Customer Service Manager

Customer Service Manager

Forever Cheese is a privately held specialty food company headquartered in New York City, with a warehouse in Secaucus, NJ and a manufacturing facility in Illinois. For over 25 years, we've been the leading importer of fine artisan cheese, cured meats, nuts, and accompaniments from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Croatia. Our company-owned brands include Mitica, Drunken Goat, and Fulvi Pecorino Romano.

In 2023, we welcomed W.A. Imports to the Forever Cheese family the premier source of the finest Japanese and Pacific Rim ingredients for North America's top restaurant kitchens.

We're looking for an enthusiastic, solution-oriented, and self-motivated individual to join us. Consider us if you want to:

• Work in a dynamic environment with a chance to make an impact
• Develop lasting relationships with great people
• Have the opportunity to build a satisfying career

Robust healthcare offerings: medical, dental, vision, telehealth, FSA and HSA plans

• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• Paid Parental Leave
• Roth and pre-tax 401(k) options including an employer match
• Generous paid time off policies, including vacation, holiday, and sick days

The Customer Service Manager leads the inside team responsible for order management, customer communications, and the operational workflows that keep the commercial team running. You'll own the full order-to-invoice process across our customer segments, set and enforce the service standards the team works to, and serve as the day-to-day decision-maker on order exceptions, short-ships, and credit holds so field reps stay focused on selling.

This is a player-coach role. You'll manage a team of 35 Customer Service reps while staying close enough to the work to make the call when it matters. You'll report to the COO and work closely with Sales, Purchasing, Warehouse, and Finance.

Have a growth mindset seek to continuously strengthen skills and improve on past performance while embracing challenges and feedback.

• Have a passion for food or an interest in learning about the specialty food industry.
• Aim to not only meet expectations but preempt issues or potential problem areas with a solution-oriented mindset.

Team and order workflow

• Manage a team of Customer Service reps supporting our retail, foodservice, and distributor segments.
• Run order workflow end-to-end across E21 and customer portals.
• Set and enforce SLAs for queue management, kickback resolution, and order confirmations.
• Make the call on substitutions, short-ships, and credit holds.
• Own outbound freight coordination carrier selection, load scheduling, and in-transit communication to hit delivery windows at the lowest landed cost.

NIF, retailer compliance, and pricing

• Review all New Item Form submissions before they go to the executive team.
• Keep specs, certifications, and documentation current across every retailer portal.
• Serve as the last line of review on pricing approvals.

Reporting and deduction recovery

• Publish a weekly flash to the Director of Sales: bookings, shipments, fill rate, top wins, top issues.
• Produce monthly scorecards by segment, rep, account, and brand.
• Own deduction recovery and short-ship reconciliation with AR, with disputes filed inside retailer windows.

Required

• 36 years in customer service management, sales operations, or commercial operations ideally in food, CPG, or distribution.
• Experience managing an inside customer service or sales support team.
• A track record of owning order management, SLA enforcement, and cross-functional operational workflows.
• Working knowledge of ERP and order management systems.
• Ability to juggle a high volume of concurrent priorities without dropping things.
• Based in or able to commute to Secaucus, NJ (on-site).

Preferred

• Background in specialty food, cheese, imported food, or perishable CPG.
• Experience with E21, KeHE Connect, or retailer deduction management.
• Experience with import-driven supply chains and long-lead-time demand planning.

You close loops. Open items don't sit on your list for a week.

• You build processes that work when you're not in the room.
• You stay calm under operational pressure and decisive when a call needs to be made.
• You communicate clearly across functions and levels.
• You take care of the customer and the team at the same time.
• You have a growth mindset. You embrace feedback and continuously look for ways to do things better.