At Apeel, we look to nature to help the global food system extend quality, prevent waste, and ensure an abundant future for our planet.
We believe that our most essential ingredient in our recipe for success is our people. We strive to cultivate an environment where everyone is welcomed, and can bring their full, authentic selves into everything they do at Apeel. Humility, Ingenuity, Leadership, Teamwork and Grit are the values that define us and how we work with each other, customers, and communities across the globe.
About This Role
Apeel is seeking a results-driven Vice President Commercial, EMEA to oversee and scale our commercial footprint across the EMEA region, with a primary focus on Spain, South Africa, and other citrus-growing regions. This is a high-impact role that requires a strategic commercial leader with a proven ability to drive growth, coach and lead teams, and align closely with cross-functional partners across the business.
This individual will be responsible for defining and executing the EMEA growth strategy, building strong relationships with partners and distributors, and ensuring successful alignment across internal teams. We're looking for someone with strong commercial instincts, a passion for innovation in food and agriculture, and a leadership style rooted in vision, accountability, and performance.
As a cornerstone of our global commercial strategy, this role sets the tone for EMEA growth. You'll be the bridge between Apeel's global vision and regional execution, helping us reach more partners, reduce food waste, and grow our impact across critical markets.
What You'll Do
- Lead Apeel's commercial growth strategy for EMEA with a heavy emphasis on Spain and South Africa, ensuring scalable and profitable expansion in alignment with company goals.
- Serve as the primary relationship manager for key distribution and retail partners, developing strategic account plans and tailored growth programs.
- Drive channel performance reviews, identify coverage gaps, and assess the health of existing partnerships; make recommendations on direct vs. indirect strategies.
- Build and coach a high-performing regional team, instilling a culture of accountability, ownership, and collaboration.
- Partner cross-functionally with internal teams (R&D, Operations, Marketing, Finance) to align go-to-market strategies, product launches, and service delivery.
- Analyze business performance metrics to proactively identify opportunities, refine strategies, and ensure customer success.
- Facilitate the onboarding, enablement, and continuous improvement of channel partners, including training, digital tool adoption, and performance optimization.
- Represent the voice of the customer and region internally, contributing to product development, innovation, and long-term strategic planning.
- Own regional P&L and partner with finance on forecasting, budgeting, and performance measurement.
What You'll Bring
- Based in Murcia, Valencia, or Alicante, Spain, with the ability to travel across EMEA (approx. 30–40%).
- 10+ years of experience in commercial leadership, business development, or channel management—ideally in produce, agriculture, crop inputs, or food technology.
- Demonstrated experience in sales and technical team leadership, including coaching, developing talent, and driving accountability.
- A track record of developing and executing strategic sales programs that drive revenue and long-term customer growth.
- Deep understanding of channel dynamics, distributor partnerships, and B2B go-to-market execution.
- Strong cross-functional collaboration experience; ability to align commercial goals with product, operations, and marketing.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills—comfortable influencing C-level executives and internal leaders alike.
- Data-driven mindset with experience in CRM, forecasting tools, and performance metrics.
- English and Spanish fluency required; additional languages a plus.
Apeel believes that the scale of our impact is determined by the teams that work with us. As such, we seek to build high-performing teams of people from various experiences and backgrounds who can collectively push our company into new realms. We seek a diverse pool of applicants and consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, ancestry, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, citizenship, disability, Veteran status, marital status, or any other protected status. If you have any need for accommodations, you can let us know if you choose and know that we will do our best to assist you.
