Head of Sales

Blendsmiths; Kirkby Lonsdale; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working conditions

£60,000 - £70,000 salary per annum

Bonus structure

Company laptop (Apple MacBook Pro)

25 days holiday

Pension

Private Health Insurance

Complementary products each month

On site gym access

Job summary

Blendsmiths is a leading premium drinks partner to cafés, hospitality operators and foodservice across the UK and internationally. We are seeking a Head of Sales to own the sales strategy, lead the UK and international sales team and build the pipeline for sustainable growth.

Reporting directly to the Founders, you will combine strategic planning with hands-on execution, driving multi-site expansion and shaping the company's commercial future in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial setting.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading a high-performing B2B sales team.
• Experience as Head of Sales or senior commercial leader in a scale-up.
• Experience winning multi-site / national operator accounts.
• Strong understanding of hospitality, foodservice, beverages or related markets.
• Experience working with distributors while maintaining direct customer relationships.
• Ownership of revenue targets and commercial budgets.
• Strong forecasting, CRM and pipeline-management discipline.
• Comfortable working with Founders and at board level.
• Track record of scaling a sales function and coaching teams.

Responsibilities

• Define strategy to maximise revenue and profits including markets, channels, pricing, range and trade marketing.
• Own headline revenue target with a solid strategy for success.
• Conduct market research on demand, competition, and pricing.
• Create compelling customer proposals to win new business.
• Be senior point of contact for customers and deliver excellent service.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing sales team with clear targets and KPIs.
• Foster a culture of high performance through coaching, reviews, forecasting and performance mgmt.
• Shape commercial strategy with Founders and board; plan 1- to 5-year sales.
• Own sales pipeline and forecasting; ensure qualified opportunities.
• Implement CRM discipline and clear sales stages with metrics.
• Produce monthly/quarterly forecasts and identify risks.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to optimise conditions.

Skills

B2B sales leadership

Head of Sales experience

Multi-site accounts

Hospitality knowledge

Distributor relationships

Forecasting & CRM

Board-level collaboration

Scaling sales function

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

Job Descritpion: Head Of Sales

Location: Hybrid, Kirkby Lonsdale or Remote

Reports to: Founders

Employment Type: Full-Time

Blendsmiths was established in 2017, with a focus on changing the way the world drinks.

In nearly 10 years of trading, Blendsmiths has become a leading brand in the F&B sector across the UK, renowned for high quality and innovative drinks.

Blended to be different; blended to be extraordinary, we are ambitious about taking the extraordinary to new heights and that’s only possible by building a great team.

Job Overview

Blendsmiths is entering the next stage of its growth journey. Having established itself as a leading premium drinks partner to cafés, hospitality operators and foodservice customers across the UK and internationally, our ambition is to build a £10m+ business and become the go to alternative drinks company of choice.

Reporting directly to the Founders and operating as a senior member of the leadership team, we are looking for an exceptional Head of Sales to help us achieve the business ambitions. You will own the sales strategy, lead and develop our UK and International sales team and build the pipeline required to deliver sustainable, profitable growth.

A major focus will be accelerating our presence within multi-site café, hospitality and foodservice operators, whilst continuing to develop our independent, distributor, and international channels.

This is not simply a role for a successful salesperson. We are looking for someone who can build a high-performing sales organisation, develop people, implement strong commercial discipline and play an influential role in shaping the future strategy of Blendsmiths.

You will combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution and will be comfortable moving between board-level commercial planning, coaching the sales team and leading conversations with some of the largest prospective customers in our market.

We will need you to be a commercially ambitous and strategic individual who brings energy, a positive work ethic, intelligence, creativity and great conversation. We like to hire people who are hungry to be part of something very special, someone who thrives in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial setting, and is energised by the opportunity to have real impact, working alongside likeminded colleagues.

Key Responsibities

• Define the strategy to maximise revenue and profits for Blendsmiths, through successful customer propositions. Including:
  • Geographical Markets
  • Customer Channels
  • Pricing and Promotions
  • Range, and formats
  • Trade Marketing
• Take ownership of the headline revenue target, ensuring there is a suitable strategy for success.
• Conduct market research to assess potential demand, competition, and pricing strategies.
• Create compelling and successful customer proposals – which succeed in winning new customers, or new business with existing customers.
• Be the senior point of contact for all customers – providing first-class customer service, and an engaging and efficient customer experience.
• Build the team – build, lead and develop a high-performing, accountable sales team with clear targets, KPI’s, territories, pipeline expectations and standards of execution.
• Culture - create a culture of high performance through regular coaching, structured one-to-ones, pipeline reviews, forecasting and proactive performance management.
• Work closely with the Founders and board to shape the commercial strategy of the business, identifying where Blendsmiths should compete, which customer segments offer the greatest opportunity and where resources should be deployed
• Translate the company's long-term growth ambitions into an actionable 1, 3 and 5 year sales plan.
• Own the sales pipeline and forecasting process, ensuring there is sufficient qualified opportunity to achieve annual and longer-term revenue targets.
• Implement rigorous CRM discipline and establish clear sales stages, conversion metrics, probability weighting and accountability across the team.
• Produce accurate monthly and quarterly sales forecasts, proactive in identifying risks.
• Engage with the cross-functional team internally, to support the development of commercially optimised conditions.

Skills & Experience

• Proven track record of leading and developing a high-performing B2B sales team.
• Experience operating as a Head of Sales, Sales Director or senior commercial leader in a growth business.
• Demonstrable experience winning and developing multi-site / national operator accounts.
• Strong understanding of hospitality, foodservice, coffee, beverages or an adjacent OOH market.
• Experience working with distributors while maintaining direct relationships with major end customers.
• Demonstrable ownership of significant revenue targets and commercial budgets.
• Strong forecasting, CRM and pipeline-management discipline.
• Comfortable operating with Founders and at board level.
• Evidence of having helped scale a business or sales function materially.
• A collaborative leader who is driven, understanding and brings people with them.
• Someone who is comfortable being hands-on, while also setting clear strategic direction.

Benefits Package

• Flexible working conditions
• £60,000 - £70,000 salary per annum (based on experience).
• Bonus structure
• Company laptop (Apple MacBook Pro).
• 25 days holiday
• Pension
• Private Health Insurance
• Complementary products each month
• On site gym access

We operate in a friendly, collaborative environment where there is plenty of opportunity to learn, develop and grow amongst a highly creative and driven bunch.