Sales/ Business Development Manager

SunOpta; Oregon; Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid Family leave

Paid maternity leave

401(k) with Match

Voluntary Life

Accident insurance

Critical Illness coverage

Hospital indemnity

Paid Holidays

Tuition assistance

Short-term Disability

Long-term Disability

Job summary

SunOpta seeks a Sales Manager to aggressively grow national and regional accounts across club, grocery, and foodservice channels. You will hunt new business opportunities, nurture existing relationships, and collaborate with internal teams to deliver compelling, data-driven solutions.

Requirements include a Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years in food & beverage selling with a focus on business development. Travel 30-50% is expected in Eden Prairie, MN area with remote arrangements available.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years experience in a selling role in F&B industry with emphasis on business development.

Responsibilities

• Directly manage key national and regional accounts across multiple channels (club, grocery, foodservice).
• Leverage hunter sales approach to secure new business opportunities and build pipelines.
• Lead or support contract negotiations and renewals with favorable terms.
• Collaborate with supply chain, quality, AR, finance, and business management for seamless customer experiences.
• Develop and maintain by-SKU forecasts for revenue and velocity.
• Execute aggressive sales goals in revenue and margin targets.
• Track performance and provide strategic recommendations to management.
• Become an expert in SunOpta’s product portfolio and operations as main contact.
• Win bids across portfolio with assigned customers.
• Build and maintain relationships with merchants and product desks.
• Create category stories for key accounts across portfolios.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Collaborative

Solutions selling

Problem solving

Multi-priority management

Self-motivated

Organizational skills

Written and verbal communication

Interpersonal skills

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

About SunOpta

SunOpta delivers customized supply chain solutions and innovation for top brands, retailers, and foodservice providers across a broad portfolio of beverages, broths, and better-for-you snacks. With over 50 years of expertise, SunOpta fuels customers’ growth with high-quality, sustainability-forward solutions distributed through retail, club, foodservice, and e-commerce channels across North America.

Job Summary

SunOpta is seeking a highly motivated, dedicated, and detail-oriented Sales Manager with a strong business development and hunter sales mindset. In this role, you will be responsible for aggressively identifying and securing new business opportunities with national and regional accounts, while also cultivating and expanding relationships with existing customers across the company. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and consistently pursues new markets and customers to drive company growth and market share. This position offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on SunOpta’s continued development and expansion.

Essential Functions of the Job

• Directly manage key national and regional accounts as they pertain to both new and existing business opportunities.
• Key accounts will cover multiple channels (club, grocery, foodservice) and categories (aseptic and better-for-you snacks) as required by business needs.
• Leverage a hunter sales approach to proactively seek out and secure new business opportunities, including cold-calling, networking, and building pipelines for future growth.
• Lead or support contract negotiations and renewals(based on contract size / complexity), ensuring favorable terms for both the company and the customer
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with internal teams such as supply chain, quality, AR, finance, and business management to coordinate efforts and deliver seamless customer experiences from inquiry to delivery.
• Develop and maintain by-SKU forecasts for revenue and velocity for strategic accounts.
• Develop and execute on aggressive sales goals in revenue and margin targets.
• Track and share important performance results offering recommendations for future planning to management on a regular basis.
• Become an expert in our product portfolio and operations in order to be the main point of contact and provide strategic insight across the portfolio.
• Work collaboratively with business management to execute and win bids across the portfolio with assigned customers.
• Build and maintain relationships with merchants across key accounts and respective product desks.
• Assist in creating category stories for all key accounts across portfolios.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
• 5+ years of experience in a selling role in the food and beverage industry with heavy emphasis on business development

Experience

• Experience in various go to market solutions (Private Label, co-manufacturing, and branded businesses)

Knowledge and Skills

• A strong analytical mindset with an intuitive sense of how to use relationships and data-driven insights to provide customer solutions.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability and desire to work with internal teams to achieve results
• A proven understanding and track record of solutions selling
• Exceptional problem-solving abilities
• Ability to manage and execute on multiple priorities.
• Ability to adapt to changing operational requirements in pursuit of the sales targets.
• Ability to be self-motivated and deliver/produce high quality work with little oversight.
• Excellent organizational skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills: ability to interact with all personality types and behaviors; flexibility.
• Ability to work effectively in a high-pressure, fast paced environment.
• Proficient in Microsoft office suite

Additional Considerations

• Travel Expectation: 30- 50%
• Location: Eden Prairie, MN (Remote arrangements available)
• Work Environment/Physical Demands: Approximately; 95% of the work is performed in an office environment. 5% of work may involve being in the agricultural or manufacturing environment.

Featured Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid Family leave
• Paid maternity leave
• 401(k) with Match
• Voluntary Life, Accident, Critical Illness and Hospital indemnity
• Paid Holidays
• Tuition assistance
• Short-term and Long-term Disability insurance

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

EOE M/W/VET/DISABLED