CBL - Walmart - Take Home Candy D01

Work Location: Rogers. In-person attendance for most of the workweek (3 days or more) is essential for effective communication, supervision, real-time problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration.

About the role

The Customer Business Lead, Walmart, will lead the strategy, planning, and execution of Ferrara’s Take-Home (D1) candy business at Walmart. This role serves as the end-to-end business owner for the desk, accountable for building strong customer partnerships, identifying growth opportunities, and delivering profitable, sustainable results through strategic engagement, disciplined execution, data-informed decision-making, and cross-functional leadership. The role bridges Ferrara and Walmart, shaping customer plans, influencing initiatives, mitigating risks, and ensuring executional excellence.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary business manager of the Walmart Take-Home (D1) Candy business, accountable for delivering annual sales, profitability, and strategic growth objectives while managing trade investments.
• Own the end-to-end health of the business, connecting POS, shipments, inventory, distribution, pricing, trade investment, assortment, and profitability to identify performance gaps and drive corrective actions.
• Develop and execute strategies aligned to Ferrara and customer priorities to drive profitable, sustainable growth.
• Lead annual business planning, forecasting, innovation commercialization, and promotional strategy for the desk.
• Build and maintain strong customer relationships, positioning Ferrara as a trusted strategic partner with Walmart.
• Identify business opportunities, risks, and market trends and proactively develop plans to maximize performance.
• Influence and align cross-functional partners including Category Management, Sales Strategy, Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Retail to deliver business objectives and best-in-class execution.
• Lead through influence across Ferrara, constructively challenging internal and customer perspectives, resolving competing priorities, and building alignment around solutions that balance Walmart’s objectives with Ferrara’s strategic and financial priorities.
• Own key business processes including line reviews, feature submissions, item setup, forecasting, innovation launches, supply alignment, and ecommerce initiatives.
• Leverage customer, category, consumption, and syndicated data to identify insights, shape strategies, and develop fact-based recommendations.
• Develop fact-based selling and negotiation strategies that influence decisions and create mutually beneficial solutions for Walmart and Ferrara.
• Lead preparation and execution of customer-facing presentations including Joint Business Planning (JBP), Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), line reviews, and strategic business updates.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives that simplify processes, improve execution, and strengthen overall business performance.
• Demonstrate Ferrara’s core values and commitment to collaboration, accountability, and results.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

• Self-starter with strong ownership mentality, business acumen, and bias for action.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to translate data into actionable recommendations.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, and storytelling skills, with the proven ability to influence decisions and drive alignment across multiple functions and leadership levels internally and externally.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize effectively, manage ambiguity, and execute with urgency in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to build credibility, drive alignment, and influence decision-making.
• Strong analytical capabilities with experience leveraging Scintilla, Retail Link, Power BI, and syndicated data (Circana) to drive business decisions.
• Ability to identify opportunities, anticipate challenges, and proactively develop solutions.
• High level of professionalism, adaptability, and collaboration.
• Ability to travel as required; must reside in Northwest Arkansas.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum 5+ years of sales or related experience supporting Walmart.
• Strong understanding of Walmart merchandising strategies, promotional planning, supply chain, and ecommerce processes.
• Experience developing joint business plans and the JBP process at Walmart.
• Proven experience managing relationships and delivering business growth in a highly collaborative environment.
• Demonstrated leadership capability and potential to assume broader customer or commercial leadership responsibilities over time.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience in Customer/Channel Marketing, Category Management, Sales Strategy, or Sales Operations is a plus.
• Experience working with confection or other snacking categories is a plus.

Benefits

Ferrara supports employees with comprehensive benefits that enhance health, financial wellness, and include paid time off (PTO). Eligible employees may also receive an annual bonus based on company performance. Learn more about our benefits.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $123,668 to $173,135 annually.