Vice President Grocery Sales, East

Overall Responsibility

The Vice President of Grocery Sales will build and develop strategic customer growth, partnerships, and the total business in assigned target markets with the primary purpose of accelerating performance for our brands across the grocery channel.

Operating in an assigned territory, the VP of Grocery Sales will cultivate strong business relationships with key decision makers at large, multi-store retailers. The VP will have an entrepreneurial spirit, sales intellect and strategic selling skills and will provide customer and consumer insights and category growth strategies to develop customer centric solutions, driving category results for both Pete & Gerry’s and our partners. The VP will have a strong understanding of trade spend and investment strategies, leading customer P&Ls and numerous additional tools that drive sales, share, and profits. The VP will lead a team of Senior Account Executives across the entire business, coaching and developing their capabilities and talents to develop teammates for succession.

Key areas of Responsibility:

• Deliver trade and revenue goals.
• Achieve assigned sales targets through the maintenance and expansion of distribution, merchandising, and promotional activity for each assigned brand.
• Build strategic partnerships with all customers, bringing our strategic selling concepts to life.
• Build brand equity and profitably increase sales volume for all assigned brands.
• Establish strategic relationships with mid/upper-level retailer management.
• Create selling stories utilizing facts and consumer and retailer insights.
• Prepare and submit special reports, acceptance of products or competitive conditions, as may be requested by management or as observed in the marketplace.
• Identify opportunities to maintain and expand distribution of existing business and find unique opportunities for incremental sales and profit.
• Develop and execute multi-year strategies and annual operating plans that include the overarching strategies and tactics to deliver sustainable results.
• Comply with all company policies, instructions, and directions for the fulfillment of company objective and to maximize profits from sales.
• Adhere to all policies, guidelines, and procedures, such as GMP, HACCP, Food Safety.
• Partner with cross-functional teams, including Finance, Marketing, Sales Operations, Processing, and Logistics. Share best practices.
• Coordinate store resets.
• Prepare weekly sales reports and expense reports as required.
• Own and develop the strategic selling process (our selling stories) that will enable our long-term success both for this team as well as the organization.
• Be alert to and keep management informed of competitive products and merchandising practices.
• Ensure observance of safe work practices to include the immediate work area, visits to customer sites and operation of a vehicle used for company business.
• Deliver share growth across all sub-categories across all customers.
• Drive National development, distribution, and sales of Pete and Gerry’s portfolio of brands.
• Lead, coach and train the Key Account Sales team to deliver KPI’s and objectives.
• Develop and enhance partnerships through participation in customer events, industry functions and entertainment within company standards.

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in business or equivalent experience.

Qualifications Preferred Skills & Knowledge:

• 7+ years proven sales experience in a related position within the CPG industry with direct account responsibility.

· Strong leadership and team development skills.

• Requires strong analytical/assessment skills including ability to analyze and evaluate several sources of data to develop actionable insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Solid financial acumen.
• Travel up to 50%
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook.
• 3+ years of experience utilizing syndicated data.

Physical Requirements:

• Repetitive keyboarding.
• Lifting up to 25 pounds.
• Sit/stand for 8+ hours per day.