The ground under grocery is moving fast. GLP-1 medicines are resetting appetite, portion size, and snacking. Health, identity, and sensory expectations are changing what customers buy and how they want to feel when they buy it. Layer in retail media as a profit engine, fresh-prepared as a restaurant substitute, AI as core infrastructure, premium private label, and HFSS rules in the UK, and you have a new leadership mandate. Below is a role-by-role blueprint to guide your grocery executive search and org design for 2026. For each role you will find the mission, reporting line, and a no-excuses KPI.
1) Chief Health & Nutrition Officer (CHNO)
Why now: Food-as-medicine is shifting from pilot to program.
Mission: Own the health thesis: nutrition scoring, GLP-1 companion ranges, clinical partners, benefits-eligible bundles.
Reports to: CEO, with dotted lines to Merchandising, Loyalty, and Retail Media.
KPI: Member enrollment in health programs and basket health score improvement year over year.
2) VP, GLP-1 & Metabolic Health Merchandising
Why now: Appetite suppression is reshaping snack missions and impulse architecture.
Mission: Redesign planograms, right-size portions, expand high-protein and low-sugar, and move impulse closer to fresh.
Reports to: Chief Merchandising Officer.
KPI: Mix shift toward better-for-you snacks and waste reduction from optimized pack sizes.
3) SVP, Fresh-Prepared & Culinary (Commissary GM)
Why now: Grocery foodservice is taking real share from restaurants.
Mission: Build signature culinary heroes, standardize quality, centralize production where it pays, and connect to loyalty and media.
Reports to: COO or CEO.
KPI: Fresh-prepared attach rate and gross margin dollars per square foot.
4) Chief Data & AI Officer (CDAIO)
Why now: AI now drives forecasting, pricing, shrink control, and labor planning.
Mission: Create a single data plane across forecasting, audiences, space planning, and inventory, with responsible AI guardrails.
Reports to: CEO or CFO, with deep ties to Tech and Operations.
KPI: Forecast error reduction and on-shelf availability improvement.
5) GM, Retail Media & Alternative Revenue
Why now: Retail media is a high-margin growth engine in grocery.
Mission: Own a full P&L across onsite, in-store screens, and offsite; productize audiences; prove incrementality; align with loyalty.
Reports to: CEO or Chief Customer Officer.
KPI: Retail media EBITDA and advertiser retention driven by measured sales lift.
6) VP, Private Label Strategy & Product Development
Why now: Private label is both a value hedge and a premium growth engine.
Mission: Architect value, core, and premium tiers; accelerate concepting; reformulate to clean labels; design for GLP-1-aware occasions.
Reports to: Chief Merchandising Officer.
KPI: Own-brand share of basket and repeat on premium tiers.
7) Chief Experience & Sensory Officer (in-store CX)
Why now: Customers want food that aligns with identity and delivers a rewarding sensory journey.
Mission: Sampling theater, sound and scent cues, ergonomic fixtures, neuro-friendly layouts, and culturally credible ranges.
Reports to: Chief Customer Officer or COO.
KPI: Dwell time in fresh and specialty zones and conversion from tasting to purchase.
8) VP, Pricing, Revenue & Promotions Science
Why now: Value sensitivity is high and HFSS rules reshape promotions.
Mission: Elasticity-driven pricing, HFSS-compliant promo architecture, and personalized offers that grow loyalty margin.
Reports to: CFO with a strong link to Merchandising.
KPI: Promo ROI and margin dollars per loyalty household.
9) Chief Supply, Sustainability & Sourcing Integrity
Why now: Shoppers reward transparency, provenance, and credible sustainability.
Mission: Build resilient regional supply, traceability to source, and packaging that protects sensory quality with science-backed claims.
Reports to: COO.
KPI: Percentage of traceable SKUs and shrink reduction in fresh.
10) Head of Trust, Safety & Shrink Intelligence
Why now: Computer vision and data-rich loss prevention must protect margin without harming customer experience.
Mission: Deploy CV solutions, run exception-based interventions, manage food safety telemetry, and uphold privacy by design.
Reports to: COO with dotted line to Legal.
KPI: Shrink reduction with stable or improving NPS.
2026 trend map: what is reshaping the org
GLP-1 adoption is pushing shoppers toward planned meals, higher protein, and smaller treats, which makes assortment, portion size, and front-end space a strategic lever rather than routine maintenance. At the same time, fresh-prepared is becoming a restaurant alternative, which elevates culinary leadership from a deli task to a true general management role with brand development and clear financial targets. Retail media is maturing into a disciplined P&L, so a dedicated general manager who can prove incrementality and monetize data responsibly is now essential for profit growth. Private label continues to premiumize, which argues for a focused strategy and product office that can deliver credible upgrades customers actively seek out. Finally, AI is moving from experimentation to store infrastructure and HFSS compliance tightens the rules of the pricing and promotions game, which together require stronger pricing science, CX design that nudges healthier choices, and a unified data spine led by a CDAIO.
How to phase the hiring
1. Stand up the GM, Retail Media and the CDAIO first, since they unlock margin, speed, and data advantages across the portfolio.
2. Hire the SVP, Fresh-Prepared and the VP, GLP-1 & Metabolic Health together, so planograms, portioning, and culinary heroes evolve in sync.
3. Elevate Private Label with a proper strategy and product office, then add the CHNO to integrate health programs and partnerships.
4. Add Pricing and Revenue Science, Sustainability and Sourcing Integrity, and Shrink Intelligence to hard-wire discipline and trust.
What great candidates look like
The best leaders for 2026 share a common pattern. They are category translators who have built bridges across CPG, grocery, and healthcare, which is vital for CHNO and GLP-1 roles. They operate with restaurant-caliber rigor in fresh-prepared, scaling commissary programs and protecting brand guardrails rather than running a simple counter. They are audience P&L owners in retail media who combine advertiser fluency with measurement discipline and privacy-safe data practices. They are builders in private label who have launched premium tiers that customers choose on purpose, not only on price. They are applied AI leaders who have delivered shelf-level outcomes such as lower forecast error, better on-shelf availability, and less shrink, instead of producing dashboards that never change decisions.
The leadership takeaway and how DeBerry Search Associates can help
If the first half of the decade was about e-commerce catch-up and inflation defense, 2026 is about health-anchored growth, sensory-led retailing, and data-monetized ecosystems. Winning teams will curate appetite, design experiences, and turn data into margin.
DeBerry Search Associates has deep networks across the grocery sector, from national grocers and convenience formats to private-label suppliers and retail media platforms. We support forward-looking executive search projects such as standing up a fresh-prepared GM, and we move quickly on critical back fills that keep your operation on track. If you are a CEO or CHRO planning your 2026 leadership agenda, we can deliver a tailored org map, scorecards, and shortlists built for your market mix and growth thesis. Contact DeBerry Search Associates to start a confidential conversation about the leaders who will shape your next wave of growth.
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