Now Hiring - Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. - National Account Manager in Lancaster, NY

Owned by 260+ family farms, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is a food and beverage company that has offered innovative, award-winning, high-quality dairy products since 1965. Our progressive cooperative’s success is based on a commitment to quality in everything we do that extends to every stage of operations, from our farms to the consumer. Our product offerings include milk, flavored milk, yogurt, dip, sour cream, cottage cheese, Italian cheese, and ice cream mix marketed under the Upstate Farms®, Bison®, Milk for Life®, and Intense Milk®brands.

Work Location: In Office

Job purpose

The National Account Manager is an important member of the retail team and Commercial Division of Upstate Niagara Cooperative. We are looking for a candidate that will help us grow our successful national private label and branded retail business with both existing and new customers. You will collaborate with a cross functional team including Marketing, R&D, Planning, Operations, Logistics and Finance to achieve outstanding results for UNC and our customers.

Duties and responsibilities

• Manage assigned Retail National Accounts and uncover opportunities for mutual growth
• Become an expert on Upstate Niagara’s product lines and capabilities
• Uncover, evaluate and present new business opportunities for fit with Upstate Niagara’s capabilities and priorities
• Participate in annual budget process and track progress on a monthly basis
• Manage customer pricing and P&Ls
• Participate in monthly S&OP process
• Assist planning team with development of item level forecasts to maximize service levels
• Coordinate successful new item launches
• Leverage available data to draw insights, develop strategy and measure results
• Understand increasingly complex customer requirements and educate internal stakeholders on details
• Support customer relations team with order issues and escalations
• Support Accounts Receivable team to ensure customers remain within agreed upon terms
• Represent UNC in a positive manner at Trade shows and events within the dairy and retail industries

Qualifications

• Team player with a great attitude
• Passion for food and food industry. Must enjoy and be an advocate for dairy products
• Hungry to learn and high degree of curiosity
• Creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Energized by a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work independently without supervision but with support from management and team members
• Experience working with national retail accounts preferred
• Solid computer skills and adaptable to new technology, ERP systems, customer portals and sourcing platforms
• Excellent communication skills
• Solid financial and business acumen
• Ability to travel approximately 25% of the time as needed, which can vary throughout the year
• Physical job location will be at our Corporate Office - Lancaster, New York

Education

• Bachelor’s degree or similar
• Minimum 5-8 years related experience

Working conditions

• Interpersonal Climate: Upstate Niagara is a company that values professional, cordial, quality communication and collaboration among staff members and takes place via a coordinated team approach that includes other departments. The ideal candidate will be willing and excited to join the team and support its efforts to generate innovative quality products.
• Physical Climate: This position sometimes requires the candidate to enter wet and/ or humid conditions with mild to moderate noise levels. Safety training and protective equipment (such as ear plugs and steel toe shoes) are required and provided by the company.

Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity for all, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)