The Opportunity:

The Director, Foodservice Strategy & Insights is an exciting opportunity to help the Foodservice function advance our credo to ‘build a growth culture, rooted in fundamentals and discipline, with superior customer partnerships’.  Reporting to the Vice President Marketing - Foodservice, this dynamic role fuses strategic planning, business and insights analysis and new thinking to drive the growth against key North American Foodservice Strategies including:  

1. Leveraging our Sustainability platform to grow with new and existing customers
2. Expanding our footprint in the US
3. Growing our brands through identifying new and emerging Innovation and share growth opportunities
4. Identifying opportunities to merry our internal capabilities with new and existing market opportunities
5. Building programs and communication platforms that continue to set MLF apart in the Industry

In addition to the above, the role will also be responsible for driving growth (topline sales and profit) for some of our core Maple Leaf categories. 

The position requires a highly strategic, action-oriented commercial leader who has demonstrated ability to inspire, gain followership and mobilize teams in pursuit of our growth objectives in a fast paced, customer-focused environment. With a passion for driving growth and out of the box thinking, the ideal candidate will be able to leverage data and insights to build actionable growth plans, problem solve and simplify complex opportunities to develop creative solutions that meet the needs of our Customers and end consumers in the ever-evolving Foodservice Industry.

Snapshot of a Day-in-the-Life:

• Build strategies, scope opportunities, and build plans to grow our Sustainable Meats platform with Foodservice customers across North America
• Leverage data to identify opportunities and build action plans to dramatically expand our footprint in the US
• Lead branded share growth initiatives including quarterly share summits, quarterly share tracking/scorecarding and identifying new opportunities for branded growth
• Work with Supply Chain, Optimization and other cross-functional teams to identify new opportunities to leverage internal capacity and capabilities
• Leverage data identify emerging consumer, competitive and macroeconomic trends; proactively identify business issues and build plans to action against them to drive growth
• Build programs that further establish Maple Leaf Foods as a leader within the Industry with respect to Marketing Programs, Social/Digital Media, and Culinary support
• Along with the Category Marketing Manager, lead all marketing and product development efforts for categories within their scope of responsibility
• Build and execute plans to deliver against both sales and profit growth targets for some of our core Maple Leaf categories

What You’ll Bring:

• Post-secondary degree required
• Previous Strategy, Marketing and/or Sales experience required
• Must strongly demonstrate our Maple Leaf Leadership values
• Demonstrated personal leadership skills
• A natural curiosity with demonstrated problem-solving skills
• Strong analytical skills, detail-oriented with a propensity to learn new systems
• Excellent presentation skills with above average influencing and negotiating skills
• Computer literacy mandatory in Excel, PowerPoint, Word
• Must be driven to win in a team environment
• Excellent planning and organizational skills and ability to manage multiple projects
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Must be able to provide strong, executable category recommendations to maximize profit
• Strong project and time management skills are required
• Excellent communication skills and an ability to build relationships
• Must be proactive and performance driven, have a bias for action and be able to work under pressure in a fast paced environment
• Excellent English written and oral communication skills.

What We Offer at Maple Leaf Foods:

• Being part of a high-performance, people-focused company that has an inspiring and unique vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, and a deep commitment to sustainable protein across North America.
• An inclusive company culture and a work environment that keeps our people safe, rewards excellence, and empowers everyone to learn and contribute their best.
• A hybrid work model that embraces remote work for eligible roles, helping team members achieve work-life balance—combining the best of both spending time working remotely, benefitting from focus time, and purposeful collaboration in the office setting. 
• Competitive Health and Wellness benefits that offer flexibility to meet your individual or family needs, including programs focused on improving mental health and wellbeing. These benefits start on your first day of employment.
• Defined Contribution Pension Plan with company matching that starts on your first day of employment.
• Learning and development opportunities, including workshops, ‘speaker series’ events, and resources that allow you to develop your skills and progress your career.
• Comprehensive tuition reimbursement program that supports continuous learning and development of our team members through investment in eligible degrees, diplomas, professional certification, or trades programs.
• Supporting our deep commitment to community impact, we offer up to two paid days annually to volunteer at a cause of your choice.

About Us:

We’re a carbon neutral food company on a purposeful journey to Raise the Good in Food through better nutrition, safer food and workplaces, more humane animal care, and environmental sustainability efforts that protect our planet. We care about our communities and commit to reducing food insecurity in Canada. Join us on the journey. Let’s build a better future, together.

We’re passionate about food. For more than 100 years, we’ve made delicious, healthy protein that Canadians love under iconic national and regional brands, like Maple Leaf®, Schneiders®, and Greenfield Natural Meat Co.® We’re on a journey to become the most sustainable protein company – not just in Canada – but on earth.

• We are carbon neutral.
• We are one of the only food companies in Canada to set science-based targets.
• We aim to reduce our environmental footprint by 50% by 2025.

We’re a global food company with more than 13,500 team members. We operate sites in 20+ locations across Canada. We also have locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and do business in Asia.

A diverse and inclusive work environment

Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision and living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values. We believe in building, investing in, recognizing, and rewarding remarkable people who value an inclusive workplace, embrace all forms of diversity, and commit to including every voice in our collaborative environment. We’re so much stronger when we know we’re accepted and valued for who we are and what we each bring to the workplace.

We embrace a strong, values-based culture

Our eight Leadership Values are our north star. They guide the decisions we make for all our stakeholders: our consumers, our customers, our people, our communities, our shareholders, and the environment.

• Doing What’s Right
• Shared Value
• High Performance
• Diverse and Inclusive Teams
• Disciplined Decision Making
• Our Accountability
• Intense Curiosity
• Transparency and Humility

Maple Leaf Foods is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all our employees.  As part of this commitment, we have adopted a number of COVID-19 safety measures, including a requirement for all employees to be fully vaccinated by March 31, 2022 and to show proof of vaccination.   In keeping with this policy, successful candidates will need to provide proof of vaccination by March 31, 2022 (or prior to their first day of work if the start date is after March 31, 2022).  We will of course consider accommodations for anyone unable to be vaccinated following human rights and other applicable laws
We thank all applicants for their interest in exploring employment opportunities with Maple Leaf Foods; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Applicants may be subject to a background check and must meet the security criteria designated for the position.
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision, living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values, and delivering winning results. Accommodation is available upon request for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment and assessment process and when hired; please contact our Talent Attraction Team at accommodations@mapleleaf.com.

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