The Role

Vegetable oils are problematic enough when used for home cooking, but most vegetable oils are consumed in the form of packaged foods and restaurant meals, where they are often deep fried, making them even more damaging to human health. Because these channels are responsible for the majority of vegetable oil production, they also have the largest climate impact. To give the world the oil change we have in mind, we need to sell Cultured Oil to a diverse set of customers in large markets. Zero Acre Farms is looking for a VP of Business Development and Sales to help us build the foundation of these critical business to business efforts.

As the first BD and Sales hire at Zero Acre, and a key member of our executive team, you will be responsible for crafting our B2B strategy, identifying the best opportunities for initial partnerships and getting our product into the hands of early B2B customers. You will prioritize our channels and further define how to continue expanding our presence across foodservice, food manufacturing and eventually retail/grocery. As we learn, you will develop a robust playbook for these channels and eventually grow a team of sales experts. As a key leader at the company, you will also play a significant role in leading corporate strategy and building an A+ team capable of making a meaningful positive impact in the world.

Responsibilities

• Craft a B2B strategy that will put us on the path to giving the world an oil change.
• Build relationships across multiple sales channels and identify potential partnership opportunities for early and strategic customers that lay the groundwork for future growth.
• Develop a process for turning significant existing inbound interest into early wins and long term opportunities for the business.
• Work closely with product development to incorporate B2B customer feedback, market trends and customer evolution into our product roadmap.
• Work closely with marketing to share our progress with the world and build a brand that will be successful across our channels.
• Recruit, develop, and manage a sales team. Oversee all B2B sales and business partnerships.
• Work closely with founders on all things corporate strategy.

You and Your Experience

• Passionate about improving the health of people and the planet.
• Love of food.
• You love building relationships and finding creative ways to work with others.
• You are curious about what drives people to change their behaviors.
• You are a problem solver who is comfortable operating in the unknown without a defined playbook.
• You are a self starter who takes ownership and doesn’t give up easily.
• You are organized and have excellent communication skills.
• You love building a team, but also rolling up your sleeves to do the work.
• 10+ years experience in business development, sales and/or strategy role(s).
• Experience working across food manufacturing, foodservice and/or retail sales channels.
• Proven track record for crafting GTM strategies for new categories.
• Early-stage growth experience with the ability to be autonomous and move quickly.
• Built and managed sales teams.

What We Offer

• An engaged and collaborative team that is working on solving a health and sustainability crisis that impacts everyone.
• The opportunity to help build company processes and culture from the ground up.
• Empowered team members with minimal bureaucracy.
• Competitive salary and meaningful equity.
• Flexible vacation time (minimum 3 weeks).
• Focus on uninterrupted deep work time.
• Medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, life coverage, health and dependent care FSA (flexible spending account)
• Additional perks like books and commuter assistance.