Sr Product Development Specialist

Advantage Solutions•Merchantville, NJ

About The Position

Senior Product Development Specialist At our Company, we grow People, Brands, and Businesses! We are seeking a dynamic Senior Product Development Specialist to manage all aspects of product development including: design development, presentations, P&L and production execution for various lines. Act as customer liaison for issues including PO’s, shipment delays, item sheets, etc. This role is dedicated to multiple product lines and provides significant communication with various regional, corporate and international customers as well as vendor personnel. Take this opportunity to join North America’s leading business solutions provider and build your career working with amazing people in a growing industry! Apply today! The Company is one of North America’s leading sales and marketing agencies specializing in outsourced sales, merchandising, category management and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers and producers of food products and consumer packaged goods. The Company services a variety of trade channels including grocery, mass merchandise, specialty, convenience, drug, dollar, club, hardware, consumer electronics and home centers. We bridge the gap between manufacturers and retailers, providing consumers access to the best products available in the marketplace today. The Senior Product Development Specialist manages all aspects of product development including: design development, presentations, P&L and production execution for various lines. Act as customer liaison for issues including PO’s, shipment delays, item sheets, etc. This role is dedicated to multiple product lines and provides significant communication with various regional, corporate and international customers as well as vendor personnel.

Requirements

Associate's Degree in Marketing or equivalent experience required
5+ years of experience in Food Marketing and Product Development
Excellent written communication and verbal communication skills
Knowledge of product lifecycle and policy and procedure development techniques
Ability to ensure a high level of service and quality is maintained

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience

Responsibilities

Work with suppliers to develop new product offerings based off of market research and analysis of the market place and trade shows trends for emerging products
Responsible for negotiating costs with suppliers
Create packaging and palletization schematics
Manage the in-house art designs for packaging
Work with compliance to ensure nutritional labeling/ingredients are accurate and compliant with applicable regulations
Factor in currency movement/conditions into the product development process and be prepared to react accordingly
Source packaging materials (boxes, displays, ribbons, etc.) and coordinate co-packing needs as required
Must work closely with Logistics to guarantee customer timelines are met
Manage P&Ls, ensuring that all costs in respective P&Ls are aligned and finalized
Create sales presentations with pertinent information including the item specifications, pictures and key selling features
Educate sales team on the details and nuances of the programs and fully equip the salesperson with all data needed to close the sale
Create Item Sheets, Vendor Commitment Forms, Promotional Request Forms (Costco US, Canada, Mexico, International and BJ’s)
Provide samples and sales presentations to customers for review and consideration
Daily interaction with customer regarding PO’s, appointments, deliveries, demo schedules and product interest; also
Label translations
Packaging and ingredient/nutritional regulations
Certification/ Constancia
Provide necessary documentation in order to get government approval to import chocolate items. Necessary documents may include: Sugar Letters, Proof of Country of Origin, Breakdown of Ingredients, Production Flow Chart
Assist VP as needed on various projects
Create IRI syndicated data charts
Conduct bi-yearly channel specific product surveys