What are the responsibilities and job description for the Produce Buyer position at FreshDirect?
Brief Description
About Us
At FreshDirect, we are reinventing the grocery experience.
Since day one, our mission has been simple: bring the best, freshest food directly from the farm to people’s homes — faster, fresher, and smarter than anyone else.
We’re not just a food company. We’re a technology-powered, customer-obsessed team building one of the most innovative end-to-end food supply chains in the industry. From proprietary routing systems to our state-of-the-art fulfillment center, every part of our business is designed to deliver unmatched quality, convenience, and care.
We partner directly with farmers, fishermen, and artisans to source the highest quality ingredients — then use smart data, automation, and logistics to deliver them at peak freshness.
It’s grocery shopping reimagined — and we’re just getting started.
If you’re passionate about innovation, care deeply about what people eat, and want to help build the future of food, we’d love to meet you.
The Role
The Produce Buyer is responsible for all purchasing activities across all Fruit & Vegetables categories. This includes creating and monitoring purchase orders, tracking inbound orders and capacity, and managing vendor performance. The Buying Manager is responsible for inventory levels in multiple warehouses, through direct management of in-stock position, inventory turns and expiring stock, incorporating business intelligence and forecast information in the overall Produce supply planning.
What You’ll Do
We live these values every day:
A Passion for our customers
Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen, innovate, and act quickly to exceed expectations with every order and interaction.
One team, one mission
Everyone contributes & every role matters. We break silos, lift each other up, and share a relentless focus on delivering results. That way, we win together.
Delivering excellence, every time
We take pride in the quality of our food, service, and the experience we create. Our team goes above and beyond to earn trust and guarantee 100% freshness.
Act with integrity
We operate with honesty, respect, and accountability in how we treat our customers, teammates, and partners. We own our outcomes and always do what’s right, even when no one is watching.
Make fast, bold decisions
We challenge the status quo, embrace technology, and take smart risks to build a better future. At the same time, we stay true to our NYC roots and care for our community.
We love food. Yes, literally all of us.
What You’ll Love About Working Here
$72,000 – $80,000
Total Rewards & Benefits
We embrace an in-office culture, composed of individuals who thrive on the collaboration and energy that comes from working together in a shared space. We are looking for people who excel in this environment, where physical presence enhances connections and engagement. At FreshDirect, we've created an environment that thrives on teamwork, where associates can innovate, grow, and have successful careers. Many of our leaders have successfully come up through our ranks. Because of our team's extraordinary efforts, we are a leading innovator in the e-commerce and grocery industries.
Equal Opportunity
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Fresh Direct, LLC and its affiliates do not discriminate against applicants or employees because of their race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, marital status, veteran status, domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, or any other factor protected by federal, state, or local law.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the Team member(s) assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of individuals in this position. Position expectations may be subject to change as the needs of the organization changes.
About Us
At FreshDirect, we are reinventing the grocery experience.
Since day one, our mission has been simple: bring the best, freshest food directly from the farm to people’s homes — faster, fresher, and smarter than anyone else.
We’re not just a food company. We’re a technology-powered, customer-obsessed team building one of the most innovative end-to-end food supply chains in the industry. From proprietary routing systems to our state-of-the-art fulfillment center, every part of our business is designed to deliver unmatched quality, convenience, and care.
We partner directly with farmers, fishermen, and artisans to source the highest quality ingredients — then use smart data, automation, and logistics to deliver them at peak freshness.
It’s grocery shopping reimagined — and we’re just getting started.
If you’re passionate about innovation, care deeply about what people eat, and want to help build the future of food, we’d love to meet you.
The Role
The Produce Buyer is responsible for all purchasing activities across all Fruit & Vegetables categories. This includes creating and monitoring purchase orders, tracking inbound orders and capacity, and managing vendor performance. The Buying Manager is responsible for inventory levels in multiple warehouses, through direct management of in-stock position, inventory turns and expiring stock, incorporating business intelligence and forecast information in the overall Produce supply planning.
What You’ll Do
- Manages supply planning and procurement process for the Produce department.
- Supports vendor performance reviews. Track vendor on time, in full metrics.
- Work with Merchant team to improve vendor performance and deliver best cost procurement strategies.
- Coordinate with Demand Planning team on forecast optimization, promotional forecasting, and new product introduction.
- Coordinate with Receiving and Ground Ops teams on inbound process optimization.
- Maintain target in-stock levels across multiple warehouse locations, while balancing inventory days on hand metrics.
- Manage and reduce excess inventory on-hand.
- Ensure all Supply Planning team members are cross trained in adjacent category processes.
- Train and develop Supply Planning team members.
- Manage key vendor accounts and support seasonal availability/crop planning with grower partners.
- Bachelor’s degree required
- Prior experience working with advanced ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, etc.
- Knowledge of SAP MM PP modules preferred
- Knowledge of Microsoft Office
- Experience managing procurement and vendor management across multiple departments
- 5 years of experience in the Food / Grocery Retail / CPG industry, or related industry
- Demonstrated proficiency in inventory management, vendor negotiation and purchasing processes, with an understanding of their financial and operational impacts
- Strong analytical, organizational, decision-making
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities
- Adept at working in a fast-paced and ever-changing work environment, with an appetite for continuous learning
We live these values every day:
A Passion for our customers
Our customers are at the heart of everything we do. We listen, innovate, and act quickly to exceed expectations with every order and interaction.
One team, one mission
Everyone contributes & every role matters. We break silos, lift each other up, and share a relentless focus on delivering results. That way, we win together.
Delivering excellence, every time
We take pride in the quality of our food, service, and the experience we create. Our team goes above and beyond to earn trust and guarantee 100% freshness.
Act with integrity
We operate with honesty, respect, and accountability in how we treat our customers, teammates, and partners. We own our outcomes and always do what’s right, even when no one is watching.
Make fast, bold decisions
We challenge the status quo, embrace technology, and take smart risks to build a better future. At the same time, we stay true to our NYC roots and care for our community.
We love food. Yes, literally all of us.
What You’ll Love About Working Here
- A fast-paced, innovative environment where ideas turn into action
- Opportunities for growth — many of our leaders have risen through the ranks
- Direct impact on how thousands of customers experience food every day
$72,000 – $80,000
Total Rewards & Benefits
- Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits
- PTO, Safe & Sick Time, and Paid Holidays
- Medical, Vision, Dental, and Voluntary Disability coverage
- 401(k) with employer match and Life Insurance
- State-of-the-art Bronx campus with on-site basketball court, cafeteria, and employee market
- Onsite FREE parking
- FREE employee shuttle bus service from nearby Subway station
- Training, leadership development, and tuition discount at local colleges
- 20% employee discount on FreshDirect online orders and Brooklyn wine store
- Minimum 50% employee discount at our onsite employee market
- Mobile phone discounts through partnerships with T-Mobile and Verizon
- Gym membership discounts through NYSC
We embrace an in-office culture, composed of individuals who thrive on the collaboration and energy that comes from working together in a shared space. We are looking for people who excel in this environment, where physical presence enhances connections and engagement. At FreshDirect, we've created an environment that thrives on teamwork, where associates can innovate, grow, and have successful careers. Many of our leaders have successfully come up through our ranks. Because of our team's extraordinary efforts, we are a leading innovator in the e-commerce and grocery industries.
Equal Opportunity
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Fresh Direct, LLC and its affiliates do not discriminate against applicants or employees because of their race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, marital status, veteran status, domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, or any other factor protected by federal, state, or local law.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by the Team member(s) assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of individuals in this position. Position expectations may be subject to change as the needs of the organization changes.
Salary : $72,000 - $80,000