Customer Representative - Vendor Replenishment - Kroger - Cincinnati Sales Office (Cincinnati, OH)

Customer Representative – Vendor Replenishment – Kroger – Cincinnati Sales Office (Cincinnati, OH)

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a global branded food company with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters®, Skippy®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Wholly®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus®, Jennie-O® and more than 30 other beloved brands.

The role is responsible for managing inventory replenishment for Hormel products across assigned Kroger distribution centers and/or divisions. This role partners closely with Kroger buying, planning, and supply chain teams, as well as internal Hormel Sales, Demand Planning, and Logistics, to drive optimal inventory levels, strong in‑stock performance, and efficient supply chain execution.

Typical Daily Responsibilities:

1. Monitor VMI Dashboards: Review inventory across multiple Kroger DCs, ensuring inventory remains within defined "Min/Max" thresholds.
2. Cross-Functional Coordination: Sync with Production and Deployment to ensure supply aligns with upcoming promotional spikes.
3. Customer Troubleshooting: Work directly with Kroger warehouse teams or backhaul coordinators to resolve delivery discrepancies or scheduling conflicts.
4. Trend Analysis: Analyze sales spikes to determine if they are anomalies or new trends requiring a permanent shift in stocking parameters.

Responsibilities:

• Inventory Replenishment & Order Management: Own replenishment decisions for assigned Kroger locations by determining appropriate order quantities to support replenishment, stock‑ups, and inventory reductions. Decisions are based on demand forecasts, historical shipment data, promotional activity, holidays, seasonality, and customer‑specific ordering parameters.
• Forecast & Inventory Optimization: Balance customer service objectives (fill rate, in‑stock) with inventory efficiency goals (turns, days of supply). Proactively resolve conflicts between sales initiatives, promotional plans, and Kroger inventory expectations to achieve joint performance targets.
• Internal & External Partnership: Act as the central nervous system for the account.
• Promotional & Ad Support: Collaborate with Hormel Sales and Kroger counterparts to review advertising and promotional plans, validate volume estimates, and ensure sufficient inventory is positioned to execute promotions effectively without creating excess supply.
• Perfect Order Execution: Drive perfect order performance by ensuring accuracy across order fulfillment, pricing, delivery execution, and product condition. Identify root causes of service failures and partner cross‑functionally to implement corrective actions.
• Customer Collaboration & Relationship Management: Establish and maintain strong working relationships with multiple contacts within Kroger, including replenishment, buying, and supply chain teams. Participate in routine business reviews, scorecard discussions, and periodic in‑person or virtual meetings to align on performance and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement: Monitor key metrics such as fill rate, inventory turns, forecast accuracy, and promotional performance. Provide insights, recommendations, and action plans to improve overall supply chain effectiveness for both Hormel and Kroger. After-hours monitoring on a rotational basis is necessary as well.

Qualifications:

• 2–5 years of experience in vendor replenishment, supply chain planning, demand planning, customer supply chain, or retail account support.
• Working knowledge of retail replenishment processes, inventory management principles, and service‑level performance metrics.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret forecasting models, historical demand data, and inventory reports to make sound replenishment decisions.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other data analysis tools; experience working with large datasets to support ordering and inventory decisions.
• Ability to balance competing priorities such as fill rate, inventory turns, promotional execution, and sales objectives.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills for working cross‑functionally with Sales, Demand Planning, Logistics, and customer counterparts.
• High attention to detail with a strong commitment to order accuracy and operational execution.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast‑paced environment and adapt to changing customer and business priorities.
• Independent Ownership: This is an autonomous role requiring high accountability. You are expected to manage your desk independently, proactively identifying risks (like potential stockouts or overstocks) and implementing solutions before they impact the customer.
• Ability to travel periodically (10–20%) for customer meetings, business reviews, training, or onboarding as needed.
• Applicants must not now, or at any time in the future, require sponsorship for a work visa
• Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States for any employer

Preferred:

• Relevant work experience.
• Experience supporting Kroger or another large grocery retailer within a vendor‑managed inventory (VMI) or vendor replenishment model.
• Experience managing promotional volume planning and post‑event performance analysis.
• Understanding of retail scorecards, service‑level agreements, and continuous improvement practices.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across multiple stakeholders.

Location: Cincinnati Sales Office, Cincinnati OH

At Hormel Foods, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. The base hiring pay range for the Customer Representative role is between $22.00 - $30.75 per hour, and your actual base pay within that range will depend upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, job-related knowledge, skill set, level of experience, and geographic market location.

Benefits: Other components of Hormel Foods' total compensation package includes comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, discretionary annual merit increases, 401(k) with employer match, stock purchase plan, paid time off, free two-year community/technical college tuition for children of employees, and more.

Travel Requirements: 10 - 20% of the time