Director - Grocery & Mass, Chicago

Suntory Global Spirits; Chicago (IL); In loco; USD 160.000 - 200.000; Tempo pieno

Descrizione del lavoro

Suntory Global Spirits in the United States seeks a Director of Grocery & Mass to own and grow strategic national customer relationships, align financial and distribution objectives, and translate commitments into measurable market execution.

This role leads cross-functional teams, partners with wholesalers, and drives plan alignment, performance, and consumer programming to strengthen brand visibility and growth across key spirits categories.

Competenze

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 10 years’ experience in the Spirits, Beer, RTD alcohol categories, with understanding of its route-to-market dynamics.
• Demonstrated track record of developing and executing commercial strategies that drive growth and market share.
• Strong experience working with third-party distributors and managing senior-level trade relationships.
• Experience operating in a matrixed organization, effectively managing internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience balancing strategic planning with hands-on execution in high-growth or entrepreneurial environments.

Mansioni

• Own the National Customer Relationship and Growth Agenda.
• Develop and Deliver Joint Business Plans.
• Lead National Distribution and Activation Execution.
• Orchestrate Internal Commercial Alignment.
• Drive Performance and Close Gaps to Plan.
• Accelerate Consumer Pull Through Customer Partnership.

Conoscenze

Leadership

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Prioritization

Formazione

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree

Descrizione del lavoro

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At Suntory Global Spirits, we craft spirits of the highest quality and deliver brilliant experiences to people around the world. Suntory Global Spirits has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Suntory Global Spirits is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

What makes this a great opportunity?

Suntory Global Spirits is a world leader in premium spirits with $5.5 billion in annual revenues and an ambition to become the World’s Most Admired Premium Spirits Company. We have a strong vision and strategy, an incredible brand portfolio grounded in quality and craftsmanship, an unwavering commitment to sustainability and top talent across the organization. We are focused on driving value across key priorities including American whiskey, Japanese Spirits, Scotch, Tequila and Ready-to-Drink. Headquartered in New York City, Suntory Global Spirits is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings, which is world renowned for delivering quality and excellence across a range of products and categories.

The Director of Grocery & Mass is responsible for owning and growing strategic National Customer relationships by developing joint business plans that align customer and company objectives across financial performance, distribution, activation, and share growth.
The Director, Grocery & Mass serves as the primary commercial owner of the customer relationship and orchestrates execution across internal teams, wholesalers, and local markets to ensure customer commitments are translated into timely, consistent, and measurable market execution.

Role Responsibilities

Own the National Customer Relationship and Growth Agenda

• Serve as the senior commercial owner for the assigned National Customer, building trusted relationships with the buyer and key cross-functional customer stakeholders.
• Develop a deep understanding of the customer’s business, priorities, growth opportunities, and operating model to establish the company as a strategic growth partner.

Develop and Deliver Joint Business Plans

• Build a comprehensive, joint business plan with the customer that establishes clear financial objectives, distribution targets, activation priorities, and Share Growth ambitions.
• Aligning both organizations on the strategies, activities, resources, and measures required to deliver the plan and establish clear accountability for results.

Lead National Distribution and Activation Execution

• Translate customer authorizations and agreed programming into actionable execution plans, coordinating with wholesalers and local markets to deliver new distribution authorizations, display planner activity, and other customer commitments.
• Ensure execution is timely, complete, and consistent with the customer expectations and commercial strategy.

Orchestrate Internal Commercial Alignment

• Serve as the connection between the National Customer and the company's broader commercial organization, communicating customer priorities and commitments to market leadership, distributors, and cross-functional partners.
• Ensure local markets understand the authorized programming and prioritize the resources and distributor activities required to execute customer activity.

Drive Performance and Close Gaps to Plan

• Monitor customer performance against financial, distribution, activation, and Share Growth objectives throughout the year.
• Partner with local market leadership and other internal stakeholders to identify gaps, establish corrective actions, and mobilize the resources required to get back to plan.

Accelerate Consumer Pull Through Customer Partnership

• Partner with the customer to develop and execute consistent consumer programming that strengthens brand visibility, drives consumer engagement and trial, and ultimately accelerates consumer pull.
• Ensure consumer-facing initiatives are integrated into the broader customer business plan and supported by the necessary market execution.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred
• 10 years’ experience in the Spirits, Beer, RTD alcohol categories, with understanding of its route-to-market dynamics.
• Demonstrated track record of developing and executing commercial strategies that drive growth and market share.
• Strong experience working with third-party distributors and managing senior-level trade relationships.
• Experience operating in a matrixed organization, effectively managing internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience balancing strategic planning with hands‑on execution in high-growth or entrepreneurial environments.

Demonstratable Leadership Skills

• Engagement – dynamic individual with the ability to build trust quickly and communicate a strategy.
• Influence – ability to guide key stakeholders who potentially have competing agendas, focus on gaining alignment, not agreement.
• Negotiation – engaging in a dialogue designed to drive an outcome which satisfies various interests.
• Prioritization – effectively identifies and communicates high value opportunities

The salary range for this role is $160,000- $200,000 along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate with the candidate’s location, experience, and skillset. The range will vary if outside of this location.

While relocation, immigration, and/or tax compliance support are not guaranteed, we may offer assistance to successful candidates depending on factors such as role requirements in accordance with company guidelines.

At Suntory Global Spirits, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Suntory Global Spirits is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s skills and experience.