Business Development Manager, Food Service

Position: Sr Manager, Business DevelopmentFood Service
Department: Sales
Reports To: SVP sales
Location: Irwindale, California (hybrid role)
Base Pay: $130-150K

Groupe Bonduelle is a company that is making a positive impact
Groupe Bonduelle is the world leader in ready-to-use plant-rich food. By joining our company you will have an opportunity to make a positive and sustainable impact on yourself, others and the planet. You will play an active part in our mission to inspire the transition toward a plant-rich diet to contribute to people's well-being and planet health.

Groupe Bonduelle Fresh Americas is the U.S. business unit of France based Groupe Bonduelle (BON.PA). We are the first business unit of Groupe Bonduelle to become a Certified B Corporation. We operate four processing facilities throughout the U.S. and employ nearly 3,000 Associates who focus on producing and bringing to market fresh vegetable products, prepared salads and plant-rich meal solutions.

Groupe Bonduelle is a 170 year old French family-owned company that has been at the forefront of plant based food innovations since 1853. Our ready-to-use plant-rich food products are grown on 173,000 acres by our grower partners and marketed in nearly 100 countries. The company currently employees more than 12,000 Associates globally.

Join us at Bonduelle Fresh Americas for an opportunity to advance your career in a culture that places people first and makes contributing to a better future through plant-rich food our top priority.

Position Summary:

The Sr Manager, Business Development is responsible for partnering with sales to identify and execute growth driving initiatives across all customers and channels they are assigned. This position will oversee the development and submissions of proposals, bids, RFP (Request for Proposal) responses, Marketing and Selling Story Development and Category Analytics and Insights Support. This person will have the responsibility of establishing the strategic approach and coordinating all phases of the company’s growth initiatives for their assigned channels and customers. The ability to meet deadlines, a commitment to teamwork, attention to detail and follow-through will be the keys to success.

For the successful candidate, this means contributing to the daily business as well as shaping the strategic roadmap for the future with qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and the delivery of actionable insights, Selling Stories and Marketing Materials as part of a dynamic, results-driven team. You will challenge the status quo, manage multiple relationships and leverage a deep understanding of the consumer to transform the business.

What you’ll be doing:

• Leverage Syndicated Data and Internal Shipments and other 3rd party data sources to identify growth opportunities for assigned channels and accounts.
• Develop compelling sales stories and marketing materials to close growth opportunities with customers.
• Lead business planning and development process to identify growth opportunities and achieve financial targets.
• Drives the strategic approach for the RFP submission based on all relevant factors, including an assessment of key competitors, supply and/or capacity guidance, operations or transportation efficiency, etc.
• Provides direction to and leads cross functional efforts needed to deliver against identified success criteria, such as cost savings projects, recipe optimization, packaging improvements, etc.
• Drives the execution and leads critical milestones in the execution of growth opportunities and proposals ensuring all deadlines are met.
• Provides guidance and status reports on proposals to senior management; enforces the editorial guidelines specified for growth opportunities; manages the virtual proposal development environment as needed.
• Reviews and gains the approval of the final proposal, including a financial assessment of agreed upon pricing, margin and profit requirements for all growth opportunities.
• Directs and engages key personnel in development and execution of all activities and ensures compliance with all corporate and legal requirements related to growth opportunities.
• Acts as the single point of contact among cross functional groups (finance, operations, supply chain, etc) and the customer.
• Responsibility across multiple, concurrent projects, this position is characterized by shifting priorities, stringent deadlines, last minute requirements to accomplish tasks for client deadlines.
• % of travel: minimal, less than 15%.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree
• 5-10 years of full life cycle proposal development experience, preferably in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry (CPG) within Food and Beverage
• Food Service Experience is desired.
• Full understanding of the P&L, including major levers that impact revenue, cost of goods, distribution and overhead.
• Ability to work proactively and independently to provide compliant proposal responses and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience with product development, branding & communications, and category/sales
• Working knowledge of syndicated services (i.e. Nielsen/IRI scanner and panel, Numerator) required Highly analytical mindset with the ability to look at vast amounts of data and synthesize that information into intelligence that can be acted upon by the business is required - Strong storytelling skills
• Sound understanding of various research methods (quantitative and qualitative) and appropriate application of these methods
• Ability to translate data results/findings into meaningful and actionable insights
• Ability to develop strong relationships with business partners and team members and proactively update on progress
• Highly organized, self-starter with the ability to manage projects with limited oversight and proactively identify new consumer or category insights
• Strong problem-solving skills; ability to analyze issues and create appropriate tactical plans.
• Meticulous attention to detail: ability to juggle many tasks in parallel without lowering your quality bar.
• Enthusiasm for serving as a mentor and able to share experiences and knowledge by providing projects and feedback to team members.
• Ability to succeed in a fast-paced, innovative, and rapidly evolving industry and business organization.
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship management skills.
• Strong presence and ability to coach and influence others without formal authority.