Executive and Corporate Assistant

Riverside Natural Foods • Chicago, IL

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Executive and Corporate Assistant is the operational backbone of Riverside’s U.S. office. The role provides administrative support to the U.S. Executive Team, maintains a professional office and employee and visitor experience, and owns recurring commercial workflows through accurate data entry, documentation, tracking, and follow-through. It manages selected calendars, meetings, events, vendors, office supplies, new item setup, product information systems, and approved liquidation activity. The role coordinates with functional partners, who retain approval authority for source data, product claims, pricing, commercial terms, and inventory-disposition decisions. It reports to the US Sales Strategy Manager and has no direct reports, leading cross-functional workflows through influence, service, and disciplined follow-through.

The position also supports customer visits, trade shows, demos, employee onboarding, samples, and branded merchandise. It maintains workflow procedures and system documentation, flags risks and missing approvals, and helps improve and standardize office and administrative processes. Riverside is a Canadian-based, family-owned, globally operating, B-Corp-certified business that manufactures snacks including MadeGood and GOOD TO GO. The position is an existing vacancy.

Requirements

• At least 2 years of experience in office management, executive or administrative support, sales operations, customer setup, master data, or a related business-operations role in a fast-paced environment.
• A degree or diploma in business administration or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong organization, prioritization, project management, and follow-through across recurring processes and time-sensitive requests.
• High attention to detail and comfort working with product attributes, item forms, customer requirements, spreadsheets, and structured data.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 and Teams, including strong Excel skills.
• Ability to learn new systems quickly, troubleshoot data and workflow issues, document processes, and train others on standard procedures.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills and confidence following up with leaders and cross-functional partners when inputs or decisions are late.
• Sound business judgment, service orientation, and demonstrated ability to handle confidential information with diplomacy and discretion.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines, maintain workflow visibility, clarify owners and due dates, and escalate risks or delays.
• Ability to work within approval boundaries and obtain authorized input before making external commitments or changing controlled data.
• Ability to communicate professionally with leaders, employees, customers, vendors, and external partners.
• Ability to maintain accurate, complete, and controlled product and customer information across designated systems.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in consumer packaged goods, food, retail, distribution, or another item-data-intensive environment.
• Experience with Salsify, Syndigo, GDSN, retailer portals, ERP or CRM tools, or similar systems.

Responsibilities

• Role model and bring to life Riverside’s values.
• Manage selected executive calendars, protect priority time, resolve conflicts, and coordinate internal and external meetings.
• Coordinate logistics, agendas, pre-reads, catering, notes, decisions, and action-item follow-through for designated leadership forums.
• Arrange approved travel and complete expense reporting accurately and on time.
• Handle sensitive information and leadership requests with discretion, responsiveness, and sound judgment.
• Serve as the U.S. Site Ambassador and provide a warm, professional experience for employees, visitors, candidates, customers, and vendors.
• Maintain a safe, organized, well-equipped office, including supplies, meeting rooms, shared spaces, amenities, access, and service coordination.
• Partner with Facilities, Information Technology, People and Values, and external vendors to resolve office issues and maintain site readiness.
• Create and receive purchase orders for office-related purchases; manage invoices, vendor records, and the office budget within approved limits.
• Coordinate internal meetings, customer visits, office events, and team activities, including space, catering, materials, and day-of execution.
• Drive practical process improvement and standardization across office and administrative work.
• Own the end-to-end administrative workflow for new item setup, from intake and requirements gathering through system entry, submission, validation, and confirmed completion.
• Enter, maintain, and audit product information, attributes, images, documents, and customer-specific requirements in Salsify, Syndigo, and designated retailer or customer portals.
• Maintain a tracker of item setup requests, owners, dependencies, due dates, status, and exceptions; proactively escalate risks that could delay authorization, distribution, or launch.
• Coordinate with Sales, Marketing, Regulatory and Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Customer Service to obtain approved source data and resolve discrepancies.
• Serve as administrator or super-user for designated product-information systems, including user access, workflow configuration, templates, documentation, and basic training.
• Maintain standard operating procedures and conduct recurring data-quality reviews to keep item records complete, current, and consistent across systems.
• Coordinate recurring reviews of excess, short-dated, obsolete, and discontinued inventory with Supply Chain, Sales, Finance, and Customer Service.
• Prepare approved inventory lists and opportunity packages and maintain current contacts and requirements for authorized liquidation partners.
• Administer approved liquidation activity, including bid collection, order documentation, customer setup, shipment coordination, invoicing follow-up, and issue resolution.
• Confirm required approvals for pricing, terms, customer and channel conflicts, product claims, and inventory disposition before making external commitments.
• Maintain reporting on inventory offered, units sold, recovery value, aging, remaining exposure, and transaction closure; promptly escalate stalled or at-risk inventory.
• Coordinate product samples and materials for customer meetings, sales programs, employee needs, and approved marketing activities.
• Maintain organized sample and branded-merchandise inventory, standard request processes, and appropriate reorder triggers.
• Partner with People and Values and hiring managers to prepare Day One experiences, including workspace, supplies, access coordination, and office orientation.
• Coordinate support for U.S. leadership meetings, customer visits, company events, and other priority business activities.
• Coordinate and drive execution for trade shows, including UNFI/KeHe, Expo West, and Sweets & Snacks, as well as demos and other events.
• Maintain current owners, documented steps, and accessible templates for recurring processes; implement at least two meaningful administrative or office-process improvements annually, as stated in the scorecard.
• Track office spending monthly, fulfill office purchase orders and vendor administration accurately, and escalate budget concerns in advance.
• Ensure new item requests and product data are complete and accurate, with required inputs and approvals tracked and missing or conflicting information escalated before external submission.
• Maintain system access reviews, documentation, training materials, and recurring audits for designated product-information workflows.
• Track approved liquidation activity through delivery, reconciliation, reporting, and transaction closure.

Benefits

• RRSP matching or 401k matching.
• Eligibility to participate in Riverside’s Profit Sharing Plan.
• Employee-led resource groups focused on mental health, sustainability, diversity, women, and LGBTQ+ rights.
• Career development through the Riverside University program.
• Tuition reimbursement program.
• Comprehensive benefits program, with Riverside taking care of the costs.
• Training and tools to support career growth and development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree