Assistant Product Manager, Value Creation

Come make your difference in communities across Canada, where authenticity, trust and making connections is valued – as we shape the future of Canadian retail, together. Our unique position as one of the country's largest employers, coupled with our commitment to positively impact the lives of all Canadians, provides our colleagues a range of opportunities and experiences to help Canadians Live Life Well®.

At Loblaw Companies Limited, we succeed through collaboration and commitment and set a high bar for ourselves and those around us. Whether you are just starting your career, re-entering the workforce, or looking for a new job, this is where you belong. 

Why is this role important?

The Assistant Product Manager (APM) Value Creation works in a fast-paced environment to support Loblaw Brands in bringing our beloved brands, including President’s Choice and No Name, to life. In this role, your primary responsibility is to expertly manage and deliver projects that uphold product standards and brand guidelines to maintain customer satisfaction while unlocking value. You will lead collaborative efforts with various teams including vendors, product developers, quality assurance, and sourcing, to drive project milestones, provide clear progress updates, and ensure final product launch dates are met on time and within scope.

What You'll Do:

• Proactively manage the development and execution process with internal and external stakeholders to ensure on-time completion of all merchandise projects.
• Take ownership of developing robust project timelines and assign tasks to team members within the SAP system, ensuring clear accountability.
• Lead project kick-off meetings with vendors. You will be responsible for developing vendor-specific timelines and communicating all necessary information to support the on-time delivery of product projects, ensuring vendors understand Loblaw Companies Limited's (LCL) critical path milestones.
• Responsible for the accurate listing of all approved merchandise projects in the internal Loblaw Brands systems.
• Responsible for creating master label copy direction, as well as managing artwork circulation to studio teams and vendors for product packaging.
• Support the Product Manager in leading design kick-off meetings to ensure team alignment to the product project strategy by gathering information and samples.
• Lead day-to-day engagement with individual product teams on impacts to their business, advise and support teams on material considerations for new merchandise development, and escalate any potential delays as required.
• Rigorously manage the critical path for all active projects and provide clear, concise reports on project status to stakeholders.
• Chair weekly team meetings with the internal team to review project status, proactively escalate risks, and collaboratively solution challenges impacting project timelines.
• Act as a key liaison between the project team and the in-house editorial, design, and production team to ensure seamless execution.
• Assist the Senior Product Manager Value Creation, when required, in preparing for Quarterly Initiative updates using Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, often related to project performance and product launches.
• Create and analyze reports from MicroStrategy, PowerBI, ABI, and SAP as required to support project tracking and product performance analysis.

What You'll Need:

• Understanding and experience in retail merchandising or product manufacturing processes.
• Well-developed and proven Project Management skills are absolutely critical for success in this role. A strong track record of successfully managing and delivering complex projects is required.
• Highly organized, able to prioritize effectively, and capable of working independently in a fast-paced environment with multiple concurrent projects.
• Advanced Excel skills are an asset.
• An ability to tell a story through data, and an eye for reporting on project progress and product performance.
• Strong work ethic with a passion for detail and accuracy, particularly in project execution.
• Strong time management and problem-solving skills, essential for navigating project challenges.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written, for effective project collaboration.
• A natural curiosity to learn new things, and a mind for simplifying complex ideas.
• An outstanding ability to manage ambiguity and for bringing teams together to deliver big ideas and complex projects.
• Outstanding decision-making skills required to achieve organizational objectives with an understanding and consideration to the impact on other work groups.
• Diplomacy, constructive thinking, and an innovative approach to drive project solutions.

Our commitment to Sustainability and Social Impact is an essential part of the way we do business, and we focus our attention on areas where we can have the greatest impact. Our approach to sustainability and social impact is based on three pillars – Environment, Sourcing and Community – and we are constantly looking for ways to demonstrate leadership in these important areas. Our CORE Values – Care, Ownership, Respect and Excellence – guide all our decision-making and come to life through our Blue Culture. We offer our colleagues progressive careers, comprehensive training, flexibility, and other competitive benefits – these are some of the many reasons why we are one of Canada’s Top Employers, Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, Canada’s Greenest Employers & Canada’s Top Employers for Young People.

If you are unsure whether your experience matches every requirement above, we encourage you to apply anyway. We are looking for varied perspectives which include diverse experiences that we can add to our team.

We have a long-standing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion because we know it will make our company a better place to work and shop. We are committed to creating accessible environments for our colleagues, candidates and customers. Requests for accommodation due to a disability (which may be visible or invisible, temporary or permanent) can be made at any stage of application and employment. We encourage candidates to make their accommodation needs known so that we can provide equitable opportunities.  
 
Please Note:
Candidates who are 18 years or older are required to complete a criminal background check. Details will be provided through the application process.

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