Vice President Store Planning and Design

Overview

The Vice President, Store Planning & Design leads the production, governance, and delivery of Sprouts new-store prototypes, formats, layouts, fixture standards, and store-planning solutions. This executive converts enterprise growth, merchandising, operating, and customer strategies into buildable, repeatable, cost-effective store packages that can be executed consistently across the new-store pipeline and adapted to site-specific conditions.

The role owns the operating system that takes a store from approved format and prototype intent through coordinated plans, fixture packages, design documentation, third-party production, quality control, and turnover to Construction and Portfolio Operations for execution. The leader also directs remodel and sales-initiative planning for the existing fleet, while maintaining clear decision rights with Merchandising Space Planning.

Success Profile

A highly experienced, production-oriented retail development executive who combines format vision with disciplined delivery. This leader creates buildable standards, clarifies ownership, drives high-quality plan production, manages third-party capacity and performance, and ensures every new-store package is operationally sound, cost-conscious, on schedule, and ready for execution.

Overview of Responsibilities

New-Store Format, Prototype & Layout Leadership

• Own the vision, development, documentation, testing, and continuous improvement of Sprouts new-store prototypes and alternate formats.
• Lead development of customer flow, departmental adjacencies, macro layouts, fixture plans, refrigeration plans, equipment standards, décor, signage, and other customer-facing design elements.
• Convert prototype strategy into complete, buildable, and repeatable standards that balance customer experience, operational productivity, sales potential, speed to market, capital efficiency, and lifecycle cost.
• Establish format rules, flex parameters, minimum standards, and exception criteria so each site can be adapted without compromising the Sprouts experience or operating model.
• Maintain prototype design criteria, plan libraries, standard details, fixture specifications, equipment schedules, finish standards, and change-control documentation.
• Lead prototype reviews and formal stage gates from concept through design development, construction documentation, bid readiness, and turnover to execution teams.

Store Planning Production & Site Adaptation

• Lead the production side of store planning, including development, coordination, quality review, and timely delivery of site-specific floor plans, fixture plans, equipment plans, refrigeration layouts, décor and signage direction, and related design packages.
• Partner with Real Estate, landlords, architects, engineers, Construction, and Operations to adapt each approved site to prototype standards while resolving building constraints, code requirements, operational needs, schedule risk, and cost impacts.
• Create clear production workflows, deliverable standards, calendars, review protocols, version control, and approval requirements for internal teams and third-party partners.
• Own design quality assurance to confirm that coordinated documents reflect approved layouts, standards, equipment, fixtures, and operational requirements before release.
• Manage design changes and exceptions through disciplined impact assessment, decision rights, documentation, and communication.

Space Planning Boundaries & Merchandising Integration

• Partner with Merchandising Space Planning, which retains ownership of category-level space allocation, assortment-driven space requirements, planograms, and shelf-level merchandising decisions.
• Own the translation of approved merchandising space requirements into the physical store environment, including macro department placement, adjacencies, customer circulation, architectural fit, fixture application, equipment coordination, and site-specific layout production.
• Establish a formal handoff and approval process between Merchandising Space Planning and Store Planning & Design, with clear inputs, outputs, timelines, escalation paths, and final decision rights.
• Engage Merchandising and Operations early to validate business objectives, labor and replenishment needs, service models, capacity, productivity, and field execution before plans advance.

Existing-Store Remodels & Sales Initiatives

• Lead planning and design for remodels, refreshes, department reinventions, and sales initiatives across the existing fleet.
• Translate approved merchant and operating strategies into store-specific layouts, fixture and equipment packages, design standards, schedules, and execution-ready documentation.
• Establish prioritization criteria, stage gates, readiness standards, capital parameters, and post-implementation review for fleet initiatives.
• Coordinate with Construction, Facilities, Merchandising, and Operations to minimize disruption and improve execution consistency.

Fixture, Equipment & Design Standards

• Lead development, testing, standardization, documentation, and lifecycle management of fixtures, finishes, refrigeration, equipment, signage, and décor.
• Oversee MIRC testing of layouts, fixtures, resets, merchandising concepts, signage, operating methods, and execution standards before rollout.
• Drive value engineering, specification discipline, competitive sourcing support, and lifecycle-cost analysis to reduce new-store and remodel costs without compromising performance.
• Maintain governance for standard specifications, approved alternates, substitutions, and prototype changes.

