Senior Manager, Customer Development

Aspire Bakeries is a North American baking company with a leadership position in specialty frozen baked goods. Formed from leading bakery companies, its innovative food portfolio includes breads, artisan breads, buns, cookies, donuts, muffins and pastries from beloved brands like La Brea Bakery®, Otis Spunkmeyer®, and Oakrun Farm Bakery®. With 13 bakeries in North America, we are committed to driving innovation, predicting upcoming consumer trends and flavors, and exceeding our customers’ expectations. Aspire Bakeries champions the values of Integrity, Ownership, Customer Focus, Creativity and Care to help us deliver on People Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Collaboration.

The Senior Manager is a leader that will be instrumental in maintaining and enhancing current customer service levels with one of our top partnerships. Will oversee forecasting, product development of new foods and execution strategies; all while maintaining and protecting the growth of our business with key National Accounts. This position reports directly to the DVP of Customer Development / National Accounts and will help manage an existing customer base as well as assist in development of new customer opportunities.  

Responsibilities:

• Overall Account responsibility for targeted accounts. Assist to obtain and exceed current budget and profit goals. 

• Manage existing business through continuous improvements of opportunities at the bakery and customer levels. 

• Assist the DVP in management of product development process and commercialization with internal cross functional teams. (Finance, R&D and Project Management.) 

• Assist the DVP in development initiatives based on capacity and customer needs to gain incremental sales. 

• Develop key initiatives and items that fit within our margin guidelines and customer’s needs. 

• Assist in managing product forecasting and roll outs of new foods and market launches. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including demand planning, R&D, project management, customer service, bakery operations to pursue ideas, projects and opportunities that have the biggest sales and margin potential for specific Large National Accounts.  

• Assist in overseeing target customers in RFP’s in all categories of our baked goods portfolio.  

• Raise awareness of account issues, opportunities and results through weekly customer specific calls and constant discussion horizontally and vertically throughout the organization. 

• Assist the DVP at any market visits, R&D cuttings, customer launches and bakery line trials. 

• Develop deep knowledge of our Bakeries, Capabilities, Categories, and Food handling. 

• Interact with other departments in the organization to ensure the proper management of customer requirements. 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Communication, Culinary or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is a plus. 

• Minimum of 6-10 years of National Account experience with a proven record of success.   

• Proficient in MS Office, specifically PowerPoint, Word, and Excel. 

• Must have excellent communication skills and be able to collaborate well with others. 

• The successful candidate will have a heavy focus on key national accounts to help maintain and strategically grow the business. 

• Previous, demonstrated success in achieving incremental product placement with major accounts resulting from specific initiatives. 

• Candidate must be based near a major airport for easy access to flights, domestic and international. 

• Prior bakery experience and or a culinary background preferred. Excellent interpersonal and written and spoken communication skills needed. 

• 25% to 50% travel is required. 

Salary Range: $110,000 - $135,000

Aspire Bakeries LLC values the contribution each Team Member brings to our organization. The final determination of a successful candidate’s starting pay will vary based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to location, shift, education, skill, and experience within the job or the industry. The pay scale listed for this position is generally for candidates that meet the specified qualifications and requirements listed In this specific job description. Additional pay may be determined for those candidates that exceed these specified qualifications and requirements. We provide a competitive compensation package that recognizes your experience, credentials, and education alongside a robust benefits program to meet your needs. For union-represented postings, wage rates and ranges are governed by applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Aspire Bakeries is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.