Cheese Specialist, Retail - Chicago, IL

KeHE Distributors, LLC•Chicago, IL

27d•$25 - $30•Onsite

About The Position

Good people, working with good people, for our common good. Sound good? KeHE-a natural, organic, specialty and fresh food distributor-is all about "good" and is growing, so there's never been a more exciting time to join our team. If you're enthusiastic about working in an environment with a people-first culture and an organization committed to good living, good food and good service, we'd love to talk to you! The KeHE Retail Cheese Specialist supports onsite customer employees with the initial establishment and continued support of an internal cheese shop. This includes ordering products for initial set up and product display, transmitting orders for delivery to the store and setting up display cases by cutting, wrapping, pricing and merchandising products. The Retail Cheese Specialist is responsible for providing customer support to store patrons and making recommendations for cheese pairings, portions and other food compliments while providing training and instruction to customer employees on all cheese monger activities. Position covers Northwest suburbs of Chicagoland.

Requirements

The employee must be proficient in written and spoken English and possess basic math skills.
The employee must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Basic skill in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook and Power Point) is required.
Must be Siebel literate within 90 days of hire.
The minimum required level of experience is two years in Service Deli knowledge – cheese, deli, perishable goods.
The employee must have a valid driver’s license, and maintain a driving record that meets KeHE's standards.
The employee must have reliable transportation, and if using a personal vehicle must maintain automobile liability coverage adequate to meet the financial responsibility laws of the state(s) in which the employee operates.
The employee must have the ability to work independently or in tandem with customer employee’s applying excellent communication and customer service skills to all interactions.

Responsibilities

Present, sell, and execute all promotional activity to maximize sales and achieve minimal residual quanties. Asisst in planning and execution of all display programs as designated and developed by the customer, both at store level and corporate headquarter level.
Educate the customer on what their store needs are based on the trends.
Supports stocking of back stock in cheese and deli to review recommended order writing.
Deliver exceptional customer service at all times when communicating with store management, personnel and the public; adhering to customer policies and procedures in compliance with KeHE's standards.
Refill, reset and merchandise cheese products for display and placement in a way that attracts sales at customer stores and secondary and perimeter locations following “best practices guidelines”; this includes re/wrapping and packaging cheese products
Provides instruction to customer personnel in all cheese monger activities.
Provide sales support and training to customer sales team; assisting their clients by providing product recommendations, pairing suggestions and offering opinions based off of specialized cheese knowledge
Comply with established, health and sanitation, and safety policies, procedures and guidelines.
Handle knives, and cutters to resize cheese products for repackaging or trim products for appearance
Inspect products for quality using visual and olfactory senses
Transport products using carts, U-boats, L-boats, or pallet jack
Communicate with KeHE personnel and Account Executive regarding product discrepancies, product merchandising needs and customer requirements and/or issues.
Plan and carry out daily schedules according to assigned customer locations. Travel throughout assigned territory, manage timelines to ensure completion of assigned customer and KeHE requirements, and respond to fluctuations in workload to deliver quality customer service according to KeHE standards.
Unbox vendor goods and disassembles boxes for recycling
Operate field-based electronic equipment for communications with KeHE team members and others; operate cell phone to communicate with customers, supervisors or coworkers and for electronic timekeeping.
Operate motor vehicle to travel to and from customer locations throughout assigned territory.
Attends training and meetings as required to meet customer and KeHE standards.
Create and transmit orders for product replenishment and other corresponding paperwork in a timely manner, meeting KeHE order deadlines. Verify accuracy of transmission by confirming receipt with KeHE personnel.
Apply knowledge of product and temperature sensitive protocols when transporting cheese products (cold chain)
Maintain a clean personal work environment.
Other duties may be assigned to fulfill company objectives and/or job duties and requirements may be changed as needed to meet current and future business needs.