General Manager – Citrus Oils, Essential Oils & Natural Derivatives
Global Natural Ingredients Manufacturer
Home-Based | Florida location preferred but not required
Our client is a rapidly growing global natural ingredients manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Florida. Due to this high growth and acquisitions, the company is seeking an accomplished General Manager – Citrus Ingredients / Citrus Oils / Natural Derivatives to lead a high-growth global division.
This is a senior leadership role with full P&L responsibility and oversight of commercial, technical, operational, and strategic functions. The General Manager will drive profitable growth through portfolio development, operational excellence, customer engagement, innovation, and strong cross-functional leadership.
The ideal candidate will bring deep experience in citrus oils, essential oils, aroma chemicals, FTNFs, natural derivatives, flavors, or related natural ingredients, along with a proven ability to lead complex technical commercial portfolios on a global scale.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Growth
- Define and execute the long-term strategy for the division, aligned with overall corporate objectives.
- Identify and develop growth opportunities across citrus oils, essential oils, natural derivatives, FTNFs, aroma ingredients, and related taste applications.
- Lead innovation and portfolio management initiatives that balance customer-driven solutions with scalable, margin-accretive growth platforms.
- Monitor market dynamics, regulatory developments, consumer trends, and competitive activity to ensure the division remains well-positioned for future growth.
Commercial & Customer Leadership
- Partner closely with global and regional sales, key account management, and business development teams to accelerate revenue growth.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with strategic customers, partners, and distributors.
- Support major customer negotiations, pricing strategy, contract structure, and margin management.
- Collaborate with marketing, R&D, and applications teams to translate customer needs into differentiated taste and ingredient solutions.
P&L, Operations & Business Management
- Own full P&L responsibility, including revenue growth, profitability, cost management, budgeting, forecasting, and capital allocation.
- Drive operational efficiency across sourcing, production, quality, supply chain, and technical functions while ensuring reliability, scalability, and customer service excellence.
- Ensure compliance with food safety, quality, regulatory, sustainability, and customer-specific requirements.
- Manage investment priorities, including capacity expansion, technology upgrades, sourcing strategies, and make-or-buy decisions.
Organizational & Talent Leadership
- Lead, develop, and inspire a multidisciplinary team of approximately 40–50 employees across multiple countries, including R&D/technical, sales/commercial, strategic, operations, and support functions.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, continuous improvement, and performance excellence.
- Build succession plans and attract top talent within citrus, natural ingredients, aroma technologies, flavors, and related technical markets.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with R&D, procurement, manufacturing, regulatory, quality, finance, sales, marketing, and corporate leadership to deliver integrated business solutions.
- Ensure alignment between customer requirements, innovation pipelines, technical capabilities, and operational execution.
- Serve as a key member of the senior leadership team and contribute to broader company strategy.
Qualifications
- Must have at least a Bachelor’s degree required in Food Science, Chemistry, Business, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- Must HAVE 10+ years of progressive technical and commercial leadership experience in citrus oils, essential oils, aroma chemicals, natural ingredients, flavors, FTNFs, natural derivatives, or closely related markets.
- Must have a proven track record of full P&L ownership and profitable growth leadership in a technical, ingredient-based business.
- Must have a strong technical and commercial understanding of natural derivatives, citrus oils, FTNFs, essential oils, and aroma ingredients, including sourcing, quality, regulatory, and customer application considerations.
- Demonstrated success leading global or multi-site teams across commercial, technical, operations, and strategic functions.
- Strong business acumen, customer orientation, negotiation skills, and ability to drive growth in complex, technical portfolios.
- Ability to work effectively in a home-based leadership role with domestic and international travel as needed.
Compensation
Competitive compensation package including base salary, bonus program, and benefits.
Qualified candidates should send a resume to: jobs@foodemployment.com
