The Senior Manager, Commodity Operations and Commercial Sales is a high-impact leadership role with direct ownership of revenue generation, gross margin performance, and commercial execution across fats, oils, Kopro, feed ingredients, byproducts, and almond-related operations. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of Commodities, this position is accountable for aligning manufacturing operations, agricultural production, customer sales activity, and commodity strategy to maximize profitability, manage risk, and strengthen Foster Farms’ market position.
This role oversees the Kingsburg manufacturing facility, company-owned almond farming operations, external tolling arrangements, and commercial sales channels. The individual is expected to actively manage pricing, customer mix, contract structures, and product flow decisions, ensuring reliable supply to internal Foster Farms operations while driving profitable sales to external dairy, poultry, and agricultural customers throughout California.
Success in this role requires the ability to seamlessly move between hands-on operational leadership, customer-facing commercial activity, and executive-level financial analysis, ensuring the physical execution of the business remains tightly aligned with margin, revenue, and risk objectives.
- Own revenue, gross margin, and contribution performance across fats, oils, Kopro, feed ingredients, byproducts, and almond-related outputs, with accountability for meeting or exceeding annual financial targets.
- Own the accuracy and commercial integrity of the Daily Commodity Trading Position Report, ensuring physical positions, sales commitments, and pricing decisions align with margin and risk objectives.
- Partner with the Senior Vice President of Commodities to establish pricing frameworks, contract terms, and risk parameters that protect margins while remaining competitive in regional markets.
- Support monthly Grain Reports and Board-level presentations, translating operational, agricultural, and sales performance into clear revenue, margin, and risk narratives.
- Develop, monitor, and act on KPIs tied to revenue growth, gross margin, customer profitability, inventory turns and working capital efficiency.
- Provide direct leadership and oversight of the Kingsburg manufacturing facility, with responsibility for throughput, yields, cost control, and margin performance for internally consumed and externally sold products.
- Oversee company-owned almond farming activities with responsibility for operational execution, cost discipline, yield optimization, harvest planning, and downstream monetization aligned with overall commodity and margin strategy.
- Serve as the primary lead for byproduct daily and weekly sales coordination, external tolling arrangements, ensuring volumes, conversion economics, logistics costs, and customer commitments contribute positively to overall profitability.
- Ensure manufacturing schedules, agricultural outputs, and logistics plans remain aligned with sales commitments, inventory targets, and margin expectations.
- Directly manage and mentor key leaders, including the Kingsburg Plant Manager and Sales Lead, fostering accountability for both operational excellence and commercial execution.
- Actively call on dairy, poultry, and agricultural customers throughout California, directly supporting the sale and market development of Kopro, feed ingredients, fats, and byproducts.
- Evaluate customer and product-level profitability, prioritizing volume placement, pricing discipline, and contract structures that improve contribution margin and long-term strategic value.
- Represent Foster Farms in the marketplace as a trusted supplier of specialty feed ingredients and agricultural products, strengthening long-term customer relationships and expanding commercial opportunities.
- Work closely with internal sales, operations, and logistics teams to ensure contracts, shipments, and customer service align with margin expectations and risk limits.
- Maintain close communication with rendering plants, agricultural partners, and suppliers to balance inbound supply with outbound sales commitments.
- Lead weekly coordination calls with feed mills, commercial partners, and internal stakeholders to synchronize logistics, sales commitments, production planning, and supply chain execution.
- Ensure Nutrition, Finance, Operations, and Sales inputs are integrated into pricing, contracting, and production decisions that directly impact financial outcomes.
- Maintain a working understanding of commodity markets and futures exposure, ensuring physical and commercial decisions remain aligned with broader commodity risk management strategy.
- MBA preferred, undergraduate degree in Animal Science, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, or a related technical field strongly desired.
- 8–10+ years of progressive experience in ag-industrial operations, commodity-linked manufacturing, agricultural production, and/or commercial sales, with demonstrated revenue and margin accountability.
- Strong understanding of pricing, customer profitability, contract structures, and the economics of feed ingredients, fats, oils, and agricultural byproducts.
- Proven ability to lead complex operations through direct reports and third-party partners while maintaining financial discipline.
- Working knowledge of commodity markets, trading mechanics, and the nutritional requirements of dairy and poultry industries.
- Hands-on, commercially minded leader capable of moving fluidly between tactical execution and executive-level financial analysis.
This is a Key Employee position with meaningful influence on Foster Farms’ profitability, customer relationships, and commodity risk profile. Success requires ensuring the physical execution of the business—manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, and sales—remains fully synchronized with the financial and trading discipline established by the Senior Vice President of Commodities.
Foster Farms ACTION Guiding Principles
- Accountability: Deliver on commitments.
- Collaboration: Achieve more by working as a team.
- Truth-Seeking: Be open-minded and act with humility.
- Initiative: Be proactive and lead with a growth mindset.
- Ownership: Take responsibility for results.
- Nimble: Operate with speed and agility.
Why Join Foster Farms?
This is a high-impact opportunity to shape the future of the ready-to-eat business at a leading food company, directly supporting our mission, vision, and values. You will play a critical role in delivering safe, high-quality food and great moments for millions of families.
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