Brand Ambassador, Trade Show Manager (Foodservice)

Job Description

Job Description

Position: Brand Ambassador, Trade Show Manager

Reports to: Global Senior Vice President Sales

Location: Remote Capable/Waukegan, Illinois, about 40 miles north of Chicago’s Loop

Salary Range: $60,000-$75,000 (Compensation is based on education, skills, experience and other job-related factors)

Key Responsibilities:

This exciting role involves conducting engaging tastings, delivering captivating presentations, and building customer loyalty through exceptional interactions. Ideal candidates will be passionate about food, possess strong communication and presentation skills, and have a flexible schedule. This entry-level position offers competitive pay and the opportunity to grow within a progressive family-owned company.

• Lead Trade Show & Event Execution: Represent the company at regional and national foodservice trade shows, managing booth setup, merchandising, marketing materials, logistics, budgets, travel, inventory, and event operations to maximize brand visibility and engagement.
• Drive Customer Engagement & Product Education: Conduct product demonstrations, tastings, and sampling events, clearly communicating and teaching on our product benefits, menu applications, and value propositions to distributors, operators, chefs, and customers.
• Generate Leads & Support Sales Growth: Engage trade show visitors and prospects, qualify opportunities, capture lead information, and execute timely follow-up activities to convert leads into pipeline opportunities and sales.
• Build & Strengthen Distributor Relationships: Develop strong partnerships with distributor representatives and foodservice operators through ongoing engagement, promotional events, product training, and collaborative marketing initiatives.
• Manage CRM & Performance Tracking: Maintain accurate CRM records for all trade shows and customer interactions, track customer demand, measure event performance, and report on leads, opportunities, ROI, and KPI achievement.
• Gather Market Intelligence & Provide Strategic Insights: Collect and analyze competitive activity, pricing trends, customer feedback, and market developments, providing actionable recommendations to Sales and Marketing leadership.
• Coordinate Marketing & Promotional Programs: Partner with Sales, Marketing, and distribution teams to execute promotional campaigns, sponsorships, collateral management, and event marketing programs that enhance brand presence and sales impact.
• Support Annual Foodservice Growth Objectives: Execute initiatives aligned with annual strategic goals, including new item awareness, distributor training, customer acquisition, relationship development, and continuous improvement of consumer-facing marketing materials.
• Ability to travel: Travel is required for this role and with a busy trade show schedule can be up to 80% with peak seasons during Spring / Fall.

Personal Characteristics:

• Organization
  • Business Acumen - Demonstrates knowledge of the market and competition; Aligns work with strategic goals
  • Cost Consciousness - Works within approved budget and capabilities
  • Agility – The employee must be capable of adapting, with minimal or no advanced notice, to changes in how business is conducted, and work is accomplished, with no diminishment in work performance. This may include, but is not limited to, organization structure, finance goals, personnel, work processes, technology, and customer demands.
  • Safety and Security –All employees are responsible for observing safety and security procedures as applicable and reporting potentially unsafe conditions to management.
• Results Orientation
  • High energy, results-driven, determined, and flexible, with a strong and disciplined work ethic.
  • Sets a quick pace and raises the bar and presses the organization toward higher levels of achievement.
  • Measures and tracks processes and branded content assets against top competitors and the market.
  • Promotes superior performance against stretch goals.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset.
• Intellectual
  • Problem Solving - Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; Gathers and analyzes skillfully; Develops alternative solutions; Works well in group problem solving situations.
  • Project Management - Develops project plans; Coordinates projects; Communicates changes and progress; Completes projects on time and budget; Manages project team activities.
  • Technical Skills - Assesses own strengths and weaknesses; Pursues training and development opportunities; Strives to continuously build knowledge and skills; Shares expertise with others.
• Change Management
  • Embraces a sense of urgency and enthusiasm about the future path and where we are going as a team.
  • Challenges the status quo and can quickly develop and execute improvement plans.
• Leadership Capability
  • It is important that this individual has the capacity to assume greater responsibilities over time to grow within the company
  • They must have unquestioned integrity and strong values; non-political and non-bureaucratic.
• Communication Skills
  • High level of emotional intelligence (EQ).
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively deliver and reinforce consistent messages
  • Leverages these communication capabilities to interact with, and persuade, peers throughout the organization.
  • Excellent listening skills.

Knowledge and Characteristics:

MUSTS:

• Strong knowledge and experience working for or with one or more Big 6 Broad Line and specialty distributors in North America
• 1-3 years of field sales/culinary experience
• Ability to work irregular hours and travel frequently
• Knowledge of Food Service / Away-From-Home Channel
• Strong writing, communication, and presentation skills
• Proven ability to meet deadlines
• Excellent multi-tasking and prioritization skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and superior organizational skills
• Ability to interact with all levels of the organization

WANTS:

• Experience in a family or privately held business
• Culinary or Pastry experience
• Hubspot training and/or experience managing CRM software

Benefits

• 401k Plan and up to 4% company matching
• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Health Reimbursement Arrangement or Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - Health, Dependent Care, and Commuter
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid Parental Leave
• Bereavement
• Short Term Disability
• Weekly paychecks
• Rewards & Recognition Programs
• Employee Referral Program
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
• Annual Bonus Program

THE COMPANY

Website:

Nielsen-Massey is a leader in the specialty foods world, specifically in the production and marketing of the world’s finest vanillas and flavors. The company operates a branded consumer goods business (CPG/B2C) as well as a business-to-business (B2B) ingredient and flavor business. The portfolio includes various forms of pure and natural vanilla ingredients, extracts, pastes, and powders plus other flavor extracts including lemon, almond, chocolate, coffee, peppermint, and rosewater to wholesale, culinary, and industrial customers throughout the world. The global headquarters and state-of-the-art production facility are in Waukegan, Illinois, with an additional plant in the Netherlands. The brand is well established with culinary professionals and big branded players as the premiere vanilla brand in the marketplace while the next phase of growth will come from expanding the brand to a broader base of consumers via an aggressive retail and eCommerce strategy as well as diversifying and expanding the ingredient and flavor business.

Nielsen-Massey Vanillas (NMV) was founded in 1907 and is still owned by three members of the Nielsen family, who work as senior executives at the company. The fiduciary Board is composed of many independent directors as well as the three family shareholders. The four independent members all have CEO experience in a variety of industries, including CPG, eCommerce and Industrial/ Manufacturing.

The Company is committed to sustaining the plants, people and communities that supply their ingredients. Since 1907, NMV has demonstrated its commitment to civic and social responsibility. The company’s Community Relations initiatives encompass three main objectives: building relationships with the communities in which they live and work; showing their commitment through financial contributions to charities in support of education, youth, veterans and the environment, actively promoting volunteer service among their employees -- and demonstrating as a team that they make a difference.

NMV supports approximately 18 organizations that represent their mission-driven values. They published their first annual “Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibilities Report” in 2018. Some past ESG programs include the funding of a new Malagasy school and the construction of a solar-powered water pump in the Madagascar Village that grows Nielsen-Massey’s fair-trade vanilla.

In 2009, The Nielsen-Massey Foundation was founded with a mission to assist disadvantaged children and adults with education and leadership development, especially in the field of culinary arts. The Foundation also considers requests for assistance in the development of sustainable environmental practices or programs benefiting people in countries of need. The Foundation’s board of directors consists of Craig, Beth and Matt Nielsen—third-generation owners of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas—and their mother, Camilla.

Throughout its more than 110-year history as a family business, NMV is proudly and fully committed to the ethical manner in it conducts business, including how employees and customers are treated. As a company, NMV remains committed to honesty and integrity, as well as openness and respect for the rights and interests of its employees. Employees are “treated like family,” in particular, with generous health care benefits.