JOB TITLE: Private Brands Manager
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LOCATION: Salinas Valley Hybrid: Year-round presence at both of our two processing facilities in Speckles and Gonzales, CA with periodic remote work.
ABOUT BRAGA FRESH
For three generations the Braga family has been farming in the western United States from the Salinas Valley to Yuma, Arizona. With more than 20 years of a certified organic farming program in place, we are one of the fastest growing organic produce companies in America. A vertically integrated company, we mix innovation with tradition to grow, ship and process fresh vegetables and salads year-round under the Braga Farms and Josie’s Organics brands.
Position Description:
The purpose of this role is to be the project lead and primary retail contact for private label product development. The position will report to VP Marketing and Product Development and primary responsibilities will include:
- Be the retailer’s brand champion voice for their requests, needs, expectations and deadlines
- Lead execution process of both new concepts and changes to existing products
- Oversee entire commercialization process of new items private label products
- Cross department communication (processing, sourcing, packaging, FSQA)
- Support input for technical documents and product specifications
A successful candidate will be able to
- Work closely with internal R&D and sourcing to manage and drive product launches.
- Lead the process with retail private brand teams for new product launches from concept to commercialization.
- Ability to create, track and drive project timelines with pressing deadlines.
- Support FDA, organic product regulatory compliance needs. Understand Food Safety requirements.
- Identify opportunities to optimize existing products with retail goals in mind.
- Manage artwork development between retail team and packaging suppliers from die line to launch.
- Work cross functionally and collaborate across all internal and external departments.
- In tandem with sourcing, collaborate with outside vendors (i.e.: packaging, condiments, equipment, inputs.)
- Be point of contact for retail team and Braga sales team, for development, launch and maintenance projects.
- Manage, populate, and submit all product specification details in retail portals related to private label.
- Build product proformas, manage costing, volume, and profit targets
- Use cloud-based platforms to manage to manage project, timelines, accountability, and deliverables
Required Experience:
- 5 years of experience in fresh produce project management
- Proven experience with retail product management required
- Experience with both a processing environment and fresh food packaging development for value-add vegetables and salads is a must
- Have ability to multi-manage the needs and expectations of corporate retail teams, sourcing, R&D and facility engineering team
- Proficient with managing input in retail portals
- Understands developing product specifications, regulatory details, and packaging artwork
- Proven strong leadership and communication skills
- Self-starter with ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously for both yourself and the Braga Fresh team
- Be a team player is a must.
