Customer Business Manager

The Hartz Mountain Corporation; Ohio; Remote; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

401(k) match

34 paid days off

Parental leave

Healthcare coverage

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Hartz Mountain Corporation seeks a Customer Business Manager to lead end-to-end management of Kroger, Harris Teeter, Giant Eagle, and CP&G partnerships. You will translate POS and syndicated data into actionable plans to drive aggressive sales growth and optimize trade spend ROI.

Remote work from home base in eligible states; 2+ years of grocery mass accounts sales, Kroger experience preferred. Base salary with incentive bonus; 25% travel; comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a business-related discipline with 2+ years of direct sales experience.
• Experience calling on national grocery headquarter accounts; Kroger experience preferred.
• Proficient in Kroger systems and vendor reports to track metrics.
• Strong negotiation and presentation skills with ability to build selling stories from data.

Responsibilities

• Achieve sales targets within approved trade spend budget.
• Develop, monitor, and revise annual business plans for assigned accounts.
• Analyze POS and syndicated data; communicate trends and risks to internal teams.
• Identify opportunities for category reviews and expand distribution across categories.
• Ensure margins and promotions align with the brand strategy.
• Forecast customer events as required.
• Manage price changes, deductions, and selling/planning schedules.
• Travel as needed (approximately 25%).

Skills

Data analytics

Sales

Negotiation

Category management

Presentation

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

About Us:

For over 100 years, Hartz has been driven by one belief: pets make life better. That belief fuels our commitment to creating innovative, trusted products that strengthen the bond between pets and their families.

Our diverse team of passionate professionals continuously reimagine what pet care can be—working collaboratively to improve the wellbeing of pets everywhere. We’re proud to offer an inclusive, flexible workplace where employees are supported, valued, and empowered to grow.

At Hartz, the work you do matters—far beyond our walls.Join us and help shape the next chapter of pet care innovation.

What We Offer …

• Remote Work Schedule: Work remotely from your home office.


• Competitive Compensation & Benefits: Receive a generous 401(k) match with immediate vesting.


• Generous Paid Time Off: Enjoy up to 34 paid days off annually.


• Paid Leaves: Parental leave, Bereavement leave, and Military leave.


• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Healthcare FSA, and Mental Health EAP, basic Life insurance and Disability Insurance.


• Tuition Reimbursement & Career Growth: Access to tuition reimbursement and other learning and development opportunities.

The Role …

We are excited to offer a fantastic opportunity for a motivated, highly analytical sales professional to serve as the Customer Business Manager, overseeing the strategic, end-to-end management of the Kroger account (all divisions), Harris Teeter, Giant Eagle, and our distributor partnership with Central Pet & Garden (CP&G). In this role, you will leverage advanced data analytical skills to drive aggressive sales growth and maximize long-term category volume. Candidates must bring extensive experience managing major mass grocery accounts, with prior Kroger-specific experience and familiarity with their data and digital ecosystems being highly preferred.

Success hinges on your ability to cultivate strong stakeholder relationships, supported by rigorous data tracking and a relentless drive for results. By transforming POS and syndicated data into actionable business plans, you will optimize trade spend ROI, manage forecasts, and ensure flawless retail execution. We are looking to elevate our sales team with a growth-minded professional who can translate complex analytics into compelling selling stories, establishing themselves as a trusted expert who uses disciplined business tracking to elevate team performance and drive profitable growth.

In this position, you will work remotely from your home base, located in one of the following states: AR, CA, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA.

Strategic Sales and Business Planning

• Achieve sales targets for overall territory, customer and category within approved trade spend budget through negotiations with the buyer on sales and product placement.


• Develop, monitor, and continually revise assigned accounts’ annual business plans.


• Analyze point of sale and other sales data; communicate trends, insights, and risks via performance reports to Hartz internal teams, and to accounts’ category/replenishment teams. Use data to update and adjust the customer business plan


• Identify opportunities for all category and line reviews on an ongoing basis, building a selling story to secure new business as well as increase existing distribution across all categories.


• Ensure that retail margins and promotions fall within the published brand strategy for all items and categories, including proper shelf position.


• Forecast customer events as required.

Account and Relationship Management

• Build exceptionally strong relationships with key account stakeholders and brokers through consistent communication and meetings.


• Collaborate closely with internal Brand and Customer Planning teams and external broker partners to pinpoint significant opportunities within these Major grocery accounts. Develop and implement strategies and programs aimed at generating profitable and incremental sales.


• Understand and convey account strategies and goals to the internal Hartz team.


• Attend/participate in industry and customer events, trade/trade show events, and company sales/marketing meetings.

Operations and Administration

• Effectively manage the administrative responsibilities, including price change forms, deductions, and selling and planning schedules.

You’ll Need …

• Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in a Business-related discipline with 2+ years of direct sales experience (or 5+ years direct sales experience in lieu of degree), calling on national grocery headquarter accounts with a history of setting and delivering a growth agenda; Kroger experience preferred and pet care industry a plus.


• Customer Specific Systems Proficiency: Proficient in the use of Kroger systems and all included vendor apps and reports to create and track metrics expected by customer scorecards is preferred


• Sales & Presentation Skills: Experience with category management, fact-based selling techniques (point of sale and syndicated data analysis), and the ability to create, develop, and present this information compellingly from scratch


• Negotiation Skills: Proven negotiation skills, demonstrated ability to finalize business, and expand current account list


• Software Proficiency: Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite programs


• Business Travel: Willingness and ability to travel as needed (25%)

The anticipated base salary range for this role is between $100,000 and $120,000, and eligible for a 20% sales incentive bonus opportunity. The specific salary offered will depend on the candidate’s qualifications and experience for this position.

Hartz is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age or any other characteristic protected by law.