People & Culture Coordinator

ABOUT ALBERT USTER IMPORTS

Albert Uster Imports, Inc. (“AUI”) is a privately held gourmet food company headquartered in the Washington, DC area (Gaithersburg, MD) with warehouse locations in Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Gaithersburg. AUI falls under the Vestar Capital Partners portfolio with affiliate organization, Roland Foods, LLC.

Founded in 1968, the company offers over 1,400 products from around the world. We serve leading hotels, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, airlines, and manufacturers with innovative, high quality products and solutions to their most demanding culinary challenges. We operate a network of distribution centers across the U.S. and serve select International markets as well. AUI has a national direct selling organization of over 60 sales professionals and a staff of culinary experts (chefs and food scientists) adept at custom product solutions.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

AUI Fine Foods is seeking an energetic, empathetic, and highly organized individual to join the People & Culture Team. The P&C Coordinator will support the growth of the company, as well as oversee workplace practices, employee engagement, and Human Resources (“HR”) functions. This is a full-time position reporting to the Director, Legal and People & Culture who is based out of NYC. The P&C Coordinator is the only dedicated HR resource for AUI Fine Foods local to the Gaithersburg Office.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish yourself as an essential People & Culture resource for AUI Fine Foods and its remote employees.
• Implement and refine P&C strategies to improve employee performance, engagement, and development.
• Champion various P&C projects over the course of the year (i.e. Performance Review Process, Payroll, Trainings, Health and Wellness, etc.) and lead implementation of HR policies, expectations, and guidelines.
• Partner with senior leaders across multiple business functions to identify issues, risks, and opportunities within the HR function.
• Demonstrate your knowledge and experience with sophisticated employment issues to drive high integrity employee relations, performance management, and conflict resolution strategies.
• Utilize analytical skills and tools to guide data driven employment decisions, evaluate human resources programs and projects, and support consistent improvement of key performance indicators.
• Support recruitment for all open roles, and conduct onboarding and offboarding for all employees, independent contractors, and temporary staff.
• Serve as the primary contact for employee relations, take the lead in troubleshooting issues and addressing requests, and escalate concerns to senior leadership as appropriate.
• Drive the talent management cycle of the organization including succession planning.
• Champion AUI Fine Foods’ diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and ensure those values are represented in the P&C programs and processes.
• Ensure compliance with laws, policies, processes, and procedures. Conduct investigations when there is a possible violation of law policy or safety.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Human Resources Management, Organizational Psychology, Organizational Development or a related major.
• 5-8 years of human resources experience, including experience working with business functions including finance, legal, sales, operations, and strategy.
• Strong project management skills, including a demonstrated commitment to continuous process improvement.
  
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills with outstanding attention to detail and a proficiency in MS Office products
  
• A self-starter who is willing to “roll up their sleeves” and perform multiple tasks independently with limited support.
  
• Ability to travel to other locations as needed to support the business.
  
• Flexibility to work irregular hours to meet the needs of the employee population, as well as the needs of a dynamic business.
  
• Fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and the ability to work out of the Gaithersburg Office three days a week.
  
• Passion for chocolate and pastry products!

Founded by immigrants, AUI & Roland Foods knows that diversity is the spice of life. We believe in the power of food to open minds, spark adventure, and bring diverse people together. All are welcome at our table! We know the transformative value of food in individual lives and communities. Because of this, we insist on obtaining the highest-quality ingredients and talent!

AUI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. AUI considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. AUI is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at peopleandculture@rolandfoods.com.