You know our brands, The Laughing Cow, Babybel, Boursin, Kaukauna, Merkts and Price's, which elicit smiles across America. They are daring, responsible and deliver dairy goodness. As you imagine, this mindset is contagious! Bel Brands USA is part of an international family company, which has led an ambitious growth strategy for 150 years and is today the world's third largest branded cheese company. If like our 12,000 employees globally, you want to have an impact in an entrepreneurial and demanding company, and share smiles around the world, dare to live the Bel experience!

Be you. Be ambitious. Be Bel.

Bel Brands USA has been named Chicago's "101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" for 10 years in a row. The company is headquartered in Chicago and operates three manufacturing plants in Little Chute, WI, Leitchfield, KY, and Brookings, SD.

Job Description Summary

This position is responsible for supporting the Plant Director and the Bel Little Chute factory in the definition and execution of co-manufacturing business development, strategy, and sales activities, as well as serving as the primary sales liaison between factory, supply chain, and customers. Factory has mix of state-of-the-art AGV’s, automation solutions and traditional equipment. The facility has significant and sustainable co-manufacture capacity, flexibility, and adaptability to make a wide variety of products. Role will be a part of the factory leadership team and will help set factory strategy and priorities. Position requires up to 25% business travel.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develops and defines the marketing and sales approach for co-manufacturing strategy at the Little Chute facility.
• Provides customer/field sales perspective to the plant, marketing, and brand teams to support development and implementation of joint co-manufacturing, private label, and brand marketing plans.
• With the help of the Strategic Sourcing, Co-manufacturing, and legal departments, helps design and package preliminary contracts and offers with prospective customers.
• Coordinates and commercializes new product introductions at the factory.
• Ensures correct profitability of new projects, sets pricing, and coordinates order set up with customer service team.
• Ensures customer satisfaction and maintains developed relationship with customers.
• Translates category marketing and business plans into clear commercial objectives, guidelines, and strategy to support development of commercial plan.
• Identifies opportunities and uncovers leads for new projects and products.
• Supports development and communication of reports and tracking of key category sales KPIs for total US and top customers.
• Leads the development of local and national, customer-facing selling materials in support of marketing, commercial and category objectives.
• In conjunction with the plant and corporate supply chain teams, provides a sales perspective on category volume pacing and forecasts to support the S&OP process.
• Responsible for delivery of sales volume for non-branded and co-manufacturer business.
• All other duties as assigned.

Knowledge and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing or similar field of study required; MBA preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of experience selling to food and CPG manufacturing customers.

• Connected with private label and/or co-manufacturing food market.
• Ability to understand industrial capabilities and apply those to potential business opportunities.
• Able to identify markets and leads.
• Advanced computer skills; knowledge of Microsoft Office.
• Language skills: proficient in written and spoken English required; Spanish and French are helpful.

Competencies and Abilities

• Ability to communicate and develop good working relationships with team members.
• Strong management skills with the ability to clearly communicate expectations and motivate peers and other interested parties.
• Excellent communication skills; understands audience and adjusts communication to drive desired results.
• Must be able to accurately and efficiently perform all job duties with a sense of urgency.
• Exhibit Bel’s core values of:
  • CARE - Care is about developing others through a “high challenge / high support” approach. It’s about empowerment, encouraging those who take measured risks. It’s also about being able to manage tough discussions for the sake of others and for the sake of the organization.
  • DARE - Dare is about challenging our orthodoxies and challenging a “good enough” mindset, which begins with identifying imperfection and then taking measured risks. It’s also about learning from failures and ensuring the right level of feedback to foster continuous improvement.
  • COMMIT - Commit is about our ability to execute and our results orientation. It starts with committing to deliver ambitious results, making decisions according to our customers and committing to those decisions through unconditional collaboration.
  
  

Performance Expectations: Quality, accuracy, timeliness, reliability, and thoroughness of work performed; ability to gain the trust and respect of management, coworkers, customers, and brokers; maintain the integrity of confidential business and product information; ability to communicate effectively and develop good working relationships with other employees is essential to accomplish goals and objectives of the department. This is a new position, and the person filling this role will often receive little or vague direction, as the scope and role are better defined. Requires someone that is a self-starter that will help create and define the role. The person filling this role will have the ability to help create and define the scope to make it an effective position within the Little Chute factory.

Working Conditions: Work is performed largely in an office environment. Hours of work will generally be during regular business hours with at least 40 hours a week. At times there will be some variation in work hours due to special projects, deadlines, and other concerns.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Acknowledgement: This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed by employee assigned to this position. It does not state or imply that these are the only duties and responsibilities assigned to the job. The employee may be required to perform other job-related duties as requested by the Plant Director. All requirements are subject to change over time and to possible modifications to reasonably accommodate individuals with a disability.

Bel Brands is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability status or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Bel Brands also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. It is also Bel Brand’s policy to comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws respecting consideration of unemployment status in making hiring decisions.

Bel Brands is committed to recruiting, hiring and promoting people with disabilities and veterans. If you need an accommodation or assistance in using the website, please call 312-462-1500.

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