Business Development Manager

Farmers Union Industries, LLC, also known as FUI, is a leading agricultural-based manufacturing company headquartered in Redwood Falls, MN. Our current operations include Central Bi-Products, Northland Choice, Midwest Grease, Artex Manufacturing, Redwood Farms Meat Processors, and Performance Pet Products. Please visit our website at fuillc.com to learn more!

Performance Pet, located in Mitchell, SD, works with brands both large and small to create an assortment of canned dog and cat foods. Learn more about what we do at fuillc.com/performance-pet-products/ .

Performance Pet Products is seeking a results-driven Business Development Manager to drive profitable growth within our pet food co-manufacturing business. This role is responsible for developing new customer relationships, expanding strategic accounts, and identifying growth opportunities across wet pet food manufacturing, new product development, and customer commercialization.

The Business Development Manager will maintain a strong external focus, developing relationships with pet food brands, retailers, and strategic industry partners. This position will work closely with sales leadership, customer service, R&D, procurement, operations, production planning, and logistics to align customer growth opportunities with Performance Pet Products' manufacturing capabilities and long-term capacity strategy.

This position will provide a base salary + opportunity for commission and remote work option. We offer a competitive salary and a complete benefits package includes health, dental, vision, PTO, paid holidays, an impressive 401K match, and much more!

Schedule

Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm

Additional hours may be necessary for customer support

Areas of Accountability

All areas of accountability to be delivered with GRIT - our values of Generosity, Relationships, Integrity, and Teamwork

Business Development & Growth Strategic Customer Management Market & Product Development

Cross-Functional Leadership Commercial Performance

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Develop and execute sales strategies focused on growing the pet food co-manufacturing business

Identify, prospect, and secure new branded, private label, and strategic co-manufacturing customers

Develop and maintain a qualified pipeline of new business opportunities

Expand existing customer relationships through new products, SKUs, formats, and volume

Lead commercial discussions involving pricing, volume, capacity, and customer programs

Negotiate customer programs and commercial agreements within established company guidelines

Achieve assigned volume, revenue, margin, and capacity utilization objectives

Develop long-term relationships with key customer decision-makers

Maintain regular customer contact through onsite visits, business reviews, and industry events

Understand customer brand strategies, innovation pipelines, product needs, and long-term growth objectives

Identify customer risks, competitive threats, and opportunities for account growth

Serve as the commercial owner of assigned customer relationships

Partner with Customer Service and Sales Support on daily account execution and customer communication

Maintain a strong understanding of Performance Pet Products' manufacturing capabilities

Monitor pet food trends, competitive activity, packaging innovation, and customer demand

Identify opportunities across wet pet food, functional formulas, premium products, toppers, and emerging formats

Provide customer and market feedback to sales leadership, R&D, and operations

Identify strategic product and manufacturing capability opportunities

Support customer commercialization and new product development initiatives

Work with R&D and customers to advance new product concepts and commercialization projects

Coordinate with operations and production planning to align customer demand with available capacity

Communicate customer forecasts, volume changes, launches, and new opportunities to internal teams

Partner with Customer Service and Sales Support on order execution, product releases, and shipment coordination

Work with procurement on ingredient and packaging requirements for customer programs

Participate in sales forecasting, capacity planning, and profitability reviews

Develop and maintain account growth plans for assigned customers and prospects

Track volume, revenue, margin, capacity utilization, and account performance

Maintain accurate customer and sales opportunity information

Provide regular pipeline and business development updates

Manage commercial opportunity pipelines from initial customer engagement through production launch

Proactively identify opportunities to improve customer and program profitability

Maintain regular and predictable on-site attendance

Travel up to 50%, annually

Situations may arise that require employees to temporarily or permanently assume responsibility for tasks not specifically outlined in this job description. Employees may be requested to work additional hours and/or accommodate a heavier than normal workload.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Business, Agriculture, Animal Science, Meat Science, or related field preferred

5+ years of experience in pet food, food manufacturing, co-manufacturing, ingredients, or business development preferred

Strong understanding of pet food manufacturing and commercialization processes preferred

Proven ability to develop new customer relationships and grow existing accounts

Strong negotiation, communication, and relationship-building skills

Ability to travel as needed

Growth-oriented business development mindset

Strong commercial and margin-management instincts

Customer-focused relationship builder

Comfortable prospecting and developing new business

Strong understanding of the pet food industry and co-manufacturing environment

Ability to manage complex customer commercialization projects

Self-motivated with a high level of accountability

Collaborative and comfortable working across departments

Physical Requirements

Perform desk work (sitting or standing) for up to 100% of workday

Repetitively use wrist, hand, and/or fingers