Senior Director National Retail

Acosta Sales & Marketing; Missouri; On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Acosta Sales & Marketing is seeking a Senior Director, National Retail to lead the Retail Business Manager organization supporting JM Smucker's dedicated retail field team. The role bridges Retail Operations, JM Smucker Sales Leadership, and Acosta leadership to translate retail strategies into measurable outcomes.

The successful candidate will develop a high-performing team, drive performance, and transform retail insights into actionable recommendations that improve sales and customer outcomes.

Qualifications

• Experience leading managers or business professionals.
• Strong client relationship management.
• Strategic business planning and cross-functional influence.
• CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) experience.
• Executive communications skills.
• Change leadership.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a strategic business partner to JM Smucker Sales Directors and customer team leadership.
• Identify business opportunities and risks impacting retail execution and sales performance.
• Translate retail intelligence, performance trends, and marketplace insights into actionable business recommendations.
• Lead business reviews and strategic discussions with internal and client stakeholders.
• Drive alignment between retail execution priorities and customer objectives.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Retail Business Managers.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop future leaders within the organization.
• Foster a culture focused on collaboration, ownership, continuous improvement, and results.
• Create development plans that strengthen business acumen, client management, and strategic thinking.
• Monitor key retail performance indicators and business trends.
• Lead root cause analysis to identify performance opportunities and business challenges.
• Develop action plans that improve execution, distribution, merchandising, and promotional effectiveness.
• Partner with retail operations and sales leadership to ensure successful implementation.
• Translate complex retail data and field insights into clear business recommendations.

Skills

Leadership

Client relationship management

Strategic business planning

Cross-functional influence

Executive communications

Change leadership

Retail operations experience

Category management experience

Sales strategy

Advanced analytics

Tools

Power BI

Job description

DESCRIPTION

The Senior Director, National Retai l t is responsible for leading the Retail Business Manager organization supporting JM Smucker's dedicated retail field team. This leader serves as the primary bridge between Retail Operations, JM Smucker Sales Leadership, and Acosta leadership to ensure retail execution strategies translate into measurable business results.

The role is accountable for developing and leading a high-performing team, driving business performance, influencing client priorities, and transforming retail insights into actionable recommendations that improve sales, execution, and customer outcomes.

Success in this role is measured by the team's ability to deliver business results, build trusted client partnerships, identify growth opportunities, and translate retail execution into meaningful value for JM Smucker and Acosta.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Business Leadership & Client Partnership (40%)

• Serve as a strategic business partner to JM Smucker Sales Directors and customer team leadership.
• Identify business opportunities and risks impacting retail execution and sales performance.
• Translate retail intelligence, performance trends, and marketplace insights into actionable business recommendations.
• Lead business reviews and strategic discussions with internal and client stakeholders.
• Drive alignment between retail execution priorities and customer objectives.

Key Outcome

Become the trusted business advisor for retail performance and execution strategy.

Team Leadership & Talent Development (35%)

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Retail Business Managers.
• Establish clear expectations, accountability, and performance standards.
• Recruit, onboard, and develop future leaders within the organization.
• Foster a culture focused on collaboration, ownership, continuous improvement, and results.
• Create development plans that strengthen business acumen, client management, and strategic thinking.

Key Outcome

Build a highly engaged team capable of independently leading strategic business initiatives.

Business Performance & Strategic Planning (15%)

• Monitor key retail performance indicators and business trends.
• Lead root cause analysis to identify performance opportunities and business challenges.
• Develop action plans that improve execution, distribution, merchandising, and promotional effectiveness.
• Partner with retail operations and sales leadership to ensure successful implementation.

Key Outcome

Deliver measurable business improvements and proactive solutions.

Data & Insights Leadership (10%)

• Utilize business reporting and analytical tools to support decision-making.
• Ensure team members leverage data effectively when developing recommendations.
• Partner with analytics and reporting resources to identify opportunities and trends.
• Convert complex data into concise business stories and actionable insights.
• Ability to evaluate and apply emerging technologies, including AI, to improve team effectiveness, business processes, and client outcomes.

Key Outcome

Translate complex retail data and field insights into clear business recommendations that influence decisions, prioritize actions, and improve client outcomes.

Critical Success Factors:

The ideal candidate demonstrates:

Required:

• Leadership of managers or business professionals
• Client relationship management
• Strategic business planning
• Cross-functional influence
• Cosnumer Packaged Goods (CPG) experience
• Executive communications skills
• Change leadership

Preferred:

• Retail operations experience
• Category management experience
• Sales strategy experiencePower BI and advanced business analytics experience