Pacific Trellis/Dulcinea Farms is a leading grower, importer and distributor of grapes, melons and other commodity fresh fruits headquartered just outside of downtown Los Angeles. We are looking for a Customer Development & Marketing Manager who is passionate about the category, knowledgeable about the industry and well versed in both marketing and sales to join our team.
The Customer Development & Marketing Manager will report to the General Manager with a dotted line responsibility to the Director of Marketing. This individual will play a key role in driving profitable revenue growth for the company and will be closely embedded with the sales organization to provide direction, support, materials and programs designed to win new accounts and expand business at existing accounts. The ideal candidate will be highly collaborative, pragmatic and resourceful, with a deep understanding of the trade and retail environments, and experience and expertise maximizing trade, shopper and other B2B marketing vehicles. In addition, this individual will also be responsible for supporting all of company’s B2C strategic marketing activities.
- Develop and execute a business development strategy and plan to effectively and efficiently drive sales with existing and prospective accounts and shoppers (90%) and build consumer awareness, trial and loyalty for the Dulcinea brand utilizing highly targeted, consumer-centric communication strategies and tactics (10%).
- Support Sales efforts with timely insights, assets and programs including help responding to RFI/RFP’s, creating polished sales presentations and sell sheets, and analyzing Nielsen and ERP data.
- Meet face to face with marketing/merchandising counterparts at our retail customers and present general company information in addition to leading the marketing discussion.
- Build the annual trade plan, write ad briefs and work with external graphic designer to develop trade ads while supporting trade publications with relevant editorial content.
- Manage and coordinate all company tradeshows.
- Develop a budget and plan to ensure flawless execution of all in-store shopper marketing programs including, but not limited to, point of sales material, displays, in-store and cross promotions, signage, sales incentive programs and demos.
- Support the company’s “out-of-store” strategic marketing activities including the management of social media, brand website, packaging and consumer facing events.
- Manage creative resources (internal and/or external) to execute polished, professional and compelling materials and assets on time and in budget.
- Deep knowledge of syndicated data services (Nielsen and ERP Sales Reporting Systems) required.
- Working knowledge of MS Office Suite products/G-Suites or similar for documents, project management and spreadsheets.
- Expert PowerPoint/Presentation Skills.
- Bachelor's Degree in Communication, Marketing, Business, Economics or related field.
- 7-10+ years of relevant experience across sales, shopper marketing, channel/customer development with sound understanding of and passion for the fresh fruit category and high comfort with traditional and digital media.
- Highly organized self-starter with a strong work ethic and ability to effectively prioritize demands and follow through on commitments. Skilled project manager with ability to establish and meet timelines and budgets.
- Excellent collaboration skills –listens intently and forges strong partnerships with key stakeholders across functions.
- Skilled, clear communicator with strong written and oral presentation and interpersonal skills, comfortable synthesizing data and facts to make persuasive recommendations and presenting to senior management and customers.
- Results oriented with sound understanding of sales force needs, the retail landscape and shopper marketing.
- Good eye for art direction and ear for copy writing to oversee creation of effective and resonant customer and consumer communication vehicles.
- Knowledge of trade vehicles that effectively drive sales – and comfort negotiating the most efficient programs to deliver results profitably.
- Strategic thinker and problem solver. Able to synthesize and appropriately leverage insights gained from data and analysis.
- Good people manager who can build a strong team, influence across functions and create a healthy working environment that inspires others to do their best work.
- High EQ.
- Ability to manage multiple complex projects at once.