Job Opportunities – GRO-CONNECT.COM®

Advance Your Potential, LEARN-GROW-EARN

Description:

Gro-connect.com’s mission is to conveniently make fresh & healthy food accessible to everyone. We firmly believe that you, your family, and your friends should always have the opportunity to eat well, and that price should never be a barrier between you and healthy, delicious, and freshly-harvested food.

Gro-connect.com is committed to providing our wholesale users the best experience possible, by regularly offering bulk sales at unbeatable prices. We work with a variety of farms, brokers, distributors, and artisan producers to bring you high-quality food with transparent biocertification at prices that are at least 25% BELOW terminal market prices. Our services speed up the time, while reducing the cost to source wholesale Produce & Fruit. We are success driven, so our services are free to all of our users, & only when we create a sale, do we then collect our sales commission.

Our Mission:

We are dedicated to building a diverse community, one where employees feel a sense of belonging, and are valued for their contributions and the perspectives they bring.

Our purpose is to champion the power of human connection and the heart of connection is inclusion. We want you to feel like, You belong here!

Three Reasons to Join a Start-up Tech Company

1) Impact & Opportunity

Joining a startup is an opportunity like no other — a real chance to be the change you want to see in the world (to quote Gandhi here).

Early stage companies are on a mission to transform their industries, and their earliest employees are pivotal in making that happen. Startup employees have the autonomy to make decisions that can shape the future of the company, leaving an indelible and lasting impact. While working at a startup means accepting ambiguity and constant change, there’s an invaluable opportunity to solve a problem no one else has quite figured out.

“Early stage startups offer a unique path to growth, innovation, and opportunity. If a person believes in the vision of the organization, can thrive in chaos, and has a willingness to seek continuous learning so they can constantly improve then they will find success.” — Emeka Ogbonna (Yotpo)

“As a single person, you can have an enormous impact at a startup, which often dwarfs the impact you can have at a much larger organization. Given the small team, you may do work you have no experience doing, but it also challenges you and can lead to great personal growth.” — Cristina Cordova (Notion, Stripe)

2) Learning

Some say there’s no better way to learn in life than by doing — and an early stage startup will offer you just that!

Many of the operators we spoke to mentioned that joining a startup was one of the most important learning experiences of their careers — setting the foundation for them to be successful across a wide range of roles in the future.

Because startups are smaller organizations by nature, every employee has the opportunity to learn just about every function necessary to make the company successful.

In large corporations, business functions are often walled off by departments and strict role definitions. But startups have an all-hands-on-deck mentality, which gives employees a front-row seat to understanding how a business is built from all angles.

3) Financial Reward

Alright, let’s talk about money! Earning a significant financial reward was the third reason industry leaders wanted to join early stage companies. Being an early employee at a startup can be incredibly lucrative and a chance to grow generational wealth — how exciting!

In early companies, resources are limited and that may reduce how much cash compensation a startup can offer. However, early employees are taking a big risk to join a new company and need to be compensated in alternative ways.

Cue Beyonce’s legendary lyric — ”pay me in equity.”

A standard part of a startup’s compensation package includes receiving equity in the business via stock options. The magic of equity is that it lets employees participate in the upside of the company as it grows. This aligns incentives for success and rewards employees for taking that early risk.

It’s simple: As a company does well, the value of the equity/stock increases. If the company has a significant exit — either an acquisition or initial public offering (IPO) — that equity can turn into a life-changing amount of money.

While equity is part of many startup packages, it can be hard to figure out how to navigate conversations to maximize your equity and ownership. We asked operator Iheanyi Ekechukwu (ex-GitHub, Digital Ocean) what he wished he knew before joining a startup:

Preparation and learning about this side of early companies is key before plunging in. Compound, Carta, and SVB have great tools to help employees at early companies learn about equity, options, and financial planning.

Of course, every startup won’t have a massive exit, but that’s part of the risk-reward tradeoff of joining an emerging company versus one that is more established. While there might be more uncertainty, the potential payoff for taking the leap can be substantial.

When it comes to professional pursuits, we all have our motivations — learn, grow, earn. We hope this blog sheds light on how joining an early stage company can help you achieve all three!

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Job Description:

We are currently seeking a Sales Representatives to join our team and work remotely. This is a fun job for someone experienced in selling or buying fruit & produce. You will be responsible for working with our suppliers to source buyers for the products they have to sell. As you discuss the products with our buyers, you often will come across specific items our buyers are searching for that you can help source suppliers in return.

