General Manager, US Private Label (Beverages)

LASSONDE PAPPAS AND CO INC•Cherry Hill Township, NJ

2d•$285,000 - $325,000

About The Position

Lassonde Pappas & Co. is a US Leader in beverage manufacturing dedicated to our team members, customers and consumers satisfaction. We remain committed to our small-town roots and rural values. Hardworking and caring are qualities that make our teams special. Since 1942, we’ve been producing delicious products for our customers across the country! To provide the best for our customers, we focus on building the best team by creating and advancing an inclusive environment amongst our diverse workforces. If you’re passionate about customer satisfaction, reliable, and committed to being and doing better, join us! The General Manager, U.S. Private Label is accountable for profitable, scalable growth of the U.S. Private Label Business Unit. This leader owns the end-to-end private label commercial engine—from pipeline and RFP pursuits through commercialization and launch stabilization—while ensuring opportunities align with network capacity, operational fit, and integrated division economics. The role carries full P&L responsibility for the Private Label unit and partners within President-led governance to manage cross-unit trade-offs (capacity, mix, complexity, and shared SG&A).

Requirements

12–15+ years in CPG/beverage commercial leadership, including private label or contract manufacturing environments
Proven experience leading RFP/bid cycles, customer negotiations, and large customer relationships
Strong cross-functional leadership with Supply Chain, Quality/Regulatory, R&D, and Finance
Demonstrated ability to operate in a matrix and deliver results with shared assets and governance constraints
Strong analytical capability: economics, cost-to-serve, and operational feasibility thinking
Excellent negotiation, communication and relationship building skills.
Bachelor's Degree required

Nice To Haves

Beverage/juice category experience (aseptic/ambient and/or chilled a plus)
Experience managing broker networks and retail execution via third parties
Experience with commercialization processes, stage-gate governance, and award-to-shelf acceleration
CRM/TPM adoption leadership experience
Strategic thinking with strong executional discipline
Data-driven decision making
Collaborative leadership across functions

Responsibilities

Strategy & Growth: Set and execute the annual and multi-year strategy (target customers/channels/categories, value proposition, and “win themes”). Build and manage a prioritized pursuit roadmap aligned to plant capabilities, capacity, and profitability guardrails.
P&L Ownership / Financial Performance: Own Private Label P&L outcomes, including revenue, margin, cost-to-serve, and working cross-functionally to deliver the annual operating plan and multi-year growth plan. Ensure disciplined business cases for bids/expansions and adherence to pricing/trade governance and profitability thresholds.
Commercial Leadership: Lead and develop the private label commercial team across account leadership, RFP/bid management, and commercialization execution. Drive negotiation excellence and customer retention.
Deal Qualification & Governance: Establish rigorous bid qualification (feasibility, complexity, service terms/penalties, lead times, operational fit, and line/run efficiency). Elevate opportunities requiring cross-unit trade-offs through the President-led decision forum.
Commercialization & Launch Execution: Own award-to-shelf execution (specs, packaging approvals, item setup, production slotting, DC onboarding, resets/shelf verification). Run stage-gated governance with tracking and escalation; ensure post-launch stabilization (first 8–12 weeks).
Demand & Service Performance: Own demand signal integrity and partner with Demand Planning/S&OP to reduce volatility and protect service. Manage customer scorecards, escalations, corrective actions, and commit quality/forecast metrics.
Integrated Economics & Complexity Management: Manage mix quality, SKU/pack complexity, and service-term discipline; surface capacity/complexity/margin trade-offs early and propose solutions.
Quality/Compliance & Cross-Functional Execution: Ensure programs meet quality and compliance requirements and that customer specifications are operationally feasible; remove cross-functional blockers with urgency.
Executive Communication: Provide clear, decision-oriented updates to the Division President (and as needed CEO/Board) on performance, risks, outlook, major wins/losses, capacity/service constraints, and margin/cost-to-serve impacts.