Job Overview: 
The Director, New Services & Strategic Partnerships is responsible for defining and executing the long-term growth strategy for Professional Services through the development of innovative service offerings, strategic partnerships, and new revenue streams. This role serves as a key leader in shaping the future direction of the Professional Services organization, identifying market opportunities, influencing enterprise priorities, and developing scalable solutions that drive retailer value, profitable growth, and competitive differentiation. The position works closely with Professional Services leaders, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Legal, supplier teams, retailers, and external partners to move opportunities from concept through commercialization and transition into long-term operational ownership.

Job Responsibilities: 

New Service Identification & Development

• Identify unmet retailer needs, market shifts, and industry trends that can become new Professional Services offerings.

• Build and manage a prioritized pipeline of new services, programs, and solutions.

• Develop customer value propositions, service concepts, business cases, pricing approaches, and commercialization plans that quantify revenue, investment, margin, scalability, and EBITDA potential.

• Lead opportunities from initial concept through validation, pilot, launch, and scale.

• Establish a repeatable stage-gate framework for evaluating and prioritizing service 
  investments.

Strategic Partnerships

• Identify and evaluate technology providers, solution vendors, retail service organizations, and emerging innovators that complement or accelerate Professional Services capabilities.

• Develop partnership structures and coordinate commercial, operational, legal, financial, and risk requirements to deliver value for retailers, Professional Services, and partners.

• Monitor partner performance and recommend actions to improve, expand, or exit relationships.

• Own the Retail Marketing P&L for strategic partnership programs, including Kiosks, Goods & Vendors Serviced, and Prepaid Gift Cards

Retailer-Centric Innovation

• Engage retailers and internal customer-facing teams to understand evolving challenges and priorities.

• Conduct discovery sessions, customer interviews, competitive reviews, and market research.

• Translate retailer needs into practical services with clear, measurable business outcomes.

• Monitor pilot financial and operational performance and use retailer feedback and performance data to refine offerings before broader deployment.

Cross-Functional Commercialization

• Lead executive governance discussions and present recommendations and business cases for innovation investments and partnership opportunities.

• Align Sales and Marketing on positioning, target customers, sales enablement, and go-to[1]market plans.

• Define launch-readiness criteria, ownership, service delivery requirements, and post-launch support.

• Ensure successful transition from incubation to the department responsible for ongoing delivery and performance.

Financial & Strategic Growth

• Own growth objectives for new services and strategic partnerships and contribute to the long[1]term Professional Services growth roadmap.

• Develop investment recommendations and manage budgets associated with incubation and pilot initiatives.

• Monitor service portfolio performance, including financial results, operational effectiveness, ROI, profitability, and scalability, and recommend investment, expansion, or exit actions.
   

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:
Education/ Certifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Retail Management, Finance, or a related field required.

• MBA or other advanced business degree preferred.

Experience: 

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in strategic partnerships, business  development, innovation, product development, consulting, retail solutions, or related disciplines.

• 5+ years leading teams and cross-functional strategic initiatives with enterprise-wide impact

• Demonstrated success developing and launching new products, services, partnerships, or business ventures.

• Experience within grocery, retail, wholesale distribution, food industry services, or related industries preferred.

• Experience developing strategic alliances, partner ecosystems, technology-enabled solutions, recurring-revenue services, managed services, SaaS offerings, co branded solutions, or white label business models preferred

Knowledge/Skills/ Abilities:

• Strong financial, analytical, and commercial acumen with experience building business cases and evaluating investment opportunities.

• Ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority.

• Strong negotiation, presentation, communication, and executive-facing skills.

• Strong strategic thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurial mindset.

• Ability to balance long-term growth opportunities with disciplined execution.

• Strong customer-focus with the ability to translate retailer needs into scalable solutions.

• Demonstrated ability to establish structure, accountability, and successful execution across multiple initiatives.

• Good judgment is required for this position as there may be times when direct supervision is not immediately available.

Work Environment: 
Remote Role:

• This position is classified as remote where the associate will perform remote work from their primary residence. Remote associates are welcome to work from the office but are not required to do so. While remote associates are not required to work from an office on a regular basis, they may be required to come to the office or other UNFI locations for necessary business reasons or if directed to do so by their manager.

Travel:

• 20-25% travel- This position may require the associate to travel to company offices, distribution centers, or other locations for specific meetings or other business reasons.