Our service is a fraction of the cost our users pay to complete this work in house. They pay us when we complete a transaction and we are free until we provide results.

This is a unique career opportunity enabling one to excel professionally within the Fresh Produce Industry. This position entails trading fresh commodities, assisting in negotiating transactions and supporting the purchase or sale of transparent, nutritious food grown locally and from around the world.

Responsibilities:

Manage and grow relationships with existing customers, shippers/producers, and carrier base.
Develop new and profitable relationships with prospective customers, shippers/producers, and carriers.
Strong organizational skills will be necessary in tracking, scheduling, and coordinating sales orders.
Strong negotiation skills are necessary for purchasing, selling and timely problem prevention.
Open to collaborating with team mates as well as working independently as a self-starter.
Other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned by the Sales Manager.

What We Have To Offer:

Comfortable Salary & Sales Commission (DOE)
Paid Vacation and Sick Time
Energetic, fun, and friendly work environment
Limitless growth potential
Open door policy – strong engagement and connectivity with company leadership

Our company is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law.

This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

MARKETING ASSOCIATES

Job Description:

We are looking for an energetic and self-motivated team player to drive forward our production capacity and market share.

We have an immediate opening for a full-time produce Marketing Associate with a Remote position.

The successful candidate will have experience in the sales and marketing of fresh produce, with the ability to coordinate, plan, and market the company’s products.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Minimum of 4 years of experience in the fresh produce industry.
Creative and innovative ideas to market products.
Excellent marketing and negotiation skills.
Willingness to learn and adapt to a changing environment.
Motivated, organized, attention to detail, and ability to work under pressure.
Implement quick decisions and problem solving in sudden and unplanned situations.
Available for after-hour sales support (phone and email).
Bilingual (Spanish) a plus, but not required.
Bachelor degree in the agriculture field is a plus.

Responsibilities & Duties:

Develop and execute marketing plans and strategies.
Promote and market products and company brand to ensure profitable growth and expansion.
Maintain excellent customer relationships in the retail/wholesale and foodservice segments of the produce industry.
Proactively create opportunities for additional products with new/existing customers.
Maintain close communication with customers and provide superior services.
Coordinate, develop, and publish print or web event information.
Evaluate and analyze market reactions to adjust condition and foresee issues.
Provide general support and assistance to other departments.
Attend exhibits and shows to promote and market Gro-connect.com.

Our company is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law.
This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

Job Description:

We are currently seeking a rockstar Digital Marketing Manager to join our team. You will be responsible for developing, initiating, creating and overseeing some short-term and long-term digital marketing campaigns, as well as managing our social media presence including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We are looking for someone with experience in copywriting, art direction and social media who can expand our brands each locally while increasing new customer acquisition, loyalty, and awareness.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Develop a website traffic plan and create goals and benchmarks to meet
Generate biweekly reports on our marketing campaigns’ performances
Manage social media brand presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Analyze key metrics for optimization and growth
Partner with advertising and media specialists to increase marketing results
Communicate and work cross-functionally regarding business goals and results

Responsibilities & Duties:

Bachelor Degree in Marketing or related field required
2+ years experience in digital marketing and advertising (paid and organic)
Broad grasp of social media, website metrics, and digital advertising best practices
Demonstrable experience with email marketing
Great team player!

This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

FULL STACK SOFTWARE ENGINEERS

Job Description:

We are currently seeking a Software Engineer to further develop our e-commerce platform and build our next-generation industry system.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Developer industry grade systems that serve both our user-facing apps and our internal tools
Be willing to learn new programming languages and frameworks on the go and accept new challenges
Be diligent about tracking data/logs/bugs in production and continue to improve our products and code base
Be willing to take on different roles including QA, DevOps, and Data Analytics

Responsibilities & Duties:

You have a degree in computer science from a well-recognized school or the equivalent technical background
You possess 1+ years of industry experience
You are fluent in at least one web front-end/back-end frame such as J2EE, NodeJS, Angular, React
You are familiar with basic front-end technology libraries such as Bootstrap and jQuery
You have experience working with relational databases

This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

LOGISTIC OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

Description:

If you’re someone who hates monotony in their work life and can think quickly on their feet, then this job is for you! As a Logistics Operations Specialist, your job will be working alongside our fantastic sales team to help provide logistical support to our customers and carriers. To be a good fit for this role, you need to be a natural multitasker, and someone who enjoys working in a fast-paced, lively environment.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Daily Routine

