Market Development Specialist

Smithfield Foods • Smithfield, VA

5d

About The Position

As a Market Development Specialist, you will play a key role in supporting customer-facing sales, marketing, and growth initiatives that strengthen Smithfield’s presence across assigned markets. This position focuses on executing projects, analyzing market data, and coordinating activities that drive volume, visibility, and brand growth. You will work independently on assigned tasks while collaborating closely with Market Development Managers, Sales, Marketing, and cross-functional teams. This role is ideal for a detail-oriented professional looking to deepen expertise in customer strategy, market dynamics, and sales execution within a fast-paced CPG environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited four-year college or university and 2+ years of relevant experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to support presentations and collaborate effectively.
• High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and analytical thinking.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment; team-oriented and approachable while building strong relationships.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and eager to learn customer development, sales strategy, and category growth fundamentals.

Nice To Haves

• experience with data tools or syndicated data (IRI/Nielsen) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Market & Customer Support: Execute components of market development plans, customer programs, promotional activities, and business reviews to support growth across assigned markets.
• Data & Insights: Gather and analyze sales, pricing, distribution, and market data to identify trends and provide actionable insights to internal stakeholders.
• Execution & Coordination: Prepare presentations, coordinate samples, organize meeting materials, and ensure timely follow-through on assigned action items.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with Sales, Marketing, Category Management, and Supply Chain to collect information, update project trackers, and support execution of initiatives.
• Administrative & Reporting Support: Maintain reports, trackers, and dashboards to monitor performance, assist with forecasting updates, and share insights with internal teams.
• Relationship Building: Develop positive working relationships with internal teams and external partners to ensure seamless execution and strengthen customer engagement.
• Travel: Occasional travel for customer meetings, market visits, or events as needed.

Benefits

• Smithfield is proud to offer robust, flexible and affordable benefit plans and programs to support our team members and their loved ones, and with out-of-pocket costs, on average, 20 percent less than plans offered by other employers.
• Beyond our medical plans, our Be Well programs offer tools and resources to enhance your quality of life, at no additional cost. These programs are uniquely tailored to our Smithfield team and provide support for elective surgeries, weight loss, mental health, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, smoking cessation, asthma, maternity management and more.
• Our company invests in your future. We offer comprehensive training and professional development programs designed to help you reach your full potential.
• Our partnership with GUILD supports your continuing education with tuition assistance covering English language learning and various certificate programs, while our leadership development initiatives nurture high-potential talent.
• For those looking to build specialized skills, we offer apprenticeship programs that combine hands-on experience with focused learning.
• We also offer unique benefits like our Smithfield Scholarship Program for employees’ children.
• Smithfield’s Education Reimbursement Program provides financial reimbursement to team members who want to further their formal education by obtaining a GED/High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma or by pursuing an academic degree at an accredited college or university that is not a Guild learning partner.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees