Vice President, Customer Development

80 Acres Farms•Hamilton, OH

About The Position

At 80 Acres Farms, we're on a mission to change the way the world eats—and we're looking for people who want to help us do it. We grow pesticide-free salads, herbs, microgreens, and salad kits in smart vertical farms that produce more food with far fewer resources—using up to 95% less water and renewable electricity, with no reliance on weather or seasons. Our produce is available in more than 17,000 retail locations nationwide, including Kroger, Whole Foods, HEB, and The Fresh Market, and reaches food service partners across the country year-round. What makes this possible is a combination of people, technology, and purpose. Our proprietary growing platform, developed by our technology subsidiary, Infinite Acres, provides our teams with real-time data and control over every aspect of the growing environment—making our farms among the most advanced in the world. We operate commercial farms in Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, and Colorado, packhouses in Indiana, Virginia, and Washington, and research and development facilities in Arkansas, Israel, and the Netherlands. We've grown significantly through the acquisitions of Kalera and Soli Organic, and we're just getting started. If you're passionate about sustainability, food, and building something that matters, we'd love to have you on the team. The Impact You'll Make The Vice President, Customer Development will actively lead and deliver the revenue, trade budget, and strategy for a set of strategic accounts at 80 Acres Farms. This job will be integral in leading and building three-year competitive customer plans for accounts such as Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and HEB. This role will lead development of our talent and create an inclusive and engaging environment where all employees can perform their best. This role sits in proximity to segmented customers and blends strategy with hands-on leadership. You’ll report directly to the Chief Growth Officer and be a part of the 80 Acres commercial leadership team. The role of VP Customer Development will have 7 direct reports with varying roles and responsibilities across Account Management, Business analytics, and Customer Service. A key responsibility of this leader will be leveraging the team resources to create a best-in-class customer-facing organization. You’ll also play a critical role in building strong leaders, boosting engagement, and proactively managing compliance and risk across multiple customers, making a visible impact on both people and performance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business related field
10-15 years of business experience in CPG industries
Experience across Sales, customer service, logistics, marketing services, and brand marketing or similar functions
Ability to travel up to 30% - 40% of the time

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree or comparable experience a plus
Top CPG customer experience
Strong experience in customer and shopper differentiation
Previous experience at the Senior Manager level
Strong computer skills and systems literacy
Solid understanding of industry and trade channels

Responsibilities

Ensure the delivery of revenue and scorecard measures for 80 Acres Farms for assigned segmented accounts.
Accountable for overall resource and budgetary management, to ensure profitable business growth via the achievement of specific revenue, market share, brand, pack and distribution targets.
Accountable for talent management as well as talent development of team ensuring resources are aligned in a manner that leverages both 80 Acres Farms and customer strategies.
Manage the collaborative relationship with segmented accounts that delivers customer satisfaction and fosters an environment to achieve 80 Acres Farms business plans.
Develop and manage store format strategies, aligning the sales team as well as cross-functional resources/leaders to support execution and deployment of critical tactics and action plans.
Provide critical customer input into 80 Acres Farms around the development of go-to-market (i.e. new item launches, trade deployment, pack creation, etc.) plans and activity sets. Help develop forecasts, and provide input on new product concepts, initiatives, and brand plans.
Provide leadership around JBP collaborative planning, developing new approaches and processes that ensure better customer planning, input, and alignment as well as development of improved activity sets.
Provide sales functional team leadership and provide voice of customer into the creation/execution of overall functional strategies/enablers, key initiatives, etc.
Position must help represent the future and emerging needs of assigned customers, so 80 Acres Farms is in a better position to compete within our business segments.
Provide direction and best practice leadership to 80 Acres within US.
As a member of the Commercial Leadership Team, providing an overall strategic and tactical direction for the sales function.
This role interacts and aligns across all functions of the organization to drive the proper customer channel strategies and education inclusive of Executive Leadership, Marketing Strategy & Planning, Sales Operations, and Customer Development peer set.