About This Role

At Apeel Sciences, we look to nature to help the global food system improve quality, reduce waste, and ensure an abundant future for our planet. The Sales team at Apeel is charged with taking our technology to market and effectively communicating the benefits and value to customers, suppliers, and consumers in order to drive commercial success for the company. We are seeking a Senior Director of Major Accounts and Category Specialist to join our Sales Team. The Senior Director will be responsible for direct sales activity with key major accounts, and you will master pricing, category expansion, and supply coordination globally. You will lead growth, expansion, and initiatives in the area of presenting analysis on account, product and category performance on a regular cadence.

What You’ll Do

• Act as a strategic partner for one of Apeel’s major supplier accounts and work with them to provide data-driven insights that will ensure successful outcomes for all key stakeholders as well as inform new product lines and category opportunities.
• Develop superb working relationships on a day-to-day basis with customer stakeholders, to build both Apeel’s and the customer's sales. 
• Develop a strong understanding of customer's organizational structure and use this knowledge to maneuver effectively. 
• Develop a comprehensive knowledge of Apeel technologies and capabilities and use this knowledge to deliver solutions to customers.
• Orchestrate the resources within Apeel to meet our customer's requirements. Position the advantages of Apeel's products and capabilities to articulate the benefits and possibilities they present.
• Manage the relationship and sales for one of the largest avocado producers in the world. Utilize entrepreneurial skills to close contracts, overcome hurdles and achieve targets for business growth.
• Partner with customer success teams in all global regions and provide avocado specialist support for demand creation with prospects and existing accounts.
• Serve as Apeel’s principal working and communicating interface with the customer's business and operation team leaders. Analyze and report to the customer on product performance, capacity and optimization opportunities and recommendation.
• Stay current on the avocado industry and trends to promote Apeel in new business and the expansion of existing business. Stay keenly aware of the industry and competitors. Network within the produce community and develop commercial relationships with customers, brokers, trade associations and academic institutions. Communicate insights to senior Apeel management.
• Understand the fresh produce landscape and supply developments and trends, reporting on the forces that shift tactical budgets and strategic direction of accounts. Anticipate the direction of the customer's business and develop and present programs, products, and promotional ideas (such as consumer education programs and merchandising) to increase sales volume, growth and profitability.

What You Bring

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent professional or military experience required.
• 10-15 years of avocado operations, analysis and leadership experience within the produce or consumer packaged goods business. A substantial portion of that experience dealing with major retail accounts.
• Successful record of developing data-driven strategic plans and building innovative tactics that help a company grow and achieve progressively sustainable results.
• Experience with produce from multiple growing areas is a plus. Solid knowledge of produce growing, packing, and buying (terms of sales, product quality, and specs) is ideal but not absolutely necessary.
• A deep understanding of the retail business and the supply and distribution chains and retail metrics is more important.
• A proven track record of successfully closing sales and getting contracts signed, building sales growth and profits. Can develop with an entrepreneurial flair, new programs that demonstrate success. Proven ability at selling. Have implemented effective sales processes to meet growth targets with requisite efficiency, scalability, and profitability (in a start-up or fast-growth environment a major plus).
• Ability to drive key account goals while working in a collaborative environment.
• Holds very strong business acumen with emphasis on relationship management, presentation and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively visualize, understand, and persuasively communicate, at multiple levels, what Apeel can bring to customers and often to suppliers.
• Passion for innovative technologies that resolve important problems for our world. Tech savvy - comfortable working with and learning new applications. A "roll-up-your- sleeves", effective attitude in a young organization. Agile enough to be strategic and hands-on enough to ensure execution of strategy and connection with customers / employees.
• Outstanding communication skills. A collaborative style that demonstrates confidence, assertiveness, sound judgment. The ability to quickly develop relationships and generate trust with stakeholders. High emotional intelligence, political discernment, and sensitivity.
• Exceptional leadership skills, demonstrating the ability to inspire and motivate those around you 
• Data-driven mindset, strong technical and business judgment, and proven ability to perform analysis, draw key insights, and form and execute a strategy 

Apeel believes that the scale of our impact is determined by the teams that work with us. As such, we seek to build high-performing teams of people from various experiences and backgrounds who can collectively push our company into new realms. We seek a diverse pool of applicants and consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, Veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status. If you have a special need or disability that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Please note that Apeel Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the event of a recruiter or agency submitting a resume or candidate without a signed agreement being in place, we explicitly reserve the right to pursue and hire such candidates without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Apeel Sciences.