Director IT-Natural Host Systems (Remote)

Job Overview:

The Director IT Natural Host Systems leads efforts in the design, implementation, and operational support of UNFI’s Natural Host System Services. This leadership position will lead the creation in alignment to the Natural transformation strategic planning and innovation. This position leads a team of technical and product leaders to work closely with business leaders, communication, prioritization and leads efficiency and transformation planning.

What does it mean to be part of the UNFI Leadership team?

UNFI (NYSE: UNFI) is North America's premier grocery wholesaler, delivering the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to community grocers and retail chains. As a leader at UNFI you are leading our teams as we are growing and transforming to meet the needs of an evolving workplace. We are implementing operational improvements and strategic initiatives to fuel efficiency and profitability with automation and optimization, new technology integration, digital transformation, and process improvements. As an impactful leader you will guide our teams to transform the future of food, feed our communities, make our customers stronger, our supply chain better and our food solutions more inspired.

Job Responsibilities:

IT Solution Strategy

• Leads team to implement product/solution operational, tactical, and strategic planning in support of the business plan, monitors plan progress, reports variances and makes agreed-upon adjustments.
• Develops departmental technology multi-year roadmaps and strategies for their corresponding solutions, products, and services in collaboration with internal IT teams and the business stakeholders.
• Collaborate with the assigned business area stakeholders or internal IT teams to determine technical feasibility of proposed changes for their assigned IT technical area, products, services, ensuring proper communication and alignment of capabilities with both our Business & external partners.
• Responsible for the organizational design of department which is aligned to organizational strategy, executing planned department goals, and the talent planning that supports strategy/goal execution.
• Accountable for the performance results of multiple applications/products as assigned and overall user experience.
• Responsible for proposals that drive use of existing and new technologies that gain technical or business efficiencies/capabilities.
• Actively identifies and establishes metrics used to measure stability and consumption of the applications/products.
• Ensures applications and capabilities continue to be relevant, taking action to plan and remove what is no longer necessary as part of an overall technical debt reduction strategy.
  
  

Team Leadership and Management

• Coach and mentor managers on their assigned efforts and team responsibilities.
• Ensures activities have proper coordination and collaboration when crossing multiple teams across IT, UNFI business areas or external IT vendors/partners.
• Ensures proper resource allocation and utilization is properly aligned, forecasted and managed for all efforts, to include cross function projects and transformation efforts.
• Participate as a strategy partner in the IT strategic planning processes defines roadmaps for their corresponding IT products and services often providing a more senior perspective and sharing across other IT teams.
• Provides leadership to IT teams through effective goal setting, performance management, recognition, associate engagement, and ongoing team communication.
• Promotes environment of innovative thinking in designing solutions to meet the business and technology needs and motivate team members to embrace new and different technologies.
• Creates and oversees departmental capital and expense budgets for projects, hardware, software, staffing (internal/external), etc. and ensures value has been added to the business through cost savings and ROI analyses.
  
  

UNFI Business Partnership & Vendor Management

• Establishes and maintains strong working relations and partnerships with UNFI business teams, IT vendors and peers while addressing critical issues and opportunities to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
• Actively engages in understanding business satisfaction levels to proactively solve chronic problems and assign team to resolve and respond to business requests and needs.
• Manages appropriate IT vendor relationship(s), understanding their products and services and aligning them with internal needs.
• Effectively manages the utilization of external services (e.g., product or platform vendors, service providers, contractors, consultants, outsourced functions).
• Ensures appropriate IT vendor contracts are in place and are appropriate for corresponding products and services.
• Creates RFIs, RFPs, SLAs, SOWs and processes invoices in alignment with our UNFI and IT best practices.
• Align with technology partners providing managed services to ensure maximum capability and accountability are delivered as expected.
• Ensures production support services levels meet the needs of the business, making changes with managed service partner when necessary.
  
  

Job Requirements:

Education/ Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in management information systems, computer science, or related discipline is required or combination of education and experience.
  
  

Experience:

• 8-12 years of relevant IT and leadership experience.
• 5+ years of relevant Information Technology modern integration and architecture experience is required.
• 3-5+ years of experience working in a product team structure.
• 3-5+ years of experience working in a partner provided managed service agreement.
• 3+ years of experience in organization and application transformation initiatives.
  
  

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong customer focus and demonstrated ability to work in geographically dispersed teams.
• Ability to manage concurrent efforts with competing priorities while ensuring timelines and budgets are met.
• Ability to create process, data flow, and solution designs where none or little exists.
• Ability to create strategic landscape that delivers against technology goals.
• Ability to build strong teams across dispersed work locations, including mentoring and providing developmental goals for internal employees and external IT partners.
• Ability to create solid proposals for investment in existing and new technologies.
• Track record of being a change agent, one who can drive new and commercial thinking across the organization and the behaviors supporting such, while engaging in a collaborative, inclusive leadership style
• Good judgment is required for this position as there may be times when direct supervision may not be immediately available.
  
  

Additional Experience (Product/Service Specific)

• Use of analytical tools such as Power BI to manage key metrics and support justification of solution proposals.
• Effective understanding and use of Gen AI tools and capabilities as appropriate.
• Experience with coding languages PL/1, Synergex, .net, COBOL, java.
• Development tools Azure DevOps, Git/GitHub, Powerhouse, Xceed, Jira, Confluence.
• Integration and data tools and framework MuleSoft, DataBricks, BizTalk, SAP-MDG, MRS.
• AWS cloud platform.
  
  

Work Environment:

Remote Role:

• This position is classified as remote where the associate will perform remote work from their primary residence. Remote associates are welcome to work from the office but are not required to do so. While remote associates are not required to work from an office on a regular basis, they may be required to come to the office or other UNFI locations for necessary business reasons or if directed to do so by their manager.
  
  

Physical Environment/Demands:

Office Roles:

• Most work is performed in a temperature-controlled office environment.
• Incumbent may sit for long periods of time at a desk or computer terminal.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• Incumbent may use calculators, keyboards, telephones, and other office equipment in the course of a normal workday.
• Stooping, bending, twisting, and reaching may be required in the completion of job duties.
  
  

About UNFI: We are North America’s premier grocery wholesaler, delivering the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to community grocers and retail chains alike. A pioneer in natural and organic foods, we are growing and transforming to meet the needs of an evolving workplace. Our 29,000+ employees work across America in our 50 Distribution Centers and corporate offices. Learn more: Organic, Natural and Conventional Food | Wholesale Food Distributors | UNFI

Benefits: Competitive 401k, Flexible PTO, Remote, Health benefits – first of the month following 30 days of employment, LTI, mentorship program/developmental opportunities.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. UNFI is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive and respectful environment for all. - M/F/Veteran/Disability. VEVRAA Federal Contractor.