About This Role

Apeel Sciences has an exciting opportunity as an Account Manager - Buyer Relations on our Sales Team. The Account Manager works within the sales team and is responsible for direct sales activity with our retail customers. We expect this individual to master pricing, category management and supply coordination for a particular category. This involves managing performance on a specific category to a small set of retail accounts. The Account Manager tracks sales, establishes relationships and seeks to expand business within a category at a retailer in North America.

What You’ll Do

• Understand Apeel’s business model and strategy to 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 sales for a set of defined customers. Utilize entrepreneurial skills foster sales and attain growth within defined categories.
• Serve as Apeel’s principal working and communicating interface with the customer's buying or category team on defined types of fruit. Analyze and report to the customer on product performance.
• Develop superb working relationships on a day-to-day basis with these customer stakeholders to build both Apeel’s and the customer's sales. Visit the customer's facilities periodically throughout the year, attend customer events and supplier meetings.
• Stay current on industry and retailer activities and trends to promote Apeel in new business and the expansion of existing business. Network within the produce community and develop commercial relationships. 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.

What You Bring

• 2 years of sales or consumer analysis experience ideally with consumer packaged goods or produce business. A substantial portion of that experience dealing with major retail accounts.
• Comfort with leveraging data in the selling process is very important. Successful record of attaining data-driven sales 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 good understanding of the retail business and the supply and distribution chains and retail metrics is more important. Retail experience is produce is desirable.
• A proven track record of successfully managing 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).
• Strong record of orchestrating "team selling", involving company subject matter expertise to achieve goals. Ability to drive key account goals while working in a collaborative environment
• Proven skills in moving seamlessly between supply partners and retail accounts. Ability to assess customer needs and translate them to internal senior leadership team.
• Is personable. Holds very strong business acumen with emphasis on relationship management, presentation and communication skills.
• Savvy interpersonal skills. Foster new business relationships. Demonstrated ability to effectively visualize, understand, and persuasively communicate, at multiple levels, what Apeel can bring to customers and often to suppliers.
• 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, discernment, and sensitivity.
• Unquestionable integrity, curiosity, energy, entrepreneurial and a sense of urgency are traits we’re looking for in this role.
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent professional or military experience ideally required.

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.