We’re looking to expand our team to include someone who:
- Loves the idea of bridging business strategy with sustainable development focused on people and the planet
- Enjoys operating in an innovative, fast-paced and rapidly-changing environment
- Understands how business works and how business decisions are made, so we can figure out how a company can best fit Fair Trade into their business model
- Is quick-on-their-feet in developing mutually beneficial solutions
- Likes to deliver results
Overview of position:
As the Business Development Specialist on the Produce & Floral team, your role is to help increase our positive impact on farming communities and the environment by supporting our Fair Trade Certified produce & floral brands, distributors, and retailers.
The Specialist will play a key role in growing sales of Fair Trade fresh produce and floral products by generating leads and pitching to new produce and floral distributors and retailers. The Specialist will also onboard and manage produce & floral brands, particularly focused on those with production in the USA.
This work will keep you busy and excited to face new challenges each day. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, passionate for the mission, highly motivated, organized, a great communicator, quick learner, and self-starter. Most importantly, you work well with others, especially across multiple teams and departments, and can be a leader – taking initiative and rolling up your sleeves and do whatever it takes to make us successful.
The Specialist will complete much of their work from our office in Oakland, California. A lot of this work will be done by e-mail or over the phone, yet domestic travel and some international travel will be necessary about 25-50% of the time.
- Bachelor’s degree
- Proven track record of success in selling a product or concept
- Ability to turn information into insights for actionable growth
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrated results in relationship building and account management
- Experience with commodity supply chains - produce and/or floral industry is a plus, but not required
- Strong project management skills
- Ability to think quickly, learn, adapt, and work both autonomously and with teams
- Great attention to detail
- Excellent negotiation and communication skills
- Proficient in all Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel and PowerPoint
- Prior experience with Salesforce or similar system is desirable
- Significant travel required, primarily domestic but some international (25-50%)
- Proficient in Spanish preferred
To apply:
Please submit a PDF copy of your resume and a cover letter describing your interest, qualifications, language abilities, and salary requirements to the attention of Jacquie Pfyl.
- Manage the entire sales cycle: prospecting, pitching, piloting, expansion, impact communication, marketing support
- Attend conferences and trade shows to foster sales growth
- Coordinate business development activities with our Supply Chain team to understand the needs of farmers andfarm workers, the varieties and volumes, priorities, and, most importantly, be able to speak to the key issues that farm workers face in any given region or product
- Help define and deliver continued customer value by developing and deploying sales materials and pipeline management tools for new brands, other market partners
- Provide excellent onboarding and account management for our brand, distributor and retailer partners
- Handle product registrations, licensing process and special program agreements for produce importers
- Support creation and delivery of partner Impact Reports
