Business Development Manager, Produce Partnerships

About Fair Trade USA

At Fair Trade USA, we’re leading the charge toward sustainable development and conscious capitalism by forming fair and honest partnerships across the globe. We believe in community, we’re excited about change, and we hire driven, talented change makers who share our vision.

Founded in 1998, we are the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Our unique market-based model for sustainability links millions of farms and factories around the world to over 1,500 leading brands and retailers through more transparent, equitable trading partnerships. Impact is our North Star: to date, we have channeled over $1 billion in additional income to hardworking families and communities around the world.

Fair Trade has emerged as one of the most promising models of conscious capitalism today. We are recognized for improving the working conditions and living standards of farmers and workers while protecting the environment. At the same time, we strengthen global supply chains and enable sustainability to drive profitability for the business community. For the end consumer, Fair Trade is an easy way to align our values with our purchasing decisions, voting with our dollars for a better world.

Our model has incredible leverage: for every $1 that we invest in building the Fair Trade market and movement, we are creating $4 in increased income for farmers and workers. Because of this unprecedented 4x1 “social return on investment” and community impact, we are a four-time winner of Fast Company’s "Social Capitalist of the Year" award and have been recognized as a leading social venture by the Skoll Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, Ashoka, and the World Economic Forum.

The Role

Fair Trade USA’s Fresh Goods team works to drive positive impact back to farming and fishing communities through the expansion of programs and markets for Fair Trade Certified produce, flowers, and seafood. As the Business Development Manager, Produce Partnerships, the role is focused on growing the impact of our Fair Trade Certified produce program by initiating growth strategies with existing partners and prospecting new partners in the produce industry to launch Fair Trade Certified products.

The Business Development Manager, Produce Partnerships will manage a portfolio of existing business partners to maintain and grow their fair trade certified programs. They will liaise with our field team in Latin America to ensure timelines for farm certification are tracking to commercial launch dates and provide expert customer service to partners throughout the sales cycle. The Business Development Manager, Produce Partnerships will build expertise in how our program addresses the challenges facing farmers and workers through on-the-ground experience and put that to work advocating for our program in the industry. They will be responsible for prospecting new brand partners in the produce industry and pitching, landing, and onboarding accounts to launch fair trade products to strategically expand our program.

The ideal candidate is passionate about our mission, organized, and a great communicator. They are people-oriented, focused on creating and building relationships to open the door to new opportunities. They are curious, open to new ideas, view challenges as an opportunity to grow, and are willing to learn from your teammates. Most importantly, the Business Development Manager, Produce Partnerships works well with others, especially across multiple teams, and take initiative to get things done and drive our program forward.

Key Responsibilities

Account Management

• Manage relationships with a portfolio of businesses selling Fair Trade Certified produce and identify and deliver on opportunities for them to grow their Fair Trade impact and sales.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with other teams at Fair Trade USA to problem-solve and preempt delays to product and customer, including but not limited to the field team in Latin America to monitor status of farm certifications.

• Collaborate with partners, marketing and retail teams to support new product launches, including initiatives to drive consumer engagement and sales growth
• Maintain a strong understanding of market and customer-specific trends including customer market share, focus markets, Sustainability programs and industry trends
• Manage prioritizing, escalating, and driving customer issues to resolution within the organization
• Own revenue growth targets, forecasting and variance analysis for your partners

Partner Acquisition and Product Expansion

• Generate new leads, identify, and prioritize new partners in alignment with Fair Trade’s strategy and goals for growth
• Create new sales opportunities from prospecting to close, and work cross-functionally with retail teams to identify new or existing demand for Fair Trade Certified produce
• Develop partnership proposals including discovering objectives, defining partnership requirements, and developing value propositions
• Prepare and deliver compelling sales presentations that articulate the business, social and environmental value of Fair Trade Certified to prospective partners

• Work with retail team to increase the penetration of Fair Trade Certified produce offerings in the market
• Own the full lifecycle of the selling process using analytics to forecast and close opportunity pipeline

Brand Building

• Participate in industry conferences, tradeshows and meetings as a representative of Fair Trade USA

• Work with the Fair Trade USA marketing team and our partners on promotions and tools to maximize customer purchase and awareness
• Seek out opportunities for new industry partnerships in order to build the Fair Trade brand

Experience / Qualifications
Skills, Experience, & Knowledge

• Knowledge of produce industry is required.
• 3+ years sales or partnership-building experience; demonstrated ability to forge and develop relationships with external partners. Specific sales experience in account management, negotiation, etc. is a plus but alternative partnership development experience can also make you a great fit.
• Strong customer service/relationship-management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects at one time and collaborate with peers to achieve program growth targets.
• Proficiency in Spanish is highly desirable. Bilingual/bicultural candidates are especially encouraged to apply.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience working in Salesforce or other CRM experience.
• Strong commitment to the mission of Fair Trade USA.
• Willing to travel 15% of the time to meet with partners, attend trade shows and/ or industry events.

• This is a remote role. Fully-remote employees must be available to travel on an occasional basis to face-to-face staff meetings (up to 5% of time).

Key Competencies & Behaviors

• Adaptability. Ability to operate with flexibility in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Highly collaborative team player who can work cross-functionally with all levels of an organization, both internally and externally.

• Entrepreneurial spirit. Takes initiative to problem-solve and provide innovative ideas and program improvements. Excellent at following up on leads with the energy, influence, and people skills to build and service strategic partnerships.
• Adaptable communicator. Strong verbal and written communication and presentation skills and the ability to distill complex topics concisely for different audiences. Comfortable interacting with multiple audiences such as small-scale businesses, brands, and retailers. Multilingual communication skills are a strong advantage.
• Problem Solver. Ability to think analytically, problem-solve creatively, learn, adapt and work both autonomously and with teams.

Our Workplace

At Fair Trade USA, we are a mission-driven organization and are deeply committed to fostering an environment that is built on the principles of JEDI; a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive community for all. We are committed to upholding an inclusive workplace where all people feel equally respected and valued, and where we can all thrive. We are a proud equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from every educational background, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, national origin and ancestry, veteran status, marital or family status, and disability.

We believe in empowering our teams to choose to do their best work and grow at Fair Trade USA. We offer a comprehensive compensation approach including salary, performance-based bonuses, and employee recognition awards, and a generous and thoughtful approach to employee benefits which include:

• Fully Remote & Flexible Workplace with monthly Final Friday half days
• Incentive compensation and Bonus awards
• Generous Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
• Up to 5% Employer 401k Match
• Excellent PTO including 12+ Holidays / 15+ Vacations / 9 Sick Leave days annually
• Annual Winter Break Week with Office Closure from 25th December through New Year
• Six Weeks Sabbatical Leave after 7 years’ service
• Parental Leave and Caregiver Programs
• Mental Health and Wellbeing programs
• Employee Recognition Awards
• Employee Perks and Discount programs with Fair Trade Certified partners