What are the responsibilities and job description for the Customer Service Specialist - Retail Channel position at Lavazza Group?
About The Group
From a small store in Turin to a large, internationally recognized group: we are present in 90 countries around the world, with over 5,000 employees and 30 companies, managed directly and indirectly by the Luigi Lavazza Spa parent company, which distribute and market our products and coffee machines. In addition to Lavazza, the following brands are also part of our Group: Carte Noire, Merrild, Kicking Horse, Eraclea and Whittington tea.
Joining Lavazza means doing business with passion, knowing that the impact of our work goes beyond the quality of the production chain. We are a big family and are constantly looking for new talents who share our values and can enrich our team. We combine competitiveness with social and environmental responsibility as we create superior quality products available for consumption both at home and out of home, and distributed through all channels: Retail, Foodservice, Office Coffee Service (OCS), and Vending. Our strong, diversified presence enables us to offer consumers and clients perfectly suited solutions, for any occasion and time of day.
Job Overview
Lavazza North America is embarking on a growth plan to substantially expand our market share in the Americas. As part of this growth plan, a large focus will be on our Office Coffee Sales channel, optimizing our relationships with key distributors. Along with offering a best-in-class range of solutions for the market, Lavazza is expanding our Sales team into new territories to best support this strategic business initiative.
At Lavazza North America, the Customer Service Specialist - Retail specifically supports the Retail division within the Home channel. This department strives to deliver a best-in-class customer experience through leading critical customer facing functions such as customer service, logistics, distribution, and transportation. This role will focus on handling the daily operations of our direct and distributor Retail business and will be responsible for the order to cash process. We strive for not only quality coffee, but quality service and the goal of this role is to ensure that both are top priority within the organization.
Location: New York, NY
Job Responsibilities
From a small store in Turin to a large, internationally recognized group: we are present in 90 countries around the world, with over 5,000 employees and 30 companies, managed directly and indirectly by the Luigi Lavazza Spa parent company, which distribute and market our products and coffee machines. In addition to Lavazza, the following brands are also part of our Group: Carte Noire, Merrild, Kicking Horse, Eraclea and Whittington tea.
Joining Lavazza means doing business with passion, knowing that the impact of our work goes beyond the quality of the production chain. We are a big family and are constantly looking for new talents who share our values and can enrich our team. We combine competitiveness with social and environmental responsibility as we create superior quality products available for consumption both at home and out of home, and distributed through all channels: Retail, Foodservice, Office Coffee Service (OCS), and Vending. Our strong, diversified presence enables us to offer consumers and clients perfectly suited solutions, for any occasion and time of day.
Job Overview
Lavazza North America is embarking on a growth plan to substantially expand our market share in the Americas. As part of this growth plan, a large focus will be on our Office Coffee Sales channel, optimizing our relationships with key distributors. Along with offering a best-in-class range of solutions for the market, Lavazza is expanding our Sales team into new territories to best support this strategic business initiative.
At Lavazza North America, the Customer Service Specialist - Retail specifically supports the Retail division within the Home channel. This department strives to deliver a best-in-class customer experience through leading critical customer facing functions such as customer service, logistics, distribution, and transportation. This role will focus on handling the daily operations of our direct and distributor Retail business and will be responsible for the order to cash process. We strive for not only quality coffee, but quality service and the goal of this role is to ensure that both are top priority within the organization.
Location: New York, NY
Job Responsibilities
- Primary contact by phone or email for customers, providing knowledgeable answers to inquiries regarding Lavazza Group products and brands (Lavazza, Flavia, Kicking Horse Coffee).
- Manage order processing, fulfilment, and delivery for direct and distributor retail accounts for EDI, manually received, and B2B portal orders.
- Reply to customer messages with a sense of urgency addressing and resolving any order related questions or concerns, including fulfilment, delivery, product questions, etc.
- Work with Sales, Marketing and Operations Team to ensure customer satisfaction.
- First point of contact on daily communication with 3PL responsible for B2B retail accounts.
- Coordinate with sales brokers and internal sales team to plan and execute promotions.
- Support the Customer Service Manager for the E-Commerce channel as needed.
- Inspect and confirm all invoices have appropriate documentation, backup, and approvals.
- Processes service, maintenance, parts invoices; resolve issues and concerns.
- Identify and close gaps in Equipment master data for Sales force implementation project.
- Prepare all backup for attachments relevant to service calls, maintenance and parts.
- Prepare special reporting as required by management and reconciliation of inventory as directed.
- Identify, measure, and analyze key cost drivers and cost centers.
- Issue POs in accordance with company policy and accounting system.
- Assist LTS team as appropriate and complete other projects as instructed by supervisor.
- Bachelor’s degree required in Business Administration, Finance, Operations Management, Supply Chain, or related field, MBA a plus.
- 2 years experience in customer service, CPG and retail preferred.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, SAP or similar ERP system.
- Adaptability / flexibility – Working constructively under pressure, stays focused and maintains quality when handling multiple tasks at the same time.
- Exceptional communication skills with customers and team members; friendly and pleasant demeanor, both written and verbal.
- Ability to accurately assess and research customer concerns to provide clear communication and appropriate resolutions
- Able to work in a fast-paced environment with effective time management capability.
- Solution-oriented problem solver.
- This is a hybrid-office position and may choose to work from home two days out of the work week.
- Minimal Travel required, less than 10% annually (typically to West Chester, PA office)
- Competitive Medical, Vision, Dental Benefits
- 401K Package
- Employee Assistance Program
- Hybrid Work Schedule
- Ability to be barista certified
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Performance Development Plans
- Employee Discounts
- Summer Friday’s (Memorial Day Weekend – Labor Day Weekend)
- Flexible business casual dress code - jean friendly!
- Free coffee, anytime!
