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One of the coolest CPG ecommerce jobs around!
HARRY’S COMMENTS: I’m looking for a Director of Ecommerce for one of America’s premier CPG Companies that’s the market leader of their category. The role will be based in either New Jersey or Florida — in sunny West Palm Beach.
The client is in the ingredients business, and theirs is a $2.5 billion market at retail. You know the company and you love their brands. You have since you were a kid. And I’d bet money that you have their flagship product in your kitchen right now. This particular ingredient is everywhere — and it has been since 500 BC.
The company markets the most comprehensive line of natural, organic, and fair trade products in their category. The firm is the leading industrial supplier for food manufacturers, and it offers a complete line in the food service industry as well. 50% of the company’s sales are to CPG manufacturers. 30% of the company’s sales are to retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Costco, etc. 15% ends up in foodservice and the balance is in specialty ingredients.
“How much is a CEO’s time worth?”
For this search, I spent 140 minutes on the phone with the company’s CEO. Not the VP of HR. Not the CMO. The CEO. The top guy. His attitude was simple …
“Wherever our type of product is sold online, we should be right in the middle of the fray.”
“It’s a scary world out there. Walmart is pairing up with Uber. And now they have a partnership with Google Express. Amazon acquired Whole Foods and is cutting prices. You have juggernauts out there working hard to take friction out of the conversion funnel and take control of the last mile.”
“I want this Director of Ecommerce to be the point person on these issues and what they mean to us. We realize that currently, the ecommerce channel is under-penetrated for our business. We want this new Director to help us sell through Walmart / Jet, Amazon, Kroger, and so forth.”
“It’s going to be complicated.”
“For Amazon, we understand that there are multiple strategies we could pursue, including: 1P; Multiple Authorized 3P; Exclusive 3P; Pure 3P; and Blended 1P/3P. Each of those strategies will have a very different impact on many aspects of our overall business, such as pricing, margins, the impact of discounts, control over branding, and customer service.”
“We’re looking for someone with at least seven years experience who can help us understand these trade-offs.”
“They’ll need to understand how our products are sold in various channels, as well as what our customers expectations are within those channels. We’d like to use ecommerce to help us sell to our customers what they want … packed the way they want … priced the way they want … and shipped to them when, where, and how they want.”
“And we want to make money at it.”
“This isn’t just about selling on Amazon. But Amazon is a great example of how complicated this role will be. I’ll need this Director to ask …
- Are we promoting our best items on Amazon, leveraging Lightning Deals, Daily Deals, and winning the Buy Box for our retail products?
- Are we using the right data to inform new product launches?
- Are we using digital technologies to help us analyze and move into adjacent or new categories?Are we using Walmart, Amazon, and other third-party markets to clear out excess inventory and help us find white space in the market?”
“I need someone with phenomenal business acumen in this role.”
“There will be times when this person will be dealing with plant managers to help them understand what’s in it for them by changing from a 5 pound retail pack, for example, to a 1 pound retail pack. Or 2 x 8 ounce retail packs. We want whatever our customer wants, and sometimes we’ll have to know what our customer’s customer wants. This Director will be the voice of those customers – both internally and externally, up and down the supply chain.”
“I want them to eat and sleep ecommerce. This new Director will get to chart the course, then make it happen.”
“There will be times when this director goes on client visits with our retail salespeople because they will need to learn how to integrate power products into the customer’s business model. We are not just about [the flagship ingredient]. We have developed many delicious substitutes which are getting lots of traction in the marketplace.”
“This person will be responsible for maximizing throughput through the ecommerce value chain. I don’t care whether that involves marketing, finance, logistics, supply chain, sourcing, planning, warehousing and inventory management. This person will have a significant voice in those functions as they pertain to ecommerce.”
“I would think this would be a phenomenal job.”
“And ultimately, this role will involve international, especially Europe, Mexico, and Canada. It starts in the United States, but given the international presence of these e-commerce third-party platforms – I would think this would be an excellent springboard for an internationally oriented career.”
This is an EXTREMELY high profile job.
Like I said, I spent a ton of time on the phone with this client teasing out exactly what you’ll need to KNOW and DO to hit the ground running in this role. Some of the things I can share with highly qualified candidates include …
- The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
- The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little brush fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. Every job has these — and this one’s no different.
- What your average day / week will look like in this role. There’s what you read in the standard job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
- The leading and lagging KPI’s that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you keep score.
- The major projects you’ll need to complete by Day 100 to be considered a home-run in this position. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can plug-and-play and drive REAL value in this job.
To be clear: I have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. My industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT me, Harry Joiner, for this info at (404) 281-2025. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.
UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED
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