintain advanced knowledge of regulatory and safety policies and procedures relevant to kitchen operations. Basic Qualifications 3+ years of program or project management experience Experience owning program strategy, end to end delivery, and communicating results to senior leadership Experience using data and metrics to determine and drive improvements Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or a related field Experience managing budgets Experience managing and negotiating contracts and vendor relationships Experience in launching new products Experience with data and analysis tools including Microsoft Excel and SQL Experience in operations, food service, retail, or supply chain environments Preferred Qualifications Master's degree (MBA or related discipline) Experience in food production Experience with AI/ML technologies Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent certification Food safety certification (e.g., ServSafe) Experience with customer enrollment/subscription program design Familiarity with food safety regulations (FDA, state health codes, HACCP) 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 for more information. 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 USA, WA, Seattle - 115,600.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually #J-18808-Ljbffr Socket.dev