North America Partnership & Strategic Growth Manager

Overview

Griffith Foods is the caring, creative product development partner helping food companies meet the evolving needs of consumers while sustaining the planet. As a family business founded in 1919 and headquartered in Alsip, Illinois USA, Griffith Foods is known for true, collaborative innovation guided by their Purpose of "We Blend Care and Creativity to Nourish the World". The company's product capabilities range from seasonings and marinades to coating systems and sauces that are better for people and better for the planet.

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TITLE: North America Partnership & Strategic Growth Manager

LOCATION: Hybrid in the Chicago IL area or Remote from Illinois

COMP RANGE: $120,/year plus bonus

Griffith Foods is hiring a North America Partnership & Strategic Growth Manager to develop and lead the Griffith Foods North America 2030 partnership strategy to strengthen Griffith Foods' thought leadership and accelerate progress across the three Aspirations: (1) Partnering to Create Sustainable Food System Networks (2) Developing a Nutritious and Sustainable Portfolio and (3) Serving the Nutritionally and Socioeconomically Underserved in New Markets.

This is your opportunity to help shape a more regenerative, nutritious, and inclusive food system—while working inside a global, family-owned business that believes purpose and performance go hand in hand. In this role, you will connect ambition to action, build partnerships that matter, and help Griffith Foods grow in ways that create lasting value for people, communities, and the planet. This is not a sales role, but rather a regional enterprise strategist position.

As a North America Partnership & Strategic Growth Manager, your responsibilities will include:

• Advance Griffith Foods' 2030 aspirations through meaningful partnerships with innovation partners, customers, NGOs, technology partners, and research institutions focused on regenerative agriculture, nutrition, and inclusive access to food in North America.
• Translate global and regional priorities into action by designing partnerships that deliver tangible business value creation on a 2-5-year time horizon.
• Serve as a trusted bridge between internal teams and external partners, aligning values, capabilities, and commercial contracts.
• Design partnerships for long-term ecosystem impact by establishing clear goals, governance, success measures, and hand-offs that endure beyond individual relationships.
• Collaborate with global and regional teams to define clear policy stances and key messages aligned with aspirational priorities and business needs around regenerative agriculture and nutrition.
• Map and lead engagement with relevant policy groups, trade associations, and thought leadership forums in North America to strengthen regional storytelling by coordinating with external marketing and public relations partners.
• Represent Griffith Foods as a thoughtful and credible leader by engaging with policy groups, trade associations, and thought leadership forums, and supporting authentic regional storytelling.

Qualified candidates will have:

• Bachelor's degree in business, agribusiness, economics, public health, public policy or a related field
• At least 5 years of experience in partnerships, CSR, external corporate government affairs, stakeholder engagement, or strategic relationship management, in a commercial or corporate environment, preferably in the food, agriculture, or CPG industries.
• At least 2 years of relevant experience in creating impact metrics/or KPIs, measuring and delivering accountability of cross-functional team members as more than an individual contributor.
• Understanding of building trust-based relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (internal teams, external partners, and cross-functional collaborators).
• Experience in structuring an agreement between two or more entities, preferably with demonstrable dollar value or in-kind support.
• Strong facilitation, project management, and communication skills, with the ability to influence internally and externally.
• Willingness and ability to travel 40% of the year throughout US, Canada & Mexico,…