Customer Business Manager

Lactalis USA; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Insurance contributions

Retirement plans

Paid time off from day one

Education reimbursement

Training and career development

Job summary

Lactalis USA is hiring a Customer Business Manager in a fully remote role with a preference for candidates located in the central U.S. You will lead the development and execution of customer-specific strategies to maximize growth with accounts like UNFI Conventional, Cub Foods, Redners, and others.

Collaborating with Sales Planning, RGM, and broker networks, you will drive top-line revenue, optimize trade spending, and analyze syndicated data to inform category management and distribution gains.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of sales and sales management experience in CPG/food.
• Direct and broker/distributor network management experience preferred.
• Experience with key accounts and omnichannel strategies is a plus.
• Strong analytical, negotiation, and communication skills required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute customer-specific strategies to maximize growth.
• Manage top accounts and coordinate with cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate with Sales Planning, RGM, and broker networks.
• Analyze market data to inform category strategies and shelf share.
• Monitor performance and optimize trade spend and forecasts.

Skills

Sales experience

Analytical skills

Negotiation

Communication

Time management

Leadership potential

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Ready for more than just a job? Build a career with purpose.

At Lactalis in the USA, we’re committed to providing meaningful opportunities for our people to learn, grow, and thrive—whether you’re just starting your journey with us or looking to take the next step in your career. From day one, we offer the tools and support to help you succeed.

As the world leader in dairy, Lactalis is a family‑owned company with over 85,000 pragmatic and ambitious professionals across the globe. Each day, we’re proud to produce award-winning dairy products that bring people together.

In the US, we proudly offer an unrivaled house of beloved brands, including Galbani® Italian cheeses and ricotta, Président® specialty cheeses and butters, Kraft® natural and grated cheeses, Breakstone’s® cottage cheese, Cracker Barrel®, Black Diamond® cheddar, and Parmalat® milk. Our yogurt portfolio includes siggi’s®, Stonyfield Organic®, Brown Cow™, Oui®, Yoplait®, Go-Gurt®, :ratio®, Green Mountain Creamery®, and Mountain High®, along with a growing family of ethnic favorites like Karoun®, Gopi®, and Arz®.

At Lactalis, we live by our core values - Ambition, Engagement, and Simplicity. We foster a workplace where innovation thrives, diverse perspectives are celebrated, and everyone’s unique background and ideas are valued.

Even if you don’t meet every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We want to hear about your PASSION, your STORY, and how your EXPERTISE can help us shape the future of dairy.

From your PASSION to ours

Lactalis US Yogurt, part of the Lactalis family of companies, is currently hiring a Customer Business Manager. This is a fully remote position, with a preference for candidates located in the central U.S. to support balanced geographic coverage across our customer accounts.

The Customer Business Manager leads the development and execution of customer‑specific strategies to maximize growth, align with corporate priorities, and deliver top-line and bottom-line targets. Account management responsibilities include UNFI Conventional, Cub Foods, Redners, Skogen’s, AdMax and other designated wholesale and indirect customers. This role drives Lactalis US Yogurt’s commercial strategy through strong, collaborative relationships across direct accounts and broker networks.

Key Responsibilities For This Position Include

• Develop and maintain strategic relationships to manage and grow assigned retail, wholesale, and indirect accounts, including UNFI Conventional, Cub Foods, Redners, Skogen’s, AdMax, and other designated wholesale and indirect customers.
• Take personal accountability for achieving targeted sales budgets, top-line revenue, and bottom-line profitability through competitive market awareness and deep customer understanding.
• Identify customer needs and align them with Lactalis US Yogurt product and service strategies to build mutually beneficial business plans.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales Planning, RGM, and cross-departmental teams to lead end-to-end sales planning, promotional execution, assortment optimization, and new item launches.
• Partner closely with Revenue Growth Management (RGM) to optimize trade spending efficiency, maintain active ownership of trade management systems, and evaluate ROI on promotional investments.
• Establish performance goals, oversee execution, track performance, and develop tools to hold assigned HQ broker teams accountable to corporate sales targets.
• Analyze syndicated market data (Circana/IRI, CRISP) and customer portal metrics to identify consumer insights, evaluate trends, and apply category management principles that drive distribution and share-of-shelf gains.
• Monitor, evaluate, and report continuous sales performance against targets, proactively requesting organizational support as needed.
• Lead cross-functional discussions between customer supply chain teams and internal operations to optimize forecasting, order fulfillment, and service levels.
• Manage and participate in regional trade shows to maximize sales opportunities, strengthen industry presence, and ensure optimal return on event investments.

Requirements

From your STORY to ours

Qualified Applicants Will Contribute The Following

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of sales and sales management experience within the CPG/food industry.
• Experience in direct sales as well as broker and distributor network management preferred.
• Direct sales experience with key accounts (UNFI Conventional, Cub Foods, Redners, Skogen’s, AdMax, among others) strongly preferred.
• Background in Category Management, Omnichannel Marketing, or syndicated data usage (Circana/IRI) preferred.
• Experience working within a fast-paced or entrepreneurial company environment considered an asset.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) required.
• Strong analytical, negotiation, and personal selling skills required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a proven ability to collaborate effectively within a management team.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize tasks, meet tight deadlines, and adapt in a changing work environment.
• High degree of self-initiative with potential for ongoing career progression and leadership growth.
• Ability to flex schedule as needed to accommodate travel and customer business demands.

Benefits and Compensation

• We support insurance costs significantly
• contribute generously to retirement plans
• offer Paid Time Off from day one
• providing training and development opportunities, including Education Reimbursement
• Join us and grow your career

Lactalis is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. Further, any division of the Company that is an Affinitive Action Employer will comply with all related legal obligations.