Sales Manger

Are you looking to advance your career? We have an exciting opportunity to join a Sales team at a well-established beverage company. This is the perfect time to join as they are experiencing strong growth. If you excel in driving sales and have excellent communication and organizational skills, you'll thrive in this dynamic environment. Collaboration with their close-knit team is essential, and in return, you'll receive great benefits and some work-from-home flexibility.

Location: Hybrid (2-4 days onsite per week) - Northern New Jersey; 40% travel (domestic & international)

Job Responsibilities:

• Policy Input: Development of a sales strategy in conjunction with the Executive Vice President for own customer base, based on expertise and experience, with regard to channel development, promotions, price, presentation, and product development.
• Region/Account Plan: Account plan will be in line with other relevant commercial plans and, after approval, realized and updated regularly based on analysis or trends and developments. Travel is estimated at 40% annually.
• Account Management: Will initiate, maintain, and improve relations with customers and prospects. Will monitor the developments and performance and act as a business partner for accounts and support accounts in optimizing & growing business.
• Project Management: Manage liquid development projects together with a multi-disciplinary team, based on customers' qualifications and needs.
• New Business: Will develop new relationships and discover and realize new business opportunities in cooperation with other functional disciplines.
• Management Information: Provide insights at request or at own initiative regarding quantitative and qualitative developments by means of periodical and ad hoc reports and/or analyses, based on reporting guidelines.
• Contracting and Negotiations: Prepare proposals for contracts. Lead and/or participate in negotiations, including defining the negotiation strategy. Expected to expand new business opportunities within these areas.
• Responsible for managing numerous accounts with locations in North America.
• Consistently thinks & acts with a Customer-obsessed mindset.
• Demonstrate creative anticipation of the customer's opportunities and actively explore these opportunities for the customer.
• Demonstrate/gain in-depth knowledge of the customer regarding their products, market and trends, competition, processes, and strategy.
• Maintain contact with the customer at all levels: Executive, management, technical (research and development), operations (planning and production), marketing, and purchasing.
• Work closely with customer partners in developing and renewing products and applications.
• Stimulate "co-development" and success by determining consumer needs together with the customer, looking for new concepts, and turning them into concrete innovations.
• Attend and participate in trade shows/functions, both national and local, to gain a greater understanding of current market trends, meet new contacts, and strengthen relationships with current contacts (customers, prospects, vendors).
• Demonstrate the ability to translate market trends, innovations, and concepts into applications for other customers and possibly market sectors.
• Actively manage customer’s forecasts, and ensure they are in line with the Demand plan and align with plant capacity.
• Proactively updating administrative tools; CRM tool with relevant Account and Opportunity information, Demand Management tool, SAP, etc.
• Act as the driver for colleagues from R&D and Sales Support, Product Management, and Operations, through a key account team, to ensure the satisfaction of the customer and the Company's financial results.
• Work closely with Product Developers to translate customer needs & ideas into a physical product.
• Maintain appropriate communication via telephone and email.
• Demonstrate flexibility in scheduling & travel.
• Has multiple interfaces which requires extended communication. Sets direction for other departments.
• Will have a deep and broad knowledge of all business processes and/or value chain of market and understanding of market processes including relations to own discipline.
• Is responsible for own product or account portfolio encompassing highly strategic products, lines, and markets.
• Displays an understanding and acts in line with the company’s long-term ambitions.
