Job description

W&T Seafood Corp., a friendly, family-owned Brooklyn-based seafood distribution company, is searching for someone who loves seafood (oysters, especially) to fill our full-time Sourcing Coordinator position.  

At W&T Seafood Corp., we pride ourselves on our extensive supplier relationships and the ability to bring the best shellfish and seafood products to New York's finest chefs. Our specialty is in fresh shellfish, but we also carry a large selection of frozen seafood products.

You will be joining a fun, tightly-knit team in a friendly and casual work environment. We are a small team that assigns projects according to your interests and personal strengths, subject to the needs of the Company.  You will have individual, independent projects, but also collaborate occasionally on events and larger projects with others.

Primary Role and Responsibilities

You will be the primary contact for our existing suppliers. You will be responsible for sourcing new and purchasing current products to fulfill inventory needs. You will need to have good research skills in order to understand and negotiate market pricing.

As a highly perishable commodity, you will need to routinely inspect and document all incoming shellstock products for the purposes of quality control.

You will liaise with other vendors and government entities including freight forwarders, customs authorities, FDA, USDC, etc. to ensure that an incoming or outgoing shipment meets all requirements.

You will need to continuously acquire new suppliers, which will require the ability to multi-task and perform research through non-traditional means (via word-of-mouth from existing suppliers, online research, cold calling).  

You must stay up-to-date with various food production and food safety regulation such as, but not limited to HACCP, general sanitation procedures, shellfish and finfish regulations (NMFS, NYS DEC, etc.), FDA export requirements, package labeling, etc.

You will manage export shipments and have ownership of export/foreign customers and manage their orders and shipments.

You must have an interest in seafood and become knowledgeable of our product offerings.  (Prior knowledge and experience is not required, but business curiosity and a desire to learn is required.)

Day-to-day tasks include taking and managing orders (from purchase order to arrival in inventory), managing inventory, performing quality control analyses, records management, setting up meetings with potential suppliers, researching new suppliers, researching and implementing logistics plans (ground and air) and updating and learning more about our product offerings.

Occasionally, you will be required to attend events that take place in the evenings and weekends. Don’t worry, you are usually fed, or it is oyster-related. Otherwise, it is a field trip to visit one of our growers or suppliers. 

Requirements

• Passion for food, especially seafood, a must (you don’t have to eat out often or know every chef on Food Network, but you must be interested in learning or have knowledge of food systems).
• Strong relationship-building skills. You must enjoy socializing and meeting new people.     
• Excellent communication skills. You will have a company-issued smartphone and will be expected to respond to customers/suppliers in a timely fashion. You will also be required to draft descriptive text for some sales and promotional items (i.e. product specification sheets, etc.)  
• Strong organizational skills. Must be able to establish and maintain accurate, accessible and up-to-date records concerning vendors, regulations, inventory, QC, etc.
• Self-motivated team player. You must be accountable for yourself and for your team. Because we are a small business and a small team, we would like to avoid office politics. We are very honest with each other and pride ourselves on the candor between team members.
• Basic computer skills. You should be able to write and send a professional-sounding email, update information in our database, perform basic internet research, and create simple documents using Microsoft Office. Experience with Adobe Photoshop a plus.          
• Must be able to consume raw oysters and other seafood. You will be required to taste a significant amount of seafood in order to properly represent the product to our customers.
• Knowledge of oysters and other seafood a plus.
• Previous sales/purchasing and/or retail/restaurant experience a plus. 
• Experience in logistics (preferably in perishables) is desired.
• Experience with HACCP, FDA and fisheries operations is also highly desirable.    
• Some experience with (food) photography is also a plus.

To learn more about W&T Seafood Corp., visit us at www.wtseafood.com.

 

Compensation

this position is:

Application instructions

Deadline

September 30, 2012