AeroFarms Background

Since its 2004 inception, AeroFarms has been transforming agriculture with people and the planet in mind. The company is an indoor vertical farm that combines automation, robotics, and plant science with its patented aeroponics technology platform to sustainably grow nutritious, flavorful microgreens at scale. AeroFarms uses 100% renewable energy and is climate-resilient, growing plants year-round, regardless of geography or weather conditions.

As consumer demand for microgreens continues to grow, AeroFarms is redefining the produce category by offering products celebrated for their robust flavor, versatility, and extended shelf life. AeroFarms microgreens are highly nutritious, offering 4x to 40x the phytonutrients of its mature vegetable counterpart. Grown without pesticides, The company is on a bold mission to increase food security while preserving natural resources.

About The Role

The Business Development Manager, Retail Sales is the leader for delivering accelerated profitable growth, and operational excellence across the Retail Grocery Channel. This role is responsible for identifying new business opportunities, leading existing business, optimizing resources, and executing strategies to achieve ambitious sales and market share objectives.

This role plays a critical role in building and executing comprehensive strategies to win within the dynamics of the Grocery Channel. This role requires a team player with the strong ability to lead cross-functional alignment (Marketing, Finance, Operations and Supply Chain), ensure best-in-class execution that exceeds customer expectations and strengthen relationships with key retail partners.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and execution of customer-specific initiatives that drive new customer acquisition and category growth while maintaining alignment with internal AeroFarms strategic priorities
Develop and lead the comprehensive Grocery Channel strategies, including annual business planning, P&L management, and trade investment to deliver exceptional top and bottom-line growth
Lead strategic discussions on category growth and assortment with senior Grocery executives
Serve as the organization's subject matter expert on Grocery Channel trends and dynamics, translating market insights into actionable growth strategies
Provide strategic oversight for trade fund management, forecasting expected sales volume, revenue and profit for both existing and new products and customers, ensuring accuracy and alignment with business objectives
Utilize syndicated data analytics (IRI, Nielsen), shopper insights, and category expertise to identify growth opportunities and create innovative, customer-centric solutions
Track industry trends, monitor competitors, and implement AeroFarms’ strategies to capitalize on the opportunities

Job Requirements

3 - 7 years of progressive sales experience managing the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest U.S. Grocery Channel accounts, driving customer acquisition within the CPG branded food or beverage categories (preferably in fresh supply chain categories)
Strong background in new customer acquisition, account management, expanding retail distribution, retailer account planning, forecasting and understanding of Grocery channel ROI and financial dynamics
Lead cross-functional collaboration between customer stakeholders and internal teams (Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance) to drive mutual growth objectives
Strong strategic skills with the ability to work closely with the Marketing and R&D teams to identify consumer trends, insights, and innovation opportunities that align with customer needs and market trends
Exceptional analytical skills that can utilize and leverage data analytics, shopper insights, and category expertise to identify growth opportunities and create innovative, customer-centric solutions that demonstrate AeroFarms value proposition
Excellent written and verbal skills; with the ability to present data in an effective manner in order to present a compelling story
Bachelor’s degree in Business administration, Marketing, Economics, or related field
Travel up to 40% of the time to meet with customers, attend industry events

Jobs

Business Development Manager, Retail Sales

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