Consumer Affairs Account Specialist

About Us:

Trilliant Food & Nutrition is a leading, vertically integrated manufacturer of premium coffees and powdered beverages, proudly headquartered in Little Chute, Wisconsin. With a legacy rooted in quality, innovation, and service, Trilliant delivers branded and private label solutions across retail, foodservice, and e-commerce channels.

Horseshoe Beverage Company, based in Neenah, WI, is a leading ready-to-drink beverage manufacturer dedicated to delivering an exceptional beverage experience. By combining industry-leading talent, cutting-edge equipment, and a vertically integrated supply chain, we drive innovation and consistently deliver the highest quality products to our customers-first and fast.

Our brand portfolio includes Victor Allen's, Dutch Bros beverages and Nurri, our better-for-you protein beverage line. We are passionate about beverages - and about building a team that's just as energized. We invite you to explore opportunities at Trilliant or Horseshoe, to see if your talents and career aspirations may fit with our openings.

Position Overview:

The Consumer Affairs Account Specialist serves as the primary point of contact for all consumer-facing inquiries received through Zendesk, ModSquad, brand websites, and other communication channels. This role ensures every consumer interaction reflects Trilliant's commitment to quality, care, and brand integrity.

The Account Specialist is responsible for managing and responding to escalated consumer complaints, inquiries, and product feedback in partnership with QA, Regulatory, Legal, and Marketing ensuring all responses are timely, empathetic, and compliant.

This position acts as the voice of the consumer within Trilliant, identifying trends, sharing insights, and helping drive continuous improvement in both product and service performance.

Responsibilities:

Consumer Response Management

* Manage and monitor all inbound consumer inquiries through Zendesk, ensuring accurate categorization, documentation, and timely resolution per defined SLAs.

* Craft clear, empathetic, and professional responses to consumers, translating technical or regulatory language from QA/Legal into consumer-friendly communication.

* Escalate complex or sensitive issues (e.g., potential illness reports, product quality concerns, recalls) promptly to QA and Regulatory for review and validation.

* Maintain ownership of all active tickets to ensure consistent follow-through and closure.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

* Partner with QA and Regulatory to ensure technical accuracy, compliance, and root-cause alignment in all consumer communications.

* Collaborate with Marketing and Social Media teams to maintain brand consistency and escalation alignment across all consumer touchpoints.

* Work closely with Data & Analytics teams to track complaint volume, category trends, and emerging quality or service issues.

* Provide feedback and insights to drive product improvements, SOP enhancements, and proactive consumer experience strategies.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

* Maintain accurate and complete records in Zendesk, ensuring data integrity across all platforms.

* Identify workflow optimization opportunities to reduce response time and improve consumer satisfaction.

* Support the creation and refinement of standardized SOPs, response templates, and escalation procedures.

* Contribute data and insights to quarterly reviews and customer experience reporting dashboards.

Qualifications:

* Bachelor's degree in Business, Communications, Food Science, or related field.

* 2-4 years of experience in Customer Service, Consumer Affairs, or Quality Support within a CPG, food, or beverage manufacturing environment.

* Strong written communication skills with the ability to translate technical or regulatory information into clear, consumer-appropriate language.

* Hands-on experience with Zendesk (or comparable CRM/ticketing system) for case management.

* Proven ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining professionalism, empathy, and accuracy.

* Familiarity with QA/Regulatory processes such as complaint handling, traceability, and CAPA preferred.

* Proficiency in Microsoft 365 (Excel, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint).

* Prior experience collaborating with cross-functional teams in QA, Regulatory, or Marketing.

* Background in consumer-packaged goods (CPG), food, or beverage industry.

* Empathy & Consumer Advocacy: Champions the consumer's voice across all functions.

* Professional Communication: Communicates clearly and compassionately with both consumers and internal partners.

* Collaboration: Builds strong cross-functional partnerships to ensure quick and accurate issue resolution.

* Accountability: Takes ownership of outcomes, meeting deadlines and service-level expectations.

* Attention to Detail: Maintains accuracy in documentation and communication, even under pressure.

* Adaptability: Excels in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

* Consistently meets or exceeds consumer response SLAs.

* Demonstrates improvement in consumer satisfaction and sentiment metrics.

* Ensures cross-functional alignment between CS, QA, Regulatory, Legal and Marketing.

* Provides accurate and actionable data to support trend analysis and improvement initiatives.

Hours, Location and Pay:

We offer a competitive base pay rate and comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees. This role works standard business hours Monday-Friday at our Little Chute, WI manufacturing facility.

Physical and Mental Demands:

* While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, hear, use hands to type data, use a personal computer and telephone. This employee may occasionally have to operate business machines and lift and/move up to 50 pounds.

* Specific vision abilities required in this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

* Mental demands include multi-tasking, decision making, problem solving, comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, and synthesizing data.

* Potential for exposure to chemicals, heights, loud noises, mechanical equipment, wet environments, and other potential hazards exists.

Safety Statement:

At Trilliant and Horseshoe, safety is every employee's first responsibility. We expect all employees to adhere to all safety practices, have the moral courage to stop other individuals from performing unsafe acts, and immediately report unsafe conditions.

Disclosures:

* The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

* Responsible for following food safety/regulatory policies and procedures, executing responsibilities as identified in standard operating procedures, and reporting food safety/regulatory concerns to the Production or Quality Manager.

* Trilliant Food & Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage Company are Drug Free Workplaces. All applicants are subject to a drug screen and background check as a condition of employment.

* Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage participate in the E-Verify process.

* EEO/AA including Vets and Disabled

* If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at HR@trilliantfood.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

* Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage are Equal Opportunity Employers.

* The principles of the OECD and UN have been taken into consideration and used as guidance in our human rights practices and procedures.