Senior Key Account Manager

STRONG ROOTS; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO 17 days

401K

Wellness stipend

Medical insurance

Maternity leave (12 weeks)

Paternity leave

Charity donations match

Community service

Friday half-day off (Jun-Aug)

Birthday off

St. Patrick’s Day off

Job summary

Strong Roots in the United States seeks a senior national sales professional to expand distribution, drive velocity, and build durable partnerships across Natural and E-Commerce channels. You will collaborate closely with brokers, the US Sales Team, and cross-functional partners to execute the Sales Operating Plan and deliver sustainable growth.

You’ll travel up to 30% for buyer meetings, trade shows, and major events, leveraging a delicious veg-first product range and strong marketing support

Qualifications

• 5+ years of sales experience in the Food & Beverage industry (CPG/brands).
• Deep experience in Natural Channel including Whole Foods, Amazon, Sprouts, UNFI, Kehe and others.
• Self-starter who is resourceful, tenacious, and resilient.
• Strong data usage to grow the business; ability to balance top and bottom lines.

Responsibilities

• Strategically grow Strong Roots’ overall business as a challenger brand.
• Grow Natural and E-Commerce channels by increasing velocity and door growth.
• Manage broker relationships to secure strong selling stories.
• Partner with US Sales Team to craft and execute the strategy across the business.
• Contribute to the Sales Operating Plan and optimize trade spend and OPEX for national accounts.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Category, Supply Chain, Product and Finance to forecast and share key information.

Skills

Sales experience

Food & Beverage knowledge

Broker relationships

Data-driven

Negotiation

Communication skills

Growth mindset

Self-starter

Job description

This role can be NYC or Austin based

WHAT DO WE NEED?

We’ve been trading across the USA since 2019 and have set some ambitious growth targets for our USA business. So, we need YOU, an experienced senior national sales professional, to get us into thousands more freezer doors.

Luckily, you’ll be armed with a delicious and innovative product range, world-class marketing expertise, and an in-house Data & Insights team. Your mission will be to help our Natural and E-Commerce channels flourish, growing distribution, driving velocity, and cultivating strong customer relationships that keep Strong Roots top of mind (and top of basket).

This adventure is not for the faint-hearted, or for those travelling in cruise control. We’re looking for someone who’s ready to help us TURNIP the volume on growth, put down ROOTS in new accounts, and keep pushing the business forward. You’ve been looking for a chance to do great work (not just easy work) with the right company… right?

WHO ARE WE?

Strong Roots, a certified B Corp, is a veg led frozen food company on a mission to fix the freezer aisle. Founded in 2015 by Samuel Dennigan, the brand was created with the belief that food can be better for people and designed with the planet in mind. Strong Roots is a leader in providing a range of simple, delicious, veg first options, grown from the soil and made for busy lives. Its wholesome frozen products include; Sweet Potato Fries, Proper Chips, Cauliflower Hash Browns and Spinach and Pumpkin Burgers. Strong Roots products are available in over 10,000 stores worldwide, including major retailers in the UK, Ireland and the U.S., as well as Australia, Canada, Dubai, France, Iceland and Singapore.

The Strong Roots Gang includes around 54 people from 12 nationalities across three locations (Dublin HQ, London, New York), with over half of our team identifying as female, including at both management / leadership levels. We’re committed to diversity in all forms (visible and invisible) and are an equal opportunities employer, so let us know how we can support your application and employment experience. That B Corp status we mentioned? It’s a testament to how we care for our people and always work to help you thrive and feel like you belong.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

Reporting directly to our Vice President of Sales, USA, you'll make a positive impact across our entire international business by:

• Strategically growing Strong Roots’ overall business creatively and efficiently with the approach of a challenger brand.
• Growing current Whole Foods, Natural and E-Commerce channels by focusing on velocity, door growth, and increases in average number of items (leveraging both relationships & data).
• Managing relationships with brokers to ensure Strong Roots is in front of the customer with very strong selling stories.
• Partnering with the US Sales Team to advocate for these customers and channels within and across the business, with heavy involvement in crafting and executing the right strategy, ensuring we not only maximize sales, but also identify and develop strategic and lasting partnerships.
• Collaboratively delivering on the Sales Operating Plan, growing distribution and TDPs aligned with plan goals, and with the right commercial and sales mix.
• Managing and evaluating trade spend, and sales OPEX for national accounts to ensure we continue to improve performance efficiently.
• Working closely with Marketing and Category colleagues to analyze consumer and market trends, using these insights to form winning strategies and tactics to optimize performance and accelerate our journey to becoming the category thought leaders.
• Partnering with Supply Chain, Product and Finance teams to help generate accurate forecasts and inventory levels, ensuring transparent sharing of salient information in all directions; you care about, and own, the numbers like it’s your own business.
• Planning for and participating in buyer meetings, trade shows, trade events and major sales events, including travel up to 30% of the time.
• Standing out internally by inspiring and collaborating with the wider Strong Roots team to become a high performer in the business.

HOW WILL YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD?

• Have 5+ years of experience in sales in the Food and Beverage industry, ideally with both large CPG and challenger brands.
• Have deep experience in the Natural Channel including Whole Foods, Amazon, Sprouts, UNFI, Kehe and other natural channel customers.
• Are a self-starter that’s resourceful, tenacious, and resilient.
• Have a sense of urgency in a fast-paced environment while focusing on the priorities.
• Care about mutually beneficial relationships and know how to develop them with external broker partners, buyers, and distributors.
• Display excellent communication skills in a range of situations, with internal and external stakeholders.
• Can leverage data to grow the business.
• Obsessively watch the bottom line as well as the top line.
• Are as people-smart as you are book-smart and business-smart, always demonstrating the highest levels of emotional intelligence.
• Can master all elements of the sale from great relationship building and negotiation skills, to best-in-class follow-up skills.
• Can balance massive self-confidence with humility and a growth-mindset.

WHAT ARE WE OFFERING?

• 17 days PTO
• a 401K
• $1,000 Wellness Wonga
• Medical insurance
• 12 weeks full maternity pay
• 2 weeks paid paternity leave
• matched charity donations
• paid community service
• and more (“Like what?”, you ask? How about a paid half-day every Friday in June, July, and August!?).
• Birthday AND St. Patrick’s Day off

On top of all that, you’ll be part of something big that’s going to get a lot bigger, FAST.Still reading? Feeling excited? Good! You might be the perfect fit.