VP, Coffee & Pantry Strategy - Charlotte, NC

Job Summary

As Vice President of Coffee & Pantry, you will serve as the strategic architect for one of Canteen’s most dynamic and experience-driven lines of business. This corporate leadership role is centered on crafting and driving the long-term strategy for Coffee and Pantry services across the organization, while partnering closely with field teams responsible for day-to-day execution. Your success will lie in your ability to align big-picture thinking with operational excellence and foster collaborative relationships that accelerate growth and client satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Define and lead the enterprise-wide strategy for Coffee and Pantry, identifying trends, innovation opportunities, and service enhancements to strengthen our market position and client value.
• Field Partnership & Enablement: Act as the bridge between corporate vision and field execution—partnering with operators, supporting their success, and ensuring alignment with strategic goals.
• Revenue & Growth Focus: Drive financial performance by identifying scalable growth opportunities, optimizing our roaster portfolio, and expanding supplier and brand partnerships.
• Operational Excellence: Oversee the training and implementation of equipment standards to ensure consistency, efficiency, and service quality across all markets.
• Client Retention & Satisfaction: Champion service innovation and quality that fosters client loyalty, retention, and satisfaction.
• Team Leadership & Development: Inspire and develop a high-performing team, cultivating a culture of recognition, growth, and engagement.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Innovation, and Foodbuy Procurement to bring holistic solutions to market.
• Up to 30% travel required. 
• Other Duties as Assigned: Remain agile and adaptable to evolving business needs and opportunities.

Experience Desired

• Coffee & Pantry Category Expertise:  Deep knowledge of the coffee industry, pantry programs, workplace hospitality trends, and emerging beverage/refreshment formats.  Experience managing or partnering with national and specialty coffee roasters, beverage equipment providers, and pantry vendors.
• Strategic Leadeship & Category Growth:  A history of building and executing multi-year strategic plans in a B2B or B2B2C environment.  Comfortable developing business models, value propositions, and go-to-market strategies—with the data to back it up.
• Operational Understanding & Field Enablement:  Strong understanding of on-the-ground operations, ideally from a background in foodservice, retail, or facilities.  Experience creating scalable training and implementation programs for new platforms, products, or equipment.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence: Experience working across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Tech to bring initiatives to life. Ability to influence without authority and lead through others—especially across a matrixed organization.
• Business Acumen: Familiarity with pricing models, contract structures, and levers that drive sustainable growth in a service environment.
• Leadership & Team Development: A track record of leading high-performing teams, developing talent, and creating a culture of innovation and accountability. Experience navigating change and scaling teams or programs in fast-moving or complex organizations.
• Client-Facing and Relationship-Building:  Skilled in building and maintaining strong client and vendor relationships, including contract negotiations and partnership development. Communication skills to represent the business internally and externally.