The Beverage Specialist oversees all aspects of and acts as the face of the Hungry Moose’s alcoholic beverage department at both Town Center and Mountain locations, while obtaining new and maintaining existing client relationships, as well as assisting in out-of-store programming. The Beverage Specialist should advocate for and act as a representative of the Hungry Moose, maintaining our reputation within the community both in and out of the store. The position will also act as the state Location Manager. The position requires a candidate with a passion for wine and beer, a high level of attention to detail, self-motivation, high energy, and excellent interpersonal/ communication skills. An ideal candidate will have at least one year of experience in the beverage industry (either retail or service), deep knowledge of wine and beer, and a strong desire for continued learning and education of staff and customers.
R O L E S & R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S
EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT
- Stay up to date on industry news and continued education
- Guide and educate grocery staff on wine and beer knowledge to assist customers
- Work with staff to maintain organization, cleanliness, and merchandising of beverages
- Expand The Hungry Moose wine selection, and develop educational and community involvement opportunities
- Establish positive relationships with regular customers and build new clientele
ORDERING, PLANNING & INVENTORY CONTROL, MARKETING
- Coordinate with vendors to maintain wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverage sections, working to expand popular product lines
- Serve as backup for NA beverage manager in their absence
- Set sales goals and work with managers and employees to ensure goals are met
- Perform inventory control to avoid over stock and low stock
- Ensure products are properly tagged, labeled and entered into Catapult (POS) system immediately upon product arrival
- Plan and forecast consumer demand to maximize profitability of inventory flow
- Balance projected forecasts and actual sales
- Set competitive price points and adjust prices to increase sales and clear stagnant items from inventory
- Maintain accurate online Webcart wine selection; including but not limited to new addition wine selections and discontinuing out of stock options
- Field and coordinate customer special orders
- Maintain, market and update the Hungry Moose’s monthly Wine Club
- Provide content for the Hungry Moose social medias
VENDOR MANAGEMENT
- Collaborate with suppliers to evaluate product, availability, delivery, and price, and negotiate for pricing
- Monitor and ensure accuracy in delivered products; refusing extras or mispick as necessary
- Keep vendors/suppliers updated on current back stock
- Communicate needs for upcoming orders, preparing for highs and lows in business
- Prepare, manage and review proposals, and vendor agreements for price, acceptability of items to specifications, and overall compliance with contract terms
- Identify, analyze, and correct problems with cost of procurement, shipping and handling, delivery, and quality by alerting vendors of problems or discrepancies and negotiate solutions without comprising relationships.
- Resolve contract performance and payment issues, manage third party contract interface and maintain related purchase orders, contracts and catalog items to maintain positive State distributor relationships
GENERAL GROCERY TASKS:
- Customer Service: Provide prompt, friendly and courteous customer service while waiting on customers and responding to phone calls; Report customer suggestions, comments and complaints to appropriate management; Know store layout and be aware of products in other departments to assist customers as needed; Promptly and accurately respond to requests from customers to research product availability, price and quality
- Cashier: Scan groceries and ensure proper price scanning; Operate point-of-sale system and card readers, facilitating payment process
- Stocking: Stock displays fully without overcrowding: face items on shelves, maintaining integrity of all sets; Pull short-date or low-quality items and follow established procedures for recording and disposing of them; Coordinate stocking priorities with grocery staff; Maintain a clean and well-organized back stock area; Rotate products properly
- Department Maintenance: Keep shelves, coolers and bins in clean, orderly condition; Remove trash and cardboard; Sweep floor as needed and sweep/mop floor at the end of each night; Store department equipment in designated areas, cleaning after use; Use equipment safely; Monitor cooler and freezer temperatures; Notify Maintenance and Operations Manager of equipment issues; Adhere to and participate in established department cleaning schedule; Organize/clean patio and deli seating area
- Assist in other departments as necessary; other duties as assigned
Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S
- At least 1 year in a food and beverage industry and/or wine industries management role (although a solid foundation of beverage knowledge, passion for the industry, and focus on continued learning are most important)
- At least 1 year in a customer service role, as this is the primary focus of the Hungry Moose
- Ability to be part of a positive, dynamic team environment
- Highly organized with a great attention to detail
- Excellent communication skills, which are critical for both smooth product ordering and working with customers and staff
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite preferred
- Basic wine certification (WSET 1, Introductory Sommelier, WSG, CSW or similar) or equivalent knowledge/experience preferred
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
- Must be able to work indoors and outdoors in variable weather conditions and extreme temperatures for short periods of time
- Must be able to work in a moderately noisy environment with multiple conversations, phones ringing, etc.
- Must be able to stand or sit for long periods of time, climb, balance, kneel, stoop, crouch, reach, lift, shovel, carry, dig, push, pull, operate machinery, interpret, analyze, etc.
- Must be able to lift up to 50 pounds often
COGNITIVE DEMANDS:
- Understand complex problems, opposing points of view on complex issues, and collaborate and negotiate on alternative solutions
- Organize and prioritize thoughts, ideas, and own work schedule
- Apply common sense, analyze and make decisions, which have significant impact on the immediate work unit and monitor impact outside immediate work unit
- Express written and spoken word for internal and external communications and compose materials such as detailed reports, forms, presentations, etc. and communicate information
