The Opportunity:

Continued growth in the USA is essential to Maple Leaf Foods achieving its goals. We are focused on partnering with the right customers to build both branded and private label businesses in the USA and have built a high performing team to support this objective.  The Customer Business Development Manager will work with a Costco Headquarters focusing on new business development. 

Any MLF team member interested in being considered for this role are encouraged to apply online by October 30. Applications received beyond that date are not guaranteed consideration.

Snapshot of a Day-in-the-Life:

Sales Management

• Meet aggressive sales volume growth objectives in processed meats & frozen foods categories
• Meet internal objectives for margin, trade spending, promotional execution, and market penetration
• Identify customer needs and opportunities for MLF to create shared value.
• Understand customer needs and MLF’s capabilities and find opportunities with mutual benefit
• Make sales plans, prioritize targets, make presentations, manage communications and plan execution
• Be the steward of MLF’s customer relationships and build trust with key customer personnel
• Negotiate and execute pricing agreements with clients in coordination with marketing, revenue, and sales management
• Work with others MLF teammates to enable US sales growth; potentially assist or lead sales with other US Retail customers

Project Management

• Define business cases for projects and support internal proposals and processes as necessary
• Work with customer personnel to ensure appropriate awareness, planning, and execution for on-time delivery customer sales projects
• Work with cross functional teams to ensure we’re best positioned to meet customer expectations
• Work with stakeholders in marketing, finance, product development, and commercial execution to monitor progress and risks regarding our customer projects

Product and Customer Expert

• Strong working knowledge of RTE processed meats, particularly sliced meats for retail
• Leverage understanding of competitor businesses, products, and retail customers
• Act as advocate for US customers and provide informed perspective for org understanding and benefit
• Demonstrate subject matter expertise for markets, meat protein, and sustainability issues
• Assist in forecasting customer demand

Provide Customer/Category/Business Insights

• Leverage data and insights to covert sales opportunities into private label and branded business
• Use syndicated industry and customer-specific data in analysis and recommendations to grow sales
• Identify business improvement opportunities: find gaps, patterns, areas to improve customer performance or margins
• Develop data-driven stories to improve customers’ businesses via assortment, placement, pricing and promotional tactics
• Help sales and marketing develop and improve tactics to achieve goals aligned to US Retail and key customer priorities
• Advocate for customer perspectives as org develops sales strategies and innovation SKUs for US Retail
• Collect and report competitive observations from each region to understand opportunities and threats

What You’ll Bring:

•     7+ years of successful sales experience in perishable food or meat businesses
• University degree or college diploma preferably in a business or Marketing concentration
• Deep understanding of what it takes to grow business with US grocery retailers and distributors
• Functional knowledge of US competitors and key customers in retail space in the Northeastern US
• Experience managing brokers or leading teams
• A CPG sales mindset with demonstrated value-based selling skills
• Ability to generate actionable insights from data and translate insights into customer-facing selling stories
• Base level technical expertise in sliced and processed meats
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent organization and planning skills with strong attention to detail
• Passion, learning agility, and an entrepreneurial spirit
• Understanding of P&L statements and the factors that influence profitability in a business
• Personal commitment to help Maple Leaf Foods grow and become the most sustainable protein company on Earth

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

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.

Disclaimer:  Please note that salaries posted on sites other than the MLF Careers Page are not a reflection of Maple Leaf Foods and are an estimated salary range provided by that particular job board.  Maple Leaf Foods offers competitive wages and an attractive total rewards package, which will be discussed during an interview with our Talent Team.

#LI-Hybrid