Job Overview

The Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer – Retail will serve as the financial steward for UNFI’s Retail business, providing critical strategic insight, financial leadership, and operational support to drive growth, profitability, and execution excellence. This senior executive will act as a key partner to the Retail CEO and President, supporting business performance management, investment decisions, and financial planning. With responsibility for Retail P&L, budgeting, forecasting, performance analysis, and special projects, this leader will help shape and execute financial strategies that enable transformation and long-term value creation.

This is a highly visible and impactful leadership role, with dual reporting to the CFO and President of UNFI and a strong dotted line to the CEO and President of Retail. The successful candidate will be a collaborative and adaptable leader who brings a strong financial foundation, operational mindset, and customer-centric orientation, ideally, but not limited to experience in Retail.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Finance Partnership: Serve as a trusted advisor to the Retail CEO, President, and leadership team, shaping business strategy through data-driven financial insight.
Planning & Forecasting: Lead Retail’s annual budget, forecasts, long-range planning, and variance analysis in collaboration with corporate finance and business unit leaders.
Performance Management: Oversee development and delivery of financial and operational reporting, business cases, pricing analysis, and KPIs to inform decision-making.
P&L Ownership & Optimization: Drive cost control, margin improvement, and revenue optimization strategies to improve profitability across the retail portfolio.
Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Merchandising to align financial objectives with operational and commercial priorities.
Team Leadership: Build and lead a high-performing finance team, mentor and develop talent while fostering collaboration and accountability.
Transformation & Change: Support growth initiatives, restructuring efforts, and special projects, including store performance analysis, M&A, and digital innovation.
Governance & Risk: Ensure compliance with internal controls, financial regulations, and reporting requirements.
Stakeholder Engagement: Prepare and deliver financial presentations for executive leadership, the board, and key external stakeholders.
Technology & Systems: Leverage systems and tools to modernize finance processes and improve speed, accuracy, and transparency of reporting.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

Education/ Certifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field required
MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred
CPA designation is a strong asset, but not required

Experience

12-15+ years of progressive financial leadership experience in complex, customer-facing businesses.
Proven success leading Finance, FP&A, and Controllership functions with operational ownership in multi-unit or decentralized environments.
Experience with public company reporting, board-level presentations, and investor/stakeholder communication preferred.
Exposure to M&A, capital strategy, restructuring, and large-scale transformation projects.
Experience partnering with executive leadership as a thought partner and strategic advisor.
Familiarity with retail, e-commerce, or consumer-centric business models is a plus, but not required.

Work Environment

Hybrid Role:

This position follows a hybrid schedule. However, the role is based in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, and relocation is required.
The acceptable split between onsite and remote work is determined by the manager. Hybrid associates may choose to work from an office on a more frequent basis than required.

Travel

This position may require the associate to travel to company offices, distribution centers, or other locations for specific meetings or other business reasons.

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.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by the employees assigned to this job. All employees must comply with Company policy and applicable laws. The responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified may vary within each department and/or location.

UNFI Canada

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Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer - Retail