Customer Development Manager

Chr. Hansen•West Allis, WI

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

As a Customer Development Manager for Dairy & EMDI (Enzyme Modified Dairy Ingredients), you will play a critical role in accelerating growth across our Food & Beverage Biosolutions business in North America by connecting customers with commercial, technical, application, portfolio, and marketing expertise. This role sits within the North America Business Development Team and focuses on expanding customer relationships, commercializing new opportunities, and helping emerging customers grow into strategic business partners. You will join a collaborative, customer-focused team that works across functions to bring innovative biosolutions to market and create value for customers throughout the dairy and food & beverage industries. This is a mixed operational, tactical, and strategic role with a strong focus on execution, growth development, and customer engagement. You will be responsible for identifying and advancing opportunities, driving commercialization efforts, and contributing directly to the growth of both the Dairy Inside Sales portfolio and the North American EMDI business.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Food Science, Dairy Science, or a related discipline.
Minimum of 3 years of experience in B2B sales, inside sales, business development, customer management, or similar commercial roles.
Experience using CRM systems and opportunity management tools.
Strong commercial acumen and customer relationship development skills.
Demonstrated ability to identify, qualify, and progress business opportunities.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Proven ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams.
Strong prioritization and organizational capabilities with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
Self-motivated, customer-focused, and results-oriented mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience in food ingredients, cultures, enzymes, dairy ingredients, or related food and beverage industries.
Understanding of commercialization processes and market development strategies.
Familiarity with customer growth planning and strategic account development.
Interest in emerging market opportunities and creating customer value through biosolutions.
Experience working with technical and commercial stakeholder groups in a matrix environment.

Responsibilities

Grow the Dairy Inside Sales portfolio through account planning, customer retention, penetration strategies, cross-selling, and upselling activities.
Own execution of the North American EMDI growth strategy, including pipeline development and commercialization efforts.
Identify, qualify, and advance new business opportunities while building compelling business cases for investment and growth.
Transition mature opportunities to Sales and Key Account Management teams for long-term expansion and customer management.
Lead Food & Beverage lead management activities, including qualification, prospecting, pipeline development, and market intelligence gathering.
Support pricing discussions, negotiations, and contract activities within delegated authority levels.
Build strong relationships with customers and collaborate closely with technical, application, portfolio, marketing, Sales, and KAM teams to deliver business results.