Senior Retail Business Development Manager

Published: 6/14/2022

Job Description

Greater Los Angeles Area | Full-Time, In-Office

Our client is a well-established, privately held company with a strong presence in major U.S. retail. The organization operates in a fast-paced, highly demanding environment with high expectations, direct communication, and significant opportunity for long-term growth.

The Senior Retail Business Development Manager will be responsible for growing existing retail accounts, developing new business, and building strong, strategic relationships with retail buyers and decision-makers.

This is a hands-on commercial role for someone who is exceptionally sharp, highly adaptable, commercially curious, and able to move quickly in a business where market conditions, customer needs, pricing, and priorities can change rapidly.

The successful candidate will develop a deep understanding of each customer’s business, identify opportunities to expand the relationship, and bring forward new ideas, programs, and solutions that drive long-term growth.

Key Responsibilities

Manage and grow strategic retail customer relationships.
Develop a deep understanding of each customer’s business, category priorities, buying patterns, challenges, goals, and growth opportunities.
Identify opportunities to increase penetration within existing accounts through additional products, programs, promotions, and customer-specific solutions.
Develop new retail business and establish relationships with prospective customers.
Meet directly with retail buyers and decision-makers to present programs, negotiate, solve problems, and build long-term partnerships.
Develop customer-specific business plans designed to increase sales, improve profitability, and strengthen the overall relationship.
Analyze customer-specific sales data, market conditions, pricing, promotional activity, product mix, and competitive trends to identify growth opportunities.
Participate in pricing and volume decisions in coordination with leadership.
Stay closely connected to day-to-day account activity while maintaining a broader strategic view of the customer and business.
Work closely with Account Management, operations, supply chain, accounting, and leadership to ensure customer programs are executed successfully.
Respond quickly and effectively to changing customer needs, business conditions, and time-sensitive issues.
Prepare and deliver presentations, business reviews, proposals, and customer recommendations.
Use Excel, CRM systems, retailer portals, reporting tools, and other business technology to support customer strategy and commercial decision-making.
Attend customer meetings, industry events, and trade shows as needed.
Take on increasing responsibility as the business and customer base continue to grow.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be:

Exceptionally sharp, quick-thinking, and commercially minded.
Able to absorb information rapidly and make sound decisions in a fast-moving environment.
Naturally curious and willing to dig deeply into a customer’s business rather than simply manage current activity.
Skilled at identifying opportunities that may not be immediately obvious.
Confident, polished, and credible in front of retail buyers and senior decision-makers.
Strong at both relationship-building and commercial analysis.
Highly adaptable and comfortable changing direction quickly when conditions shift.
Decisive, resourceful, and solutions-oriented.
Comfortable operating in a high-expectation environment with direct feedback and highly engaged leadership.
Professional and emotionally steady under pressure.
Strong at managing multiple priorities without losing attention to detail.
Interested in building a long-term career and taking on broader responsibility over time.

Qualifications

Significant progressive experience in retail sales or business development, ideally within produce, fresh foods, food and beverage, CPG, or another high-volume retail-driven environment.
Demonstrated experience working directly with major retail buyers and decision-makers.
Proven success growing existing accounts and developing new business.
Strong understanding of retail sales performance metrics and customer economics.
Ability to learn and understand rapidly changing market conditions.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to use customer and market data to guide sales strategy.
Excellent presentation, negotiation, communication, and relationship-building skills.
Strong computer skills, including Excel, CRM platforms, retailer systems, reporting tools, and presentation software.
Ability to learn new systems, products, customers, and business processes quickly.
Strong follow-through and personal accountability.
Demonstrated career stability and interest in a long-term growth opportunity.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field preferred.

\nCompany Description

Our thoughtful, confidential search process ensures alignment not only in performance, but in culture, delivering long-term hiring success.

Company Description

Joe Produce Search is the produce industry’s executive recruiting partner, connecting organizations with the leaders who drive growth. With deep industry expertise and a people-first approach, we specialize in placing high-impact talent—from C-suite to sales—across the produce sector and adjacent industries.\n\n\nOur thoughtful, confidential search process ensures alignment not only in performance, but in culture, delivering long-term hiring success.