Career Paths

Paths to Management in Our Stores

You don't have to work at Publix for years before joining the management team.  Nor do you have to wait a lifetime to become a Store Manager. 

• You could become an Assistant Customer Service Manager with less than a year of experience in one of three Positions Leading to Management. The average experience of those promoted into this position is 18 months in one of those prerequisite positions.
• You could become a Grocery Manager in less than a year as an Assistant Grocery Manager. The average experience of those promoted into this position is about three years as an Assistant Grocery Manager.
• You could advance to Store Manager in less than two years of experience as an Assistant Store Manager. The average experience of those promoted into this position is about five-and-a-half years as an Assistant Store Manager.

Some Typical Scenarios

Here are a few examples of how associates can progress into management roles throughout their career at Publix.

Sarah worked for a large full-service bakery before deciding to come to Publix as a cake decorator.

After also receiving training as a baker, she was promoted to Assistant Bakery Manager, her first opportunity to help lead a team.

Over the last 5 years, she rose to Bakery Manager and then to Bakery Retail Improvement Specialist, a field position critical to quality control in our bakeries.

Bill had extensive management experience at another supermarket chain before he was hired at Publix as Assistant Deli Manager.

His knowledge, hard work and infectious smile helped him advance quickly to Deli Manager at one of Publix's largest stores.

After promotions to Assistant Store Manager and Store Manager, Bill accepted an offer to become a Buyer for Publix at our corporate offices.

Jane had little work experience before applying at Publix. She was hired as a Cashier and later was promoted to Customer Service Staff because of her superb customer service skills.

Within another 4 years, she was promoted two more times — to Assistant Customer Service Manager and then to Customer Service Manager.

She recently became the Store Manager for a Publix in her own neighborhood. Her goal is to become a District Manager down the road.

Here are the options

Progression charts available in each store let associates know which positions provide the experience needed to prepare for management. We call these our Positions Leading to Management (PLMs). There are 15 of them, offering many different career paths.

Once an associate becomes a manager, career paths are just as clear on how to continue advancing. Each department has a Manager and an Assistant Manager. And each store has a Store Manager and Assistant Manager. There also are opportunities beyond the store, both in field positions and in our corporate offices.

These are the Management positions:

We provide the training to master skills needed to be successful in all of these positions. When associates are interested in advancing, they can register their interest through a screening process that lets no one slip through the cracks.