Strategic Customer Initiatives Specialist

Job Summary

The Strategic Customer Initiatives Specialist is responsible for assisting the direction, coordination, implementation, and completion of licensing and franchising projects along with supporting business development teams with sales/customer related deliverables.

Essential Functions

• Project Management and Communication
• Manages the project, directs and monitors work assignments/activities, and drives accountability for deliverables to meet project and business objectives on time and within budget.
• Provides purpose, direction, and motivation to the project team, including stakeholders and vendors to ensure maximum performance.
• Coordinates, and manages project communication plan to clarify and communicate project objectives, progress, and successes to the stakeholders and project team.
• Drives ongoing project communication (e.g., presentations, status/progress reports, proposals, etc.) to the stakeholders and project team.
• Plans and facilitates project meetings.
• Project Initiation and Planning
• Builds relationships and collaborates with stakeholders to identify business needs, to gain consensus, to manage project expectations, and to ensure delivery of commitments.
• Establishes a communication plan.
• Performs risk management planning, risk identification, and mitigation.
• Develops best practices, processes, procedures, and tools for project execution and management to increase efficiency.
• Determines and assigns task assignments.
• Project Monitoring and Controlling
• Manages the execution of the project scope to ensure work being performed supports project deliverables and that progress remains aligned with the baseline plan.
• Compares actual work results against planned results and makes required adjustments to ensure the plan and actual results are aligned.
• Verifies and controls project scope.
• Controls project schedule and provides timely updates to the project plan.
• Reports project performance to the stakeholders by organizing and summarizing the information collected through work performance data and work performance information to ensure the project’s health is understood.
• Project Execution
• Develops, executes, monitors, and adjusts project plans, resources, and implementation strategy to meet the needs of the key stakeholders, and to ensure the project deliverables are on time, within budget, adheres to high quality standards, and meets customer/stakeholders’ expectations.
• Reviews the progress of the project and effectively manages change requirements, dependencies, milestones, risks, issues, priorities, quality, etc. to ensure project goals, objectives, and deliverables are met in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Champions process and organizational change management.
• Tracks key milestones to ensure project goals and objectives are met.
• Proactively identifies, resolves, and/or escalates risks, challenges, barriers, and issues to relevant stakeholders.
• Manages the complete project lifecycle from inception through closing.
• Collaborates with stakeholders and the project team to determine priorities of deliverables and tasks.
• Documents meeting minutes and corresponding action items.
• Project Closing
• Conducts post-implementation audit reviews and documents lessons learned.
• Creates a report outlining future recommendations and identifying successful and unsuccessful project elements.
• Builds upon organizational process assets by integrating lessons learned into existing processes, tools, and templates.
• Provide Sales Support
• Ownership of CRM platform knowledge base, ensuring comprehensive understanding and mastery of its functionalities.
• Act as a liaison between the CRM platform and the team, regularly updating members on the latest features, improvements, and changes.
• Managing customer concerns pertaining to all products within Global Channels, encompassing the reception, meticulous logging, and resolution to ensure prompt closure
• Responsible for the procurement of partner and customer giveaways, precisely manages inventory, and oversees the invoicing process in collaboration with partners.
• Collaborates with partners on a quarterly basis to compile a comprehensive report detailing customer concerns, juxtaposed against the volume of items sold.
• Collaborates with business leads and food service partners to efficiently handle convention paperwork, coordinate attendance logistics, arrange meetings with partners, facilitate the shipment of booth materials and company swag, and oversee the invoicing process.
• Collaborates with business leads to stay abreast of the latest legal requests and negotiations, ensuring a proactive and informed approach to legal matters.
• Collaborates with the finance department to accurately code and submit all requisite invoices on behalf of the team.

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree, Req
  
  

Work Experience

• 1 year experience in project management, Req
• Experience with project management tools, Pref
• Experience managing multiple projects under various deadlines, Pref
• Experience with consumer products or food service industries, Pref
• Experience with CRM systems, Pref
  
  

Skills

• Knowledge of project management methodologies and tools
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multitasking skills
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Ability to build and maintain strong working relationships
  
  

CertificationsTravel Requirement

• May be required to travel up to 25% of the time