Sr. Sales Manager-East

AAK AB; Edison (NJ); On-site; USD 173,000 - 206,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) match

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Employee assistance

Pet insurance

Job summary

AAK in Edison, NJ, is seeking a Sr. Sales Manager to lead growth across assigned accounts in the Eastern Region. You will own growth strategy, manage and coach a team of account managers, and ensure pricing, forecasting, and commercial execution align with our objectives.

Travel 30–40% to deepen customer relationships and collaborate with Marketing, R&D, Operations, and Finance to drive multi-year plans. This role reports to commercial leadership and focuses on profitable growth.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive sales experience, preferably in food ingredients and/or fats and oils.
• BA/BS degree required; Food Science, Business, or related discipline preferred.
• Strong relationship-building and executive customer engagement skills.

Responsibilities

• Deliver profitable sales growth across assigned customers through account strategies, opportunity development, pipeline conversion, and disciplined execution.
• Directly manage selected key customer relationships, including senior-level engagement, growth planning, negotiation, issue resolution, and long-term partnership development.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of account managers responsible for regional and national customers.
• Set clear growth expectations, customer priorities, and individual goals for the sales team, with accountability for revenue, margin, and forecast accuracy.
• Develop and execute multi-year customer growth plans for assigned accounts and ensure robust plans for portfolios.
• Identify and advance new business opportunities by understanding customer strategies, unmet needs, product applications, and market trends relevant to AAK’s portfolio.
• Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Customer Innovation, R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Customer Service to convert opportunities and deliver commitments.
• Lead commercial negotiations with assigned customers and support the team in structuring agreements that deliver sustainable value.

Skills

Account management

Team leadership

Sales strategy

Negotiation

Forecasting

Pipeline development

Relationship management

Education

BA/BS degree

Job description

Making Better Happen

Our story goes back more than 150 years, tothe windy coast where Sweden and Denmark meet.

From our success in Scandinavia, we've growninto the world's leading specialist producer of plant-based oils, employingmore than 4000 people all across the globe.

We work with our customers to make theproducts you love even better. The oils we produce go into making yourchocolate extra creamy or putting the crunch into your croissant. And it'snot just food - we work across industries to make products that are higherquality, healthier and better for the planet.

Every one of us works towards our sharedpurpose: Making Better Happen™.

Everything we do is about Making BetterHappen together.

Join nearly 4,000 like-minded colleagues globally and build abetter future with us.

Build a better future as a Sr. Sales Manager in our Eastern Region

Compensation Range: $173,000 - $206,410

Possible Bonus: 20%

AAKEdison

About the role

The Sr Sales Manager is a senior commercial leadership role responsible for delivering profitable growth across assigned customers while leading a team of account managers who manage and grow their own customer portfolios. This role owns growth strategy, execution, and accountability for key direct accounts,while also coaching the team to identify opportunities, build pipeline, deepen customer relationships, and convert new business across regional and national accounts. The Sr Sales Manager is expected to balance direct customer ownership with people leadership, ensuring that customer plans, innovation opportunities, pricing, forecasting, and commercial execution are aligned to AAK’s growth objectives. Travel to deepen customer relationships, support team selling, and advance growth initiatives is required and expected to be 30-40%.

Responsibilities

• Deliver profitable sales growth across assigned customers through clear account strategies, opportunity development, pipeline conversion, and disciplined commercial execution.
• Directly manage selected key customer relationships, including senior-level engagement, growth planning, negotiation, issue resolution, and long-term partnership development.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of account managers responsible for managing and growing regional and national customers.
• Set clear growth expectations, customer priorities, and individual goals for the sales team, ensuring accountability for revenue, margin, volume, pipeline, and forecast accuracy.
• Develop and execute multi-year customer growth plans for assigned accounts and ensure team members maintain robust plans for their customer portfolios.
• Identify and advance new business opportunities by understanding customer strategies, unmet needs, product applications, and market trends relevant to AAK’s portfolio.
• Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Customer Innovation, R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Customer Service to convert opportunities and deliver customer commitments.
• Lead commercial negotiations with assigned customers and support the team in structuring agreements that deliver sustainable value for AAK and the customer.
• Conduct regular pipeline, forecast, customer planning, and performance reviews with team members, providing coaching, feedback, and prioritization support.
• Monitor customer and team performance through KPIs, sales metrics, and market intelligence to identify risks, growth gaps, and corrective actions.
• Ensure high-quality forecasting and business planning by translating customer insights, opportunity timing, and market dynamics into actionable sales projections.
• Handle escalated customer issues and remove internal barriers that may impact customer growth, satisfaction, or execution.

About you

Qualifications include:

• Demonstrated success delivering profitable growth with assigned customers through account planning, opportunity development, negotiation, and execution.
• Proven ability to lead, coach, and hold a sales team accountable for growing customer portfolios and achieving commercial targets.
• Strong understanding of customer needs, market dynamics, competitive activity, and the ability to translate insights into growth strategies.
• BA/BS degree required; Food Science, Business, or related discipline preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive sales experience, preferably in food ingredients and/or the fats and oils industry.
• Excellent relationship-building, executive customer engagement, problem-solving, and internal/external stakeholder alignment skills.
• Strong organization, prioritization, pipeline management, and commercial planning capabilities.
• Excellent quantitative, forecasting, and business performance management skills

In return AAK offer

• Career paths, training and development,e-learning and tuition reimbursement programs offer potential for you toprogress your future career
• Comprehensive health insurance (medical,dental and vision) starting date of hire
• Health Savings Account with AAK annualcontribution of $1,000-$1,500
• Wematch 100% of the first 3% you contribute to your 401(k), and 50% of thenext 3%
• Free Life and Disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Supplemental Pet Insurance, IdentityTheft Protection and Legal Insurance Plans
• Discounts on travel, amusement parks,concerts, movies, and more
• Celebrations, events, and activities onsite and supporting our communities
• Recognition incentives for service andpeer to peer recognition

About AAK

Everything AAK does is about Making Better Happen™. We specialize in plant-based oils that are the value-adding ingredients in many of the products people love to consume. We make these products better tasting, healthier, and more sustainable. At the heart of AAK’s offer is Customer Co-Development, combining our desire to understand what better means for each customer, with the unique flexibility of our production assets, and a deep knowledge of many products and industries, including Chocolate & Confectionery, Bakery, Dairy, Plant-based Foods, Special Nutrition, Foodservice and Personal Care. Our4,000employees support our close collaboration with customers through 25 regional sales offices, 15 dedicated Customer Innovation Centers, and with the support of more than 20 production facilities. Listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and with our headquarters in Malmö, Sweden, AAK has been Making Better Happen™ for more than 150 years.

AAK prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation,age, national origin, physical or mental disability, religion, veteran status,and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under state orfederal law in any aspect of the access to, admission, or treatment of studentsin its programs and activities, or in employment and application for employment.