Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., started in 1978 in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, USA, founded by childhood friends and dedicated activists Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. In 2000 Ben & Jerry’s became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever whilst maintaining an independent Board of Directors to provide leadership focused on preserving and expanding Ben & Jerry’s social mission, brand integrity, and product quality. Nowadays our products are distributed in 35 countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues.
At Ben & Jerry’s we have an inspiring ambition. We aim to pioneer our ‘linked prosperity business model’ to advance the global movement for social and economic justice while growing our sales to one billion € by 2020. Therefore we are expanding rapidly in Europe as well as in new markets in Asia and Latin America. This translates into a high-paced growth environment where we bring our grassroots and activist spirit every day. That is how we remain a true values-led organisation with a connected 3 part mission, which you will find reflected in your goals and aspirations:
Social mission: to initiate innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally Product mission: to make and distribute the finest quality all natural and super premium ice-cream and euphoric concoctions Economic mission: to operate the Company on a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth
Role & Responsibilities – your purpose
The ideal candidate for this position will be a passionate ambassador of good will, an avid learner and curiosity seeker who is willing to grow in this position. We are the voice of Ben & Jerry’s to most of our fans! We’re looking for someone who will go above and beyond to provide outstanding customer service while keeping it fun and engaging for our fans and co-workers.
This team member will monitor and manage consumer contacts received through our various contact channels including phone calls, emails, chat, and an occasional letter.
This person will provide timely, accurate, fun and informed responses to our consumers and stakeholders regarding products, new product launches, social mission initiatives, scoop shops, and company-sponsored campaigns.
Responding to a wide array of questions and concerns, keeping current on product and company knowledge, managing an occasional challenging conversation, and keeping a pleasant and upbeat attitude throughout the day is what this team is known for. In addition, we encourage all team members to explore and become involved with cross functional teams which could be Marketing, R&D, Manufacturing, PR, Retail Operations, Social Mission, or others as a way to learn several facets of our operations and initiatives, and to provide personal growth and development.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Engage with fans via emails, phone calls, and chat relating to products, scoop shops, posts, and company campaigns with maturity and professionalism.
- When necessary, research questions with co-workers and other departments to obtain answers for obscure questions, invent solutions, address the unusual to answer consumer concerns, requests and inquiries of all shapes and sizes.
- Remain cool under pressure with maturity and professionalism if faced with a challenging fan
- Demonstrate empathy and genuine caring in all interactions
- Recognize and engage in unique opportunities to surprise and delight our fans
- Work with our Canadian team and consumers to provide the best service to our fans up north
- Record consumer data for our consumer engagement database and consumer engagement systems
- Collect and examine all pertinent and relevant information to validate consumer claims and provide quick turnaround for claim resolution.
- Follow through with consumers and co-workers on findings, adjustments, and recommendations for issue resolution.
- Learn and utilize programs such as Salesforce, Excel, and PowerPoint, analyze data, and help identify trends, insights, and product issues in need of improvement.
- Participate and collaborate on cross-functional work teams as to address improvement initiatives and special projects. Provide project status updates to team and manager on a regular basis.
- Explore the many opportunities to learn several facets of our three-part mission by working on special projects related to Marketing, Community Management, R&D, PR, Social Mission or other areas as directed by interests and career growth goals.
SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
Given Ben & Jerry’s unique position within Unilever, the ability to build excellent relationships within both Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s will be essential. We are looking for people who can ultimately leverage the marketing excellence and operational effectiveness that is built by Unilever – while preserving the three-part mission and community of connectivity within Ben & Jerry’s. Having the right energy and attitude to connect both parts of our organization will be critical for success. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience researching and responding to consumer issues.
- Requires excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Requires highly developed listening and problem-solving skills.
- Requires excellent customer service skills and experience in a frontline setting.
- Computer proficiency with Microsoft Office suite including Outlook, Excel, Word and ability to easily learn contact management and reporting systems.
- Able to work solo, collaboratively with the team, and across departments when necessary.
Our people profile
To support out 3-part mission, Ben & Jerry’s also has an outspoken people-mission. We look for people with these characteristics to strengthen our team:
- Purpose-driven: passion and drive to make a real impact with through our Social Mission
- Empathy: curious to collaborate with a variety of personalities and styles and to build excellent relationships with internal & external stakeholders – this includes cross-functional relationships and striving for collaborative success
- Mastery: continuously learn, grow and develop to contribute to B&Js
- Autonomy: dare to make choices and take ownership
- Activism: interested in bringing about political or social connectivity
Over the past year, we have dedicated ourselves in new ways to understanding and developing strategies for the deep work necessary to uproot the systemic racism underpinning our racial inequity. Ben & Jerry’s is committed to becoming a truly antiracist company by eliminating racial disparities within the company and to disproportionately create Black wealth through our business relationships.
We are actively working to achieve equity in our workforce, franchise network and supplier base through a wide range of ongoing and evolving strategies that eliminate barriers, increase access to opportunity, and make real changes in our business practices and culture. This work will be supported by goals and internal metrics to maintain and report on our progress.
We have chosen to center on racial equity out of an understanding that the culture of white supremacy must be dismantled to achieve equity for all marginalized people. We have focused our strategies on outcomes for Black people because slavery and its legacy remain such a defining element of American life. We believe this targeted work will help us achieve our broader commitment to universal social equity.
The initial phase of this work focuses on our home market of the U.S., where the majority of our employees and business is located. As we learn and build our capacity for this work, we will expand it to our global markets where systemic racism in other forms, with roots in colonialism, persists.