State Manager - Minnesota and Iowa

Brown-Forman Australia Pty. Ltd.; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equitable pay structures

Premium employee experience

Diverse benefits package

Job summary

A leading spirits company in Minneapolis is seeking an experienced Sales Manager to lead brand sales and marketing for Minnesota and Iowa. The ideal candidate will have over 5 years in the beverage alcohol industry and a proven track record in team leadership and relationship management. This role involves strategic decision-making and performance monitoring to achieve sales targets, and it offers a competitive benefits package and opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years experience in beverage alcohol industry.
• Strong ability to build relationships and maintain effective working relationships.
• Demonstrated coaching ability and commitment to providing constructive feedback.
• Must be able to travel up to 30% of the time.
• Must have a valid driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Guide a talented team and oversee brand sales and marketing plans.
• Monitor business performance and ensure clarity on objectives.
• Manage brand sales/marketing plans and budgets.
• Lead strategic decisions within MN and IA.
• Evaluate and adjust plans based on market performance.

Skills

Sales experience in beverage alcohol

Relationship management

Team leadership

Organizational skills

Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Job description

We believe great people build great brands. And we know there is Nothing Better in the Market than a career at Brown-Forman. Being a part of Brown-Forman means you will grow both personally and professionally. You will have the opportunity to solve problems, seize opportunities, and generate bold ideas. You will belong to a place where teamwork matters and where you are encouraged to bring your best self to work.

Meaningful Work From Day One

Join our team at Brown-Forman to play a key role in driving success and leading strategic growth across Minnesota and Iowa. In this role, you will guide a talented team, develop and manage brand sales and marketing plans, and oversee distributor relationships to achieve key objectives.

What You Can Expect

• Serve as coach and leader to the team, ensuring they progress in their roles, preparing them for future opportunities.
• Monitor business performance.
• Ensure the local team remains clear on objectives and prioritization of those objectives.

Planning & Analysis

• Manage and build brand sales/marketing plans and budgets to meet or exceed the net sales targets developed and approved by General Manager and Region Director.
• Lead strategic business decisions within the states of MN and IA.
• With the support of the General Manager, Operations and Finance team; build and communicate the brand commercial plans to Distributor Leadership - agree on objectives, targets, priorities and budgets.
• Lead pricing strategies. Must be able to plan based on long term outlook.
• Analyze and plan full channel business, chain and independent accounts for the states of MN and IA.
• Lead evaluation and adjustment to plans based on performance and success in the market.
• Monitor and communicate competitive, consumer and pricing activity and make changes or recommendations to General Manager, Finance Manager and Marketing Manager.
• Lead the review meetings with distributors.
• Serve as the primary contact with distributor leadership.
• Collaborate with distributor General Sales Managers & Managing Directors for oversight of business management and execution.
• Responsible for the execution of all assigned state commercial and chain plans with the distributor team, and holding them accountable to agreed upon targets/goals.
• Monitor and measure performance of all distributor activities that affect Brown Forman brands.
• Reconciliation and consistent management of assigned state distributor investment, brand spending and brand activity support.

What You Bring to the Table

• Seasoned sales professional with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry with demonstrated success meeting key metrics.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and maintain effective working relationships with distributors and accounts and all internal stakeholders.
• Excellent manager and developer of people: demonstrated commitment to providing regular, constructive feedback to business partners; demonstrated coaching ability; ability to objectively assess both skills and potential.
• Demonstrated knowledge of on- and off-premise business and three-tier distribution system.
• Team leader: Able to build and sustain effective, results-producing teams, within the state, across business functions, and with business partners.
• Action-oriented: Responds in a timely and effective manner to business issues and opportunities.
• Highly organized: capable of meeting multiple deadlines and juggling multiple projects.
• Literate with word processing programs (such as Word), spreadsheet programs (such as Excel), and presentation programs (such as PowerPoint).
• Must be able and willing to travel (by air and car) up to 30% of the time.
• Must be able to lift up to 30 pounds.
• Must be able to work weekends and nights as needed to perform responsibilities of the job including brand activations and marketing initiatives.
• Must have a valid driver’s license.

What We Offer

Total Rewards at Brown-Forman is designed to engage our people to ensure sustainable and profitable growth for generations to come. As a premium spirits company, we offer equitable pay structures for individual and company performance alongside a premium employee experience. We offer a range of premium benefits that reflect our company values and meet the needs of our diverse workforce.

Equality and Non-Discrimination Statement

Brown-Forman Corporation is committed to equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment. It is the policy of Brown-Forman Corporation to provide full and equal employment opportunities to all employees and potential employees without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, age, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability or any other legally protected status.