Commercial Development Manager - Starbucks
Nestlé
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- Commercial Development Manager - Starbucks
- Foods you love. Brands you trust. And a career that empowers you to grow.
- At Nestlé USA, we’re all working towards the same goal – to delight and deliver for our consumers. With a rich portfolio of beloved brands, including DiGiorno, Toll House, and Coffee mate, in 97% of U.S. households, we have a unique opportunity – and responsibility – to be there for every moment in our consumers’ lives.
- Joining Nestlé means becoming part of an inclusive workplace that inspires innovation, encourages strategic thinking and creativity, and celebrates your achievements. No matter where you work within the organization, you are empowered to challenge the status quo, embrace risk-taking, and pioneer new ideas. Our supportive and collaborative environment encourages bold ambitions and continuous learning so that everyone can grow and thrive.
- This position is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.
Nestlé Coffee and Beverage Division is on a mission to elevate how our consumers experience our products. We elevate everyday moments with each sip. With brands like Starbucks, Coffee-Mate, Nescafé, Nesquik, Natural Bliss, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Blue Bottle, our diverse product portfolio is brimming with rich and fulfilling opportunities for motivated individuals.
Job Summary and Mission
We are looking for a Commercial Development Manager to serve as the dedicated commercial lead for the RTD (ready-to-drink) portfolio. This role connects RTD brand and portfolio strategy with customer and channel execution, with accountability for customer planning, assortment, distribution, innovation readiness, promotional strategy, trade investment, forecast quality and risk escalation. The CDM will partner across the Business Unit, Field Sales, Finance, Marketing, Demand Planning and Supply Chain to deliver coordinated launches, drive velocity and sell-through, and manage inventory, shelf-life and freshness risk. This role ensures commercial decisions reflect customer needs, channel dynamics and financial objectives.
Summary of Key Responsibilities:
- Serve as the dedicated Commercial Development lead for the RTD portfolio, aligning commercial priorities across relevant customers and channels.
- Translate RTD portfolio and Business Unit strategies into executable customer and channel plans that build brand equity, grow market share and deliver financial objectives.
- Develop and deploy clear RTD selling stories, launch calendars and cohesive business plans for Field Sales and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Establish a customer-focused approach that incorporates retailer planning timelines, shelf resets, cold space and activation requirements into Go-To-Market plans.
- Leverage customer, category, shopper and performance insights to identify RTD growth opportunities and provide direct input into volume, trade, margin and P&L decisions.
- Lead annual, quarterly and monthly business planning for the RTD portfolio, including performance management, risks, opportunities and recovery actions.
- Own the commercial linkage across RTD assortment, pack-price architecture, pricing, promotion, trade investment, launch readiness, forecast accuracy and customer execution.
- Partner with Field Sales to identify RTD distribution, merchandising and promotional execution gaps, prioritize corrective actions and improve follow-through against customer and channel plans.
- Provide RTD portfolio expertise to the Business Unit by translating customer priorities, consumption and demand trends and retailer decisions into commercial and financial implications.
- Serve as the key liaison to Field Sales and Finance for incremental funding, trade deployment and commercial spend management.
- Use TPM/TPO and related planning tools to support scenario planning, optimize sales and trade plans and evaluate post-promotional effectiveness.
- Partner with Finance, Demand Planning and Supply Chain to improve RTD forecast discipline, align volume assumptions with customer plans and manage availability, sell-through, inventory and shelf-life risks.
- Lead monthly and key milestone business reviews, including launch readiness, distribution, velocity, sell-through, trade efficiency, customer actions and risk escalation.
- Serve as the Commercial lead for RTD innovation and renovation, supporting customer and channel readiness through the I2L process, as applicable.
- Act as the RTD point of contact for Division brand teams, Field Sales, Finance, Demand Planning, Supply Chain and leadership stakeholders.
- Develop and deploy RTD Commercial Action Plans that align brand objectives, growth drivers, category strategies, activation tactics, trade strategy and shopper insights.
- Build RTD customer and channel strategies based on approved category, customer and channel plans, aligning assortment, sell-in timing and activation to key consumption occasions.
- Evaluate results across assortment, distribution, velocity, promotional effectiveness and sell-through, and translate learnings into recommendations that drive sustainable, profitable growth for the RTD portfolio.
Qualifications and Skills
- Experience managing customer or channel commercial planning required; experience with RTD beverages, refrigerated or shelf-stable beverage portfolios, or product launches preferred.
- Minimum 4 years of experience in Sales, Commercial Development, Category Management, Customer Planning or Marketing preferred.
- Bachelor’s degree required; equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
- Strong understanding of customer planning, trade strategy, promotional effectiveness, pricing, assortment and RTD commercial execution.
- Ability to connect RTD customer and portfolio decisions to volume, trade spend, margin, forecast, inventory and P&L outcomes.
- Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Demand Planning, Supply Chain and external partners.
- Proven ability to