Southeast Regional Director

Confidential; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential seeks a Southeast Regional Director to lead sales strategy and execution across the SE, anchored in GA with partners in FL, TN, VA, NC, SC, and AL. You will own the AOP for depletions and revenue, manage Tier 1 and Tier 2 distributor relationships, and drive Top 25 regional buyers to maximize placements.

You will recruit and develop the SE field team, set goals, coach performance, and own ramp plans. Travel 40–50% across the SE region is expected.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ Years in CPG Sales, including 3+ years directly managing and developing a field sales team.
• Major supplier experience with scaled a small/challenger brand. Experience winning without a massive media budget.
• Distributor Savvy: Existing relationships across Southeast distributor networks. You know how to work a GSM and how to incentivize distributor reps.
• Commercial Finance IQ: Margin structures, pricing ladders, bill‑backs, and trade spend (LMF) management.
• Atlanta Based: Ready to be the commercial face of the brand in our HQ market, traveling 40–50% across the SE region.

Responsibilities

• Own the Number: Deliver the SE portion of the annual operating plan (AOP) for depletions and revenue.
• Distributor Management: Primary lead for Tier 1 SE relationships and Tier 2 partners. Navigate the “share of mind” battle inside large distributor networks.
• Key Account Velocity: Personally own Top 25 regional buyers to drive placements.
• Strategic Expansion: Manage rollout into new markets — ensuring we “penetrate” them.
• Data & Insights: Drive data within the region to make decisions and use VIP/depletion data to identify gaps, manage inventory par levels, and forecast to Operations.
• Hiring & Workforce Planning: Own the full hiring cycle for the SE field team — headcount forecasting, requisition justification, structured interviewing, selection, and offer recommendation in partnership with HR.
• Performance Management: Assist with setting quarterly and annual goals for each direct report; conduct 1:1s, mid-year and annual reviews, and calibration input. Deliver timely, documented coaching, corrective action, and performance improvement plans in partnership with HR.
• Compensation Input: Recommend merit, incentive, and promotion decisions within approved budget and comp bands.
• Onboarding: Own 30/60/90-day ramp plans for every new SE hire.
• Retention & Succession: Identify flight risk and build bench strength for each territory.
• HRIS Administration: Manage all people-data transactions for the SE team — approve timecards and PTO, process job/status/reporting changes, initiate onboarding and offboarding workflows, and maintain accurate org and headcount records.
• Expense & Trade Spend Approval: Review and approve T&E and sample/POS expenditures; enforce policy compliance and budget discipline.
• Compliance Oversight: Ensure field team adherence to wage-and-hour requirements (timekeeping, meal/rest, travel time), state alcohol regulations, tied-house rules, and company policy.
• Reporting Cadence: Own the SE weekly scorecard, monthly business review, and forecast submissions.
• Systems Hygiene: Maintain data integrity across internal platforms as the source of truth for SE performance.

Job description

We are seeking a Southeast Regional Director to lead the sales strategy and execution across the Southeast. The SE region — anchored in GA with partners spanning FL, TN, VA, NC, SC, and AL — represents our highest-density growth corridor and the brand’s home market.

Commercial Ownership

• Own the Number: Deliver the SE portion of the annual operating plan (AOP) for depletions and revenue.
• Distributor Management: Primary lead for Tier 1 SE relationships and Tier 2 partners. Navigate the “share of mind” battle inside large distributor networks.
• Key Account Velocity: Personally own Top 25 regional buyers to drive placements.
• Strategic Expansion: Manage rollout into new markets — ensuring we “penetrate” them.
• Data & Insights: Drive data within the region to make decisions and use VIP/depletion data to identify gaps, manage inventory par levels, and forecast to Operations.
• Hiring & Workforce Planning: Own the full hiring cycle for the SE field team — headcount forecasting, requisition justification, structured interviewing, selection, and offer recommendation in partnership with HR.
• Performance Management: Assist with setting quarterly and annual goals for each direct report; conduct 1:1s, mid-year and annual reviews, and calibration input. Deliver timely, documented coaching, corrective action, and performance improvement plans in partnership with HR.
• Compensation Input: Recommend merit, incentive, and promotion decisions within approved budget and comp bands.
• Onboarding: Own 30/60/90-day ramp plans for every new SE hire.
• Retention & Succession: Identify flight risk and build bench strength for each territory.
• HRIS Administration: Manage all people-data transactions for the SE team — approve timecards and PTO, process job/status/reporting changes, initiate onboarding and offboarding workflows, and maintain accurate org and headcount records.
• Expense & Trade Spend Approval: Review and approve T&E and sample/POS expenditures; enforce policy compliance and budget discipline.
• Compliance Oversight: Ensure field team adherence to wage-and-hour requirements (timekeeping, meal/rest, travel time), state alcohol regulations, tied-house rules, and company policy.
• Reporting Cadence: Own the SE weekly scorecard, monthly business review, and forecast submissions.
• Systems Hygiene: Maintain data integrity across internal platforms as the source of truth for SE performance.

Sales Leadership Representation — Southeast

• Serve as the voice of the Southeast in national commercial leadership forums, AOP and S&OP planning, pricing and portfolio decisions, and cross-functional planning with Marketing, Operations, and Finance.
• Represent the brand externally as the senior commercial face of the brand in the SE — distributor GSMs, trade associations, key account top-to-tops, and industry events.
• Escalate SE market intelligence, competitive dynamics, and resourcing needs to the SVP, Commercial Development with a clear recommendation attached.

Training & Development of Junior Staff

• Build and deliver the SE onboarding and sales fundamentals curriculum — three-tier system, brand story, mash bill and CPG education, pricing ladders, account calls.
• Maintain a structured ride-along and field coaching cadence with every Sales Manager and Brand Specialist, with written observation and follow‑up.
• Own individual development plans (IDPs) and skill progression for junior field staff; grow territory reps into territory owners.
• Certify the team on brand and product knowledge; serve as the SE escalation point for coaching and capability gaps.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ Years in CPG Sales, including 3+ years directly managing and developing a field sales team.
• Major supplier experience with scaled a small/challenger brand. Experience winning without a massive media budget.
• Distributor Savvy: Existing relationships across Southeast distributor networks. You know how to work a GSM and how to incentivize distributor reps.
• Commercial Finance IQ: Margin structures, pricing ladders, bill‑backs, and trade spend (LMF) management.
• Atlanta Based: Ready to be the commercial face of the brand in our HQ market, traveling 40–50% across the SE region.