Now Hiring - Manufacturing Assistant Ingredients Director, Business Development in Buffalo, NY

Lactalis is currently seeking candidates to join our Ingredients team in Buffalo, NY.

Lactalis Group, the world leader in dairy, is a family-owned business with more than 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals worldwide, committed to providing healthy and delicious dairy products that bring people together every day. At Lactalis, our core values of AMBITION, ENGAGEMENT, and SIMPLICITY are at the heart of everything we do.

If you’re looking for a unique experience with a company that offers strong brands, professional expertise, and a dynamic work environment that champions entrepreneurial spirt, hands-on responsibility and real opportunity for career development, we want to hear from you!

At Lactalis, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace and we know that our candidates come from many different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job posting, we still encourage you to apply and share with us your STORY, your PASSION, and your EXPERTISE! You may be just the perfect candidate for this or other roles within our company.

From your PASSION to ours

To work as an active member of the ingredients sales team, by assisting the Vice President of Sales in managing the business and supporting the team. The assistant director role is two-fold: pursuing new business development, while providing excellent sales service, & support to current customers by managing the business daily. Lactalis Ingredients provides a large portfolio of dairy ingredients to satisfy the feed, food, and nutrition industry. Focus of the individual will be on the following ingredients: Whey proteins, caseins, whey products. Will work in close collaboration with the VP to actively propose development & pricing strategies as the relay of market conditions & evolutions. To create more value for the division, the individual will have to demonstrate agility and flexibility within the Lactalis Ingredients Solutions initiative (turnkey solutions initiative) as well as any new initiatives associated to the ingredients business. A new dimension to the business is our B2C initiative with UP2U products (Drinks & Powders) where its expertise in proteins and its experience with the Sport nutrition should help drive proper decisions in the go-to-market strategy related to UP2U.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Will work closely with current customer base by periodic territory visits, domestic and abroad; service and expand sales to current customers
• Prospect and call-on potential new customers to establish accounts; responsible to follow-up on leads provided by sales team and web site
• First line of contact with domestic and international customers; both management and staff, for logistics, documentation. Relay of customer concerns or requirements to logistics and customer service
• Work with Finance and Customer Service on customers’ credit issues and payments, determining the price strategy according to the domestic market conditions
• Responsible for gathering and reporting of market intelligence in assigned territories
• Will attend regional, national and international trade events in an effort to develop new business and cement current business partnerships with customers
• Actively develop new sales approach in coordination with VP focusing on distributors strategy to leverage relationships to reach a wider customer base for the following initiatives: Turnkey solutions, Less Than Truck Load initiative, LATAM initiative, Feed / Pet food initiative, etc.
• Support the Vice President- Ingredients in the management of key accounts
• Develop cross functional initiatives internal (LAG) / external (Lactalis Ingredients) to accelerate sales of Lactalis’ product portfolio (Pronativ®, Lactowell®, Sensadairy®, etc…) with retail & foodservice players providing turnkey solutions using in-house technologies / production support or external resources such as co-packers
• Develop cross functional initiatives for our B2C initiative UP2U using the LAN network to accompany the sales development of UP2U.
• Will develop strong operational knowledge of the company, including working with the Plant Managers to understand production and capacity issues
• Will respond to customer complaints and problems in the manner specified by company policy with other members of sales management and Quality Assurance, if necessary
• Responsible for submission of timely reports to supervisor which accurately reflects activity and describes future priorities
• Provide support on other projects as needed, and accomplish all tasks as appropriately assigned or requested
• Occasionally work with other departments to achieve overall company objectives
• Travel (30-50%) and extended or off work hours may be required
• This description reflects management’s assignment of essential functions, it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned
• To fulfill these responsibilities, tools such as a computer, I-Pad, and / or allowance(s) may be provided.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these Essential Duties and Responsibilities

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; preferably Business Management, Sales negotiation, or relatable discipline
• 5+ years’ working experience (preferably in a sales capacity with dairy experience) with related experience in B2B / Industrial sales, or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Preferred experience in dairy market dynamics as well as a technical background as food scientist (ideally in dairy science) or strong exposure in that field
• Strong administrative skills and the ability to develop strong working relationships with all major functions within the company due to the cross-functional & intercultural character of the ingredients division
• Preferred experience in B2C in the Sport nutrition / Food nutrition sector

Specialized Knowledge

• Strategic vision: ability to develop customers, industry and regional focus strategies and set priorities so as to achieve the business objectives of profitability, inventory management in line with Strategic business plan
• Dairy & Dairy Protein market / business expertise: Capability to analyze facts, data, market trends and business indicators (competitors, customers, category, environment) to identify key drivers (opportunities & threats), to quickly readjust strategies to best maneuver in a consistently changing / versatile dairy environment in conjunction with the Vice President of Sales & Marketing
• Sales execution & negotiation: ability to anticipate, plan and execute sales initiatives in order to leverage best pricing strategies to maximize profit

Skills/Abilities

• Business acumen: Keenness and speed in understanding, anticipating, and deciding in a versatile dairy environment. Extensive experience in dealing with commercial matters that yields a prompt and appropriate response to a consistently evolving dairy markets & emerging alternatives (new competitors’ production capabilities, dairy protein alternatives)
• Strategic thinking: Provide a holistic and systematic perspective on strategic issues and leverage them to articulate and give clear feedback on current situation to best deliver results
• Analytical thinking: analyze rigorously data and market conditions, to identify and analyze potential causes/effects to take the most effective decision
• Bi-Lingual: English/Spanish (French+)
• Computer Skills – MS Outlook and contact management systems, Excel, Word, PowerPoint