WorldPantry.com
Vice President of New Partner Development
Remote Position
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the V.P. of New Partner Development will be a key member of the senior leadership team and will contribute to developing our overall business plan while being the key driver of the strategy and execution for developing long-term partnerships with new brand partners. This individual will be charged with prospecting for, qualifying, negotiating, and onboarding prospective new partners to grow the overall business and its profitability. They will also expand business with additional brands that current partners own, as well as increase usage of World Pantry services and offerings.
The V.P. of New Partner Development listens to prospective and current partner needs and shares communication about those needs/wants, as well as evaluating new business opportunities with current and prospective partners. To this end they will research and explore additional services, capabilities and solutions for current and new partners that could drive incremental revenue and profitability. This individual serves as the initial “face of World Pantry’ and takes the lead in building the positive reputation and awareness of the company to potential partners.
The V.P. of New Partner Development will work close with the Vice President of Ecommerce & Partner Management and other senior team members on strategy and product offerings. The ideal candidate will also be a key contributor to the development of our organization and culture.
Specifically, the successful candidate will be responsible for creating and managing our strategy to develop and close long-term partnerships with key CPG brands, and will also serve as the senior most relationship manager. This is a consultative, conceptual selling process that can often have a longer sales cycle with multiple stakeholders or influencers ranging from sales and marketing managers up to the C-Suite.
SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:
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Identify, qualify and build relationships with prospects to ensure a strong, qualified pipeline, as well as providing key insights on the competitive market.
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Clearly define our most compelling selling propositions and develop presentations and other communication tools to help educate prospects and partners on the value of working with World Pantry and building a direct to consumer business.
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Initiating and building relationships with key prospects at multiple levels in the prospect’s organization.
- Cultivating relationships with prospects, uncovering their needs and offering World Pantry solutions.
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Providing proposals to prospective partners and negotiating contracts to close new business. To this end, coordinating with internal departments for onboarding.
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Upselling services and capabilities to current partners.
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Identifying, communicating, and evaluating prospective new services/capabilities for building incremental revenue and profit. Coordinating with internal departments for new offerings and assisting in those launches.
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Productizing and pricing services and capabilities in cooperation with other internal team members.
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Work closely with the marketing directors in providing guidance and direction to help build the business: during negotiations with new partners; post-signing hand-off; and in developing ongoing programs to grow the business.
- Active participation at key industry events and trade shows, i.e. Natural Products Expo.
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Develop projections for new business and its potential impact on margin and expenses.
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Help manage strategic relationships with our current CPG brand partners, which may include attending business reviews, planning sessions and senior level meetings.
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Understand the Marketing programs that World Pantry is executing on behalf of partners and the value those programs provide. Ability to present and talk through Marketing programs, including ROI, costs, analysis, and execution.
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As we grow, oversee the hiring and management of a Business Development team. Provide ongoing training and mentorship to members of your team.
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Build and sustain collaborative relationships at multiple levels in the company.
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Have a positive impact on the culture of the company.
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Live by the vision and values of WP.
The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and attributes:
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A proven ability to penetrate large CPG organizations and sell at the executive level. Willing and able to sell through all levels of the organization to close the sale.
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A proven track record of closing significant business and creating strong, lasting relationships.
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Drive for Results - Credibility earned through delivering results. Balances urgent and effective action, commitment to excellence, taking initiative to resolve problems and work quality.
- A strong strategic thinker and negotiator with a record of evolving and improving revenue growing strategies in a dynamic marketplace.
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A strong understanding of DTC ecommerce websites, including the essential aspects of creating and operating a successful store (i.e. UX, assortment, pricing, design, referral structure, promotional tools, email, SMS, Google Analytics). Including what types of products can be successful.
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Familiarity with the technology to build and operate the stores and can explain it simplistically.
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Knowledgeable of the CPG industry (particularly food), its supply chain, pricing and margin structure, main channels of distribution, how DTC fits into the industry, knowledge of other ecommerce providers business models, etc.
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A strong collaborator and team builder with cross functional peers. Truly contributes to building and maintaining a high performing leadership team.
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The ability to drive innovative thinking, propensity to think beyond walls of current business to uncover new areas of growth.
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15+ years of progressive sales or business development experience. 3+ years in a senior level sales leadership role of a company with revenues of $60+ million.
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10+ years’ experience in technology driven solutions.
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Entrepreneurial Spirit – an out of the box thinker who is able to figure out how to successfully achieve goals with limited resources. Launch new ideas through passionate curiosity and the ability to adapt and lead change.
Effective Communication - - Communicate clearly and effectively at all levels within the company, external partners and customers. Display strong verbal and written presentation skills including the ability to communicate complex ideas in a simple way and to tailor key messages and presentation style to multiple audiences.
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A service mindset where you naturally strive to provide outstanding service to our partners.
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B.A. or B.S. degree required. An MBA is a plus.
Within their first twelve months, the V.P. of New Partner Development will have accomplished the following:
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Partnered effectively with the Chief Executive Officer and other members of the senior leadership team to grow the business and is viewed as someone who is committed to helping the team reach their goals.
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Developed and implemented highly effective sales strategy and process with key positioning and messaging, presentations, and an effective outreach process.
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Personally has signed $10+ million annualized in profitable new business.
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Developed pipeline with $10 million in potential new business. Built strong relationship with existing partners and new prospects.
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Developed strong senior level relationships with our partners. Alignment with partner executives on goals and strategies for the business.
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High company Net Promoter Scores (NPS) scores from partner executives.
Expected annual base compensation for this position is $125,000 to $190,000 plus bonus, dependent upon experience.