Monitoring and tracking shipments and providing timely updates to customers
Building and managing relationships with our core carriers
Identify and communicate problems with carriers and customers and work towards a solution
Negotiating competitive rates with carriers
Ensure customer needs are met with every shipment
Building and booking shipments in our system
Quoting customers for freight movement
Prioritize and manage different tasks going on at once while completing them promptly
Contact drivers and get the designated paperwork required for each shipment

Ideal candidates would have the following:

Bachelor’s Degree preferred
Strong communication and negotiation skills
Exceptional customer service mindset
Ability to think outside the box and approach a problem at many different angles
Problem solving skills with the ability to prioritize your daily duties
Competitive nature with a sense of urgency in a fast-paced environment
Team player who likes to work closely with coworkers
Highly motivated and ready to work hard/play hard
Attention to detail and proficient in organizational skills
Ability to multitask and work on several projects at the same time
Good time management skills, with the ability to pivot to a different task at a moment’s notice
MS Office proficiency and related computer knowledge, ability to type at least 50 WPM
Our company is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law.
This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

IN-HOUSE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

If you are looking to climb the ladder, we have a ladder that you can climb to the sky! Here are future job opportunities that will be available first to our inhouse Team to advance.

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

We’re looking for a Senior Account Executive who will help us drive net-new opportunities with mid-sized companies and meaningfully impact customers’ business goals. You will work in a fast-paced sales environment selling Gro-connect.com solutions to prospective customers. You will be responsible for sourcing your own pipeline through business development and prospecting, and partnering with SDRs.

In your role, you will use your sales acumen to educate prospective customers on the benefits and values of Gro-connect.com solutions. Manage the end-to-end sales process, and help customers select us as their B2B commerce and client experience platform.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Prospect and generate your own leads to achieve individual quota targets.
Identify and develop new business opportunities with mid-size companies. You will partner with our pre & post-sales teams to ensure customer success and long-term value.
Collaborate with sales leaders and relevant stakeholders to drive the entire sales process, including negotiating scope and business terms and prioritizing customer value.
Create and execute quarterly sales and account plans that drive high-volume activities for your assigned territory.
Effectively navigate fast sales cycles and present the value of our solutions to all levels of prospective customers, including C-Level executives.
Recommend and sell relevant solutions by offering related product mix from the range of Gro-connect.com products to solve clients’ business challenges.
Serve as the voice of the customer by sharing external market insights and feedback from prospects and customers to the Product and Marketing teams to drive improvements and product/feature requests.
Perform other related duties as required.

Responsibilities & Duties:

Ample applicable B2B outbound sales experience (experience in software considered an asset).
Proven ability to prospect with a thorough process, assess customer challenges, align solutions, and read prospective buyers.
Demonstrated ability to predictably forecast, leverage data-driven insights in decision making within the sales process, and simultaneously manage a high volume of opportunities and transactions.
You can successfully collaborate and build trust-based relationships with teams such as Presales, Customer Success, Executive Leadership, etc., throughout the sales process.
Demonstrated experience working with senior executives and their teams and building consensus at speed among multiple cross-functional decision-makers and influencers in a company.
Experience using sales tools such as a CRM, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Exposure to a line of business such as Marketing, Sales, Finance where you have learned and applied direct knowledge of business challenges issues to your solution.
Proven record of consistent quota attainment and can share experiences of developing business plans with a mix of tactics.
Excellent communication and presentation skills (phone, video, email).
Adaptable and able to manage through a fast-paced, constantly changing environment.
Commitment to Results: consistently achieving results, demonstrating high performance, and challenging self and others to deliver results.
Business Acumen: Focus on business value vs. features/products selling.
Customer Focus: demonstrates a desire to proactively help and serve internal/external customers to meet their needs.
Negotiation: successfully obtains commitment to a solution or idea while maintaining integrity and relationships.
Perseverance: pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish—doesn’t give up.

WHO YOU ARE:

Tenacious. You are determined to succeed, and you are motivated by the success of customers, colleagues, and the community .
Curious. You are always learning and seeking ways to make things better.
Conscientious. You keep your promises, take your commitments to others seriously, and have strong integrity.
Humble. You lead with humility and empathy, respecting and learning from the perspectives of others.

