Principal Business Integration Strategist

Whole Foods Market is hiring our next principal business integration strategist to work with WFM leadership from a consultative and facilitative perspective, helping define and drive transformational change and deliver improved business results from strategic operational initiatives. The new team member will partner with local, non local teams, operations, and other leaders / stakeholders to design, develop, and implement complex initiatives with broad organizational impact. You will provide resources, tools, best practices, and advice to help businesses execute against strategy and achieve expected outcomes.This role is located in Austin, TX with an expectation of being in office 5 days per week at our downtown HQ office.

Responsibilities:

• Provides the project leadership to cross-functional teams and Change Enablement Team Members assigned to various aspects of change management initiatives.
• Exercises authority over the well-defined components of major change initiatives.
• Manages the day-to-day project activity and ensures the Team Members understand how their contributions impact and support the broader strategic objectives.
• Strives to understand the stakeholder’s attitudes toward potential change, including areas of support, concern, and resistance.
• Ensures stakeholder’s concerns and levels of readiness are factored into project planning; systems, tools, component development; and anticipated training and development requirements.
• Develops tailored change enablement strategies and methodologies that account for nuances within the company.
• Works across the systems / process components to ensure project integration and alignment.
• Monitors project timelines, deliverables, and progress.
• Recommends adjustment to the project activities to accommodate unanticipated changes, resource shortfalls, or emerging issues.
• Works closely with the systems owners to ensure shared and mutual understanding of the project objectives, status, and changes.
• Engages with the users / stakeholders through implementation to ensure understanding, issue identification and resolution, and ongoing communication and support.
• Supports the team efforts to deliver training and education, as required, to support new process execution.
• Oversees broad-based cross-functional efforts to design and configure new and/or enhanced operations, methods and systems.
• Helps leadership set long-term vision and direction.
• Engages with and supports efforts to operationalize strategic planning processes, including periodic strategy reviews, business assessments, and related activity.
• Drives the collection, analysis, and sharing of information and insights relating to market dynamics, customer trends, and competitor benchmarking.
• Demonstrates active and empathetic listening skills.
• Ensures the data-based insights are shared with the appropriate leadership decision-makers.
• Presents complex / multi-faceted communications, reputational, and other information to key stakeholders in a clear and concise format.
• Engages with business leaders to identify gaps in messaging consistency, formulate resolution strategies, and ensure a consistent and positive approach going forward.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of WFM’s strategic direction and how Change Management contributes to the company’s success.
• Plays a key role in cross-functional efforts to develop holistic and innovative business performance improvement recommendations based on adoption measurement strategies
• Recommends messaging, response tactics, or other adjustments based on analysis of business changes, trends, and implications
• Identifies the risks and threats in current and emerging communications strategies and outcomes.
• Assists in the detailed task / project planning, including cost, schedule, and resource requirements.
• Integrates internal and external stakeholders’ information and perspective with the task and project management.
• Maintains open communication among all the task / project stakeholders, internal and external.
• Oversees, directs and advises the task / project leads.
• Monitors the outcomes and incorporates lessons learned into future task / project activity.
• Collaborates with task / project stakeholders to identify, evaluate, and resolve emerging and anticipated issues.
• Leverages data-driven insights to recommend and implement continuous improvement to the task / project management and delivery methodology.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the dynamics and business drivers between the industry, market, and company.
• Shows an understanding of the vendor, supplier, distributor, and partner dynamics and business drivers.
• Monitors and tracks initiative progress, identifying and addressing issues as they arise.
• Performs post-project reviews to ensure achievement of business values realization, utilization, and proficiency, and identifies patterns, trends, and challenges.

Skills:

• Understands and can effectively manage organizational change methods, including needs assessment, work flow analysis, and process improvement.
• Understands the basic elements of retail operations, including transportation, distribution, warehousing, and retail back of the house systems.
• Advanced understanding and experience with standard, advanced, and state-of-the art change management or business process improvement methodologies and tools.
• Advanced knowledge of end-to-end product life cycle, store operations, and/or other areas aligned with area of support.
• Understands learning and development from a practical application standpoint.
• Leverages business understanding and experience to effectively prioritize the activities of the team and project.
• Assesses how key systems and processes impact the business internally and from vendor / supplier and customer perspectives.
• Conveys and / or consults on issues of moderate to significant complexity.
• Regularly interacts with colleagues or customers up to the senior leadership level.
• Provides function-wide process advice and insight.
• Offers guidance to less experienced Team Members.
• Consults with and advises senior level stakeholders and leaders.
• Develops complex solutions to business problems through in-depth analyses and coordination / negotiation with key decision makers.
• Uses experience, innovation, and judgment to make decisions that may be based on partial information.
• Leverages understanding of the customer base, market, and industry to drive project-related  decisions and recommendations.
• Demonstrates exceptional knowledge of the WFM product mix, supply base, and retail operations.

Education & Experience:

• BA/BS degree and 6-8 years’ relevant experience OR equivalent education and relevant experience.
• Certified Procsci Change Methodology or CCMP

The wage range for this position is $100,244.00-$170,415.00 Annual, commensurate with experience. Whole Foods Market offers "Whole Benefits". Whole Benefits may include health insurance, retirement plan benefits, eligibility for a store discount, paid time off and access to other benefit programs. Eligibility for Whole Benefits is determined under the terms of the applicable Whole Benefits plan at a person’s date of hire. For additional information, visit our Whole Foods Market Careers site: https://careers.wholefoodsmarket.com/benefits.

At Whole Foods Market, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all Team Members and candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Whole Foods Market hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.

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