Analytics, Capital & Performance

• Use space-to-sales, customer, operational, construction, schedule, and financial analysis to inform format, layout, fixture, and investment decisions.
• Establish KPIs for plan quality, design cycle time, prototype compliance, change orders, third-party performance, capital outcomes, operational productivity, sales impact, and post-opening results.
• Partner with Finance, Construction, Merchandising, and Operations to establish business cases, return thresholds, baselines, and post-implementation measurement.
• Lead departmental budgets, design and prototype investments, external professional services, and related capital planning with disciplined stewardship.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Build and lead a high-performing Store Planning & Design organization with clear roles, priorities, capacity, accountability, urgency, and succession plans.
• Act as the primary Store Development partner to Merchandising for physical store planning and as a key partner to Real Estate, Construction, Portfolio Operations, Facilities, Finance, Marketing, IT, Customer Insights, Legal, Procurement, architects, consultants, and vendors.
• Present format recommendations, prototype changes, capital requirements, delivery performance, risks, and results to executive leadership.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in business, Retail Management, Category Management, Architecture, Interior Design, Industrial Design, Engineering, Construction Management, or a related field required.

Experience

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in retail store planning, prototype development, store design production, architecture, fixture planning, construction documentation, remodels, or related functions.
• Executive experience leading high-volume, multi-unit new-store design and planning programs from prototype standards through site-specific production and execution handoff.
• Demonstrated experience managing internal production teams and third-party architects, designers, planners, engineers, and vendors against quality, schedule, cost, and capacity expectations.
• Experience establishing governance, stage gates, document standards, change control, and repeatable production processes across a growing pipeline.
• Grocery, specialty retail, health and wellness, or other high-volume multi-unit retail experience strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep expertise in new-store prototypes, macro planning, customer flow, adjacencies, floor plans, fixture plans, equipment and refrigeration coordination, design documentation, and site adaptation.
• Strong understanding of the distinction and handoffs among merchandising space planning, store planning, architecture and engineering, construction, and portfolio execution.
• Ability to balance customer experience, merchandising intent, operational productivity, code and building constraints, capital, schedule, and constructability.
• Strong commercial, analytical, and financial acumen, including budgeting, resource planning, KPI development, space productivity, vendor management, and return measurement.
• Executive presence and the ability to drive decisions, resolve cross-functional conflict, communicate tradeoffs, and hold internal and external partners accountable.
• Ability to travel as business needs require.

Benefits

In addition to a rewarding career, Sprouts offers a comprehensive program to help support you and your family. These programs include:

• Competitive pay
• Sick time plan that you can use to support you or your immediate families health
• Vacation accrual plan
• Opportunities for career growth
• 15% discount for you and one other family member in your household on all purchases made at Sprouts
• Flexible schedules
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401(K) Retirement savings plan with a generous company match
• Company paid life insurance
• Contests and appreciation events throughout the year full of prizes, food and fun!

Eligibility requirements may apply for the following benefits:

• Bonus based on company and/or individual performance
• Affordable benefit coverage, including medical, dental and vision
• Health Savings Account with company match
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare and dependent care
• Company paid short-term disability coverage
• Paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers
• Paid holidays

Get Paid Every Day!

Sprouts Farmers Market offers DailyPay - if you’re hired as an eligible employee, you’ll be able to transfer the money you’ve already earned at no extra cost, and get it the next business day, for free.  We offer DailyPay so you don’t have to wait for payday to access the money you’ve already worked for. With DailyPay, you can see how much you’ve made every day and you can transfer your money any time before payday.

 You can learn more by visiting https://www.dailypay.com/partners/sprouts-farmers-market/.

Why Sprouts

Grow with us!

If you have a passion for inspiring people and a flair for fresh food, consider applying for a job at Sprouts! With a focus on customer service, our neighborhood grocery stores offer high-quality, farm fresh produce, natural meats, plenty of scoop-your-own bulk goods and much more in a fun, friendly, old-fashioned farmer’s market setting.  Come grow your career in healthy living with a fast-paced, rapidly growing company and teams that pride themselves on empowering others along their journey.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by people assigned to this work. This is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and requirements. Sprouts’ management reserves the right to amend and change duties, responsibilities, and requirements to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.

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