This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

REGIONAL SALES MANAGERS

Description:

We are seeking a highly motivated Regional Sales Managers to work remotely, and service the targeted areas of the West Coast, North Eastern United States, South Eastern United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, China, and Australia.

As the Regional Sales Manager you will manage sales and marketing efforts in the targeted area by developing strong customer relationships, maintaining an active prospect list and creating follow-up tasks based on customer calling efforts.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Demonstrated successful 3+ years of experience in territory sales or account management.
Bachelor’s Degree.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint).
Strong analytical and problem solving skills.
A work ethic that includes initiative, ability to work independently, sound judgment, diplomacy and discretion.
Organizational and business skills with an attention to detail.
Valid driver’s license.
Ability and willingness to travel 30%-50%.
Knowledge of SalesForce CRM software and the Sandler Sales Process.
Ability to work from the road and Office.

Responsibilities & Duties:

Establish new business opportunities with potential customers through cold calling, provided leads, networking and referrals.
Create a pipeline of qualified opportunities and develop strategies to move the opportunities through the sales cycle to closing.
Work to establish add-on business to maximize product lines with existing customers.
Provide accurate and timely price quotations to customers and prospects.
Update and maintain CRM systems.
Participate in the annual budgeting process by providing territory sales forecasts and budgeted expenses.
Participate in industry related associations and trade shows.
Perform other duties that may be assigned.

This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

PRODUCT MANAGERS

Description:

We are offering an incredible opportunity for a product manager to join our Gro-connect.com product team, to drive product design execution, partner with the team to establish a strong design philosophy, and participate in our incredible growth trajectory.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Software product design and product management experience on web and mobile
Prior product management and/or design experience with B2B software platforms, e.g. recruiting platforms, accounting platforms, CRMs, ERP software, etc.
Keen eye for design; strong bias for “great UX”
Strong technical understanding of front and back-end technologies
Strong visual, verbal and written communication skills
Strong wireframing skills and proficiency with wireframing tools (Figma a plus)
A creative thinker who also exhibits great attention to detail
Self-motivated with startup DNA (prior startup experience a plus)
Gives constructive and helpful feedback; receives and manages feedback well
Bachelor’s degree

Responsibilities & Duties:

Daily, precise prioritization of product backlog and forward-looking roadmap based on various criteria that may be dynamically shifting
Design efficient and elegant solutions to problems large and small
Tackle large projects effectively by investigating, scoping, slicing, and prioritizing components
Always validate hypotheses with the market and customers; conduct product research efficiently; continuous learner
Think clearly about product and project goals
Write clear, comprehensive product requirements that are clear to engineering and QA and express the user’s goals
Manage the development of product features – drive project plans and manage expectations and timelines
Identify, validate, and resolve product bugs and issues effectively
Maintain excellent communication with all stakeholders – not only engineering and QA but also sales and implementation
Write product documentation for internal and external purposes
Support product implementation and training for new customers
Our company is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law.
This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits and termination.

CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

Description:

We are seeking a highly motivated Customer Service Managers to work remotely, and service the targeted areas of the West Coast, North Eastern United States, South Eastern United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, China, and Australia.

As a Customer Service Manager you will manage customer service representatives and the operation efforts in the targeted area by developing strong customer relationships, maintaining an fast response times and ensuring our customers are experiencing white glove top service.

Compensation/Salary:

DOE

Requirements:

Answers customers’ questions, resolves problems, and maintains customer satisfaction by providing problem-solving resources.
Maximizes customer operational performance by providing help desk resources and technical advice.
Accomplishes customer service human resource objectives by recruiting, selecting, training, and coaching employees.
Manages customer service staff, communicates job expectations, and performs appraisals and job reviews.
Meets customer service financial objectives by forecasting requirements, prepares annual budgets, and schedules expenditures.
Improves customer service quality results by conducting surveys and studying, evaluating, and re-designing processes and establishing and communicating service metrics and monitoring and analyzing results.
Implements production, productivity, quality, and customer-service standards.
Contributes customer service information and recommendations to strategic plans and reviews.
Audits customer service procedures and trends and determines system improvements.
Enforces company policies and procedures.
Determines customer service requirements by maintaining contact with customers and visiting operational environments.

Responsibilities & Duties:

Customer service skills
Process improvement
Strong decision-making skills
Managing processes
Staffing
Planning
Tracking budget expenses
Analyzing information
Developing standards
Help desk experience

Education and Experience Requirements:

High school diploma or equivalent
Experience in customer service