National Sales Manager

National Account Manager - Costco

Our client is a global CPG brand you probably know and love! They offer a range of snacks with superior taste. The NAM (Costco) will be pivotal in formulating and executing effective sales strategies to deliver annual budget, shelving, merchandising, and price execution targets within the North American Costco account. This role will foster the brand's growth and collaborate closely with cross-functional partners to identify and capitalize on new business opportunities. The successful candidate will demonstrate a deep understanding of retail channels and sell-in strategies and excel in establishing and nurturing relationships with Costco's internal and external partners nationally. This is a terrific fit if you love calling on COSTCO and come from a specialty brand (chocolate, jam, snacks, frozen specialty) with Costco revenue under $100M less.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development of specific account strategies and annual operating plans that deliver budget and Omni Distribution (in-store/e-commerce), Shelving, Merchandising, and Price expectations.
• Leads the execution of annual Innovation Summits, development and delivery of customer Joint Business Plans, and successful execution of annual Line Reviews.
• Frequently interact with customer personnel to drive the execution of the customer category plan, building solid relationships at the merchant/buyer level and connecting with the VP/DMM and other cross-functional areas.
• P&L responsibility for business across the customer account. Must demonstrate strong financial acumen and the ability to manage all account P&L levers, including List price, sales allowances, rebates, markdowns, trade marketing spend, and other customer investments (i.e., Retail Media, Customer Data).
• Strong cross-functional expertise in operational disciplines, such as providing a monthly sales forecast and end-to-end supply planning with the customer. Must understand the customer distribution network and customer-related metrics (e.g., Fill Rate, On-Time, Vendor Lead time, and In-Stocks).
• Participates in the monthly Segment Demand Review as a critical step of the S&OP process
• Networks and builds strong relationships with key customer decision-makers and internal stakeholders.
• Externally advocates for the business and internally advocates for the customer.
• Use data, information systems, and metrics around financial, brand, and shopper trends to maximize market share, sales, and gross margin.
• Manages trade spend/customer programs in collaboration with trade and finance to deliver \exceed annual budget and customer targets
• Negotiates and manages trade funds to create customer and company value by consistently measuring and enforcing trade terms and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Works with demand planning to develop accurate sales forecasts and achieve specified levels of forecast accuracy. Monitors the competitors' brands and products as well as our market share, competitor market share, and target market share to understand shopper trends and opportunities and communicate to appropriate sales, trade, and brand management
• Leverage category development management, customer planning, commercial finance, and customer supply chain resources to develop and activate customer category business plans.
• Analyze business trends and ideas for driving the business – collaborate with cross-functional team on the tactics.
• Responsible for accurate sales forecast and sales attainment
• Track plan progress and conduct timely reviews with customers; make plan adjustments as necessary
• Leverage customer knowledge and consultative selling to create win-win solutions for customer/category growth
• Monitors the competitors' brands and products as well as our market share, competitor market share, and target market share to understand shopper trends and opportunities and communicate to appropriate sales, CS, P, and brand management
• Present plans, recommendations, and initiatives to customers to gain approval
• Leverage category and consumer insights to build customer-centric recommendations for sales growth.
• Actively lead daily business interactions with customers and internal partners to ensure proactive management of business trends.
• Develop internal partnerships to lead customers' omnichannel business plan objectives.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or similar field required; MBA is a plus
• Minimum 10+ years of direct and hands-on experience in sales and channel marketing – 5+ years Costco specific
• Experience working in a Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG), Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG,) or consumer durables industry mandatory
• Omni Selling experience within consumer products, with experiences in both "store" and "eCommerce" assortments
• Ability to analyze syndicated data
• Experience developing and managing trade budgets
• Experience working within a live trade accrual system
• Entrepreneurial style with disciplined CPG experience- this is a US Division of a multinational brand
• History of negotiating complex business deals that provide value to all parties
• Ability to operate independently given direction, and bring ideas and solutions to issues raised
• Ability to analyze and assess organizational needs and provide solutions accordingly
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; must be able to present data in an organized manner to different levels of the organization
• Vital project planning, tracking & organizing skills
• Ability to motivate teams to produce desired tangible outcomes within tight timeframes
• Willingness to travel 10-15% of the time

National Account Manager - Costco

Our client is a global CPG brand you probably know and love! They offer a range of snacks with superior taste. The NAM (Costco) will be pivotal in formulating and executing effective sales strategies to deliver annual budget, shelving, merchandising, and price execution targets within the North American Costco account. This role will foster the brand's growth and collaborate closely with cross-functional partners to identify and capitalize on new business opportunities. The successful candidate will demonstrate a deep understanding of retail channels and sell-in strategies and excel in establishing and nurturing relationships with Costco's internal and external partners nationally. This is a terrific fit if you love calling on COSTCO and come from a specialty brand (chocolate, jam, snacks, frozen specialty) with Costco revenue under $100M less.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development of specific account strategies and annual operating plans that deliver budget and Omni Distribution (in-store/e-commerce), Shelving, Merchandising, and Price expectations.
• Leads the execution of annual Innovation Summits, development and delivery of customer Joint Business Plans, and successful execution of annual Line Reviews.
• Frequently interact with customer personnel to drive the execution of the customer category plan, building solid relationships at the merchant/buyer level and connecting with the VP/DMM and other cross-functional areas.
• P&L responsibility for business across the customer account. Must demonstrate strong financial acumen and the ability to manage all account P&L levers, including List price, sales allowances, rebates, markdowns, trade marketing spend, and other customer investments (i.e., Retail Media, Customer Data).
• Strong cross-functional expertise in operational disciplines, such as providing a monthly sales forecast and end-to-end supply planning with the customer. Must understand the customer distribution network and customer-related metrics (e.g., Fill Rate, On-Time, Vendor Lead time, and In-Stocks).
• Participates in the monthly Segment Demand Review as a critical step of the S&OP process
• Networks and builds strong relationships with key customer decision-makers and internal stakeholders.
• Externally advocates for the business and internally advocates for the customer.
• Use data, information systems, and metrics around financial, brand, and shopper trends to maximize market share, sales, and gross margin.
• Manages trade spend/customer programs in collaboration with trade and finance to deliver \exceed annual budget and customer targets
• Negotiates and manages trade funds to create customer and company value by consistently measuring and enforcing trade terms and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Works with demand planning to develop accurate sales forecasts and achieve specified levels of forecast accuracy. Monitors the competitors' brands and products as well as our market share, competitor market share, and target market share to understand shopper trends and opportunities and communicate to appropriate sales, trade, and brand management
• Leverage category development management, customer planning, commercial finance, and customer supply chain resources to develop and activate customer category business plans.
• Analyze business trends and ideas for driving the business – collaborate with cross-functional team on the tactics.
• Responsible for accurate sales forecast and sales attainment
• Track plan progress and conduct timely reviews with customers; make plan adjustments as necessary
• Leverage customer knowledge and consultative selling to create win-win solutions for customer/category growth
• Monitors the competitors' brands and products as well as our market share, competitor market share, and target market share to understand shopper trends and opportunities and communicate to appropriate sales, CS, P, and brand management
• Present plans, recommendations, and initiatives to customers to gain approval
• Leverage category and consumer insights to build customer-centric recommendations for sales growth.
• Actively lead daily business interactions with customers and internal partners to ensure proactive management of business trends.
• Develop internal partnerships to lead customers' omnichannel business plan objectives.

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or similar field required; MBA is a plus
• Minimum 10+ years of direct and hands-on experience in sales and channel marketing – 5+ years Costco specific
• Experience working in a Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG), Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG,) or consumer durables industry mandatory
• Omni Selling experience within consumer products, with experiences in both "store" and "eCommerce" assortments
• Ability to analyze syndicated data
• Experience developing and managing trade budgets
• Experience working within a live trade accrual system
• Entrepreneurial style with disciplined CPG experience- this is a US Division of a multinational brand
• History of negotiating complex business deals that provide value to all parties
• Ability to operate independently given direction, and bring ideas and solutions to issues raised
• Ability to analyze and assess organizational needs and provide solutions accordingly
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; must be able to present data in an organized manner to different levels of the organization
• Vital project planning, tracking & organizing skills
• Ability to motivate teams to produce desired tangible outcomes within tight timeframes
• Willingness to travel 10-15% of the time