Customer Service Manager

Aspire Bakeries is a North American baking company with a leadership position in specialty frozen baked goods. Formed from leading bakery companies, its innovative food portfolio includes breads, artisan breads, buns, cookies, donuts, muffins and pastries from beloved brands like La Brea Bakery®, Otis Spunkmeyer®, and Oakrun Farm Bakery®. With 13 bakeries in North America, we are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers’ expectations. Aspire Bakeries champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

This position reports to the Senior Manager of Customer Service and Director of Customer Service and Logistics. The Customer Service Manager will provide leadership and direction to a team of Customer Service professionals managing Distributor and Direct to Warehouse sales for both the food service and retail channels. The qualified candidate has exceptional interpersonal, follow-through, analytical, and project management skills.

Accountabilities:

• Ensure our mission of providing world-class Customer Service to all customers is met based on our Customer Centric Strategy.
• Review and approve customer escalations and ensure identification of the most cost-effective resolution, while addressing the underlying cause.  Continually develop team abilities.
• Develop relationships with key customer contacts and internal sales management. 
• Display a high-level understanding of our customer’s business and goals.
• Achieve or exceed and Report on Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s):
  • Perfect Order Execution and Order Accuracy
  • Lead Time Compliance
  • Order size Compliance
  • Deduction Turnaround
  • Customer Defined KPI’s
• Provide ongoing leadership and motivation resulting in employee development, personal job satisfaction, goal achievement, and retention.
• Ensure all team members are trained in best practices related to Customer Service skills, order management, and software to deliver a high standard of Customer Service.
• Analyze and report on department workload and staffing.  Anticipate changes and recommend plans to address them.
• Manage the order process for assigned customers (order process entails receipt, entry, order confirmation, and shipment verification of orders, including troubleshooting order/delivery issues
• Act as backup for the Customer Service Supervisor
• Work closely with transportation and warehousing to proactively address customer shortages, delivery issues, and OS&D resolution (assist in obtaining customer appointments as needed).
• Work with planning and distribution regarding inventory and transportation issues for a suitable resolution and communicate with customers.
• Plan for all aspects of seasonality volume swings resulting in temporary employee requirements. This includes forecasting volume and resource needs, cost of resources, and acquiring resources.
• Budget / P&L Responsibility
  • Ensure monthly activities and costs are in line with the established department budget while identifying issues and trends.
  • Participate in the annual department budget with Director/DVP
• Review, design, and implement improved processes or operational policies.
• Participate in and/or lead project teams as needed or assigned in alignment with the company mission and strategic plan.
• Ongoing personal development to stay current on industry best practices. Calibration with outside sources to identify benchmarks and compare against.
• Communicate on an ongoing basis with the Director / DVP, regarding key department activities.
• Maintain supportive and positive cross-functional relationships with sales, marketing, logistics, IT, and finance

Qualifications:

• College degree preferred, or equivalent coursework and combined work experience
• Minimum 5 years of successful Customer Service department management consisting of 5 or more staff members.
• Minimum 5 years of project management experience.
• Experience in the food and/or manufacturing environment preferred.
• Experience in delivering client-focused solutions based on customer needs and requirements.
• Highly analytical with an ability to interpret data and translate it into meaningful summaries and action plans.
• Ability to successfully attend to a broad scope of projects while remaining detail-oriented as needed.
• Knowledge of manufacturing supply chain and inventory management principles.
• Team player who is also able to work independently with little supervision in a remote environment.
• Knowledge of coaching principles that ensure reception and action by those receiving the direction.
• Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SAP or ERP. 

Salary Range: $85,000 - $100,000

Aspire Bakeries LLC values the contribution each Team Member brings to our organization. The final determination of a successful candidate’s starting pay will vary based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to location, shift, education, skill, and experience within the job or the industry. The pay scale listed for this position is generally for candidates that meet the specified qualifications and requirements listed In this specific job description. Additional pay may be determined for those candidates that exceed these specified qualifications and requirements. We provide a competitive compensation package that recognizes your experience, credentials, and education alongside a robust benefits program to meet your needs. For union-represented postings, wage rates and ranges are governed by applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Aspire Bakeries is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.