Market Development Representative

Responsibilities

• Scale up the demand for Rainforest Alliance Certified products in the Japanese market;
• Define an Asia-wide and Japan focused strategy for proactively engaging companies in the food and beverage and hospitality sectors (including coffee roasters, supermarkets, hotels and restaurants), and define targets and priorities in the above sectors;
• Develop profiles of targeted businesses with regard to structure, customer base, purchasing power, product range, and key representatives;
• Cultivate coffee roasters, retailers and institutions and effectively communicate to them the benefits of sourcing sustainably certified coffee, and recruit them to the program;
• Nurture existing relationships with roasters, retailers and others currently sourcing Rainforest Alliance Certified products to increase and deepen their engagement in the program; and
• Represent Rainforest Alliance at industry events and conferences as needed.

Supporting Activities

• Support the participating companies by sometimes attending meetings with customers, training company sales representatives and providing general support for sales and marketing efforts;
• Periodically meet with partner companies to plan joint activities and events, determine their demand for coffee and other products;
• Support the efforts of companies to incorporate the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal and message into their product marketing campaigns; facilitate campaigns and sometimes serve as spokesperson;
• Attend coffee and food industry events and organize Rainforest Alliance presence as select events;
• Support adaptation of RA message and positioning as appropriate for the Japanese consumer; facilitate content adaptation of Japanese Web pages, brochures and other promotional materials;
• Maintain database of communications and strategies with partner companies and prospects;
• Serve as the day-to-day contact for Asian companies and ensure that companies are highly satisfied with their involvement in the Rainforest Alliance Certified program;
• Train and guide Japanese companies to use online tracing and tracking tool as needed;
• Determine short, medium, and long-term Asian market demand;
• Organize and respond to threats and opportunities in this rapidly evolving environment; and
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Public Relations, Economics or related field; MBA or MA preferred;
• 2-3 years of professional experience in the agricultural sector and/or experience working in the international development arena;
• Knowledge of international market, and familiarity with international food industry;
• Familiarity with social and environmental certification and competitive environment;
• Experience developing marketing and media campaigns;
• Bilingual English/Japanese;
• Strong computer skills (MS Word, Excel and Power Point);
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team that is local, cross-divisional and international;
• Strong Interpersonal skills; and
• Ability to travel locally and internationally 20 percent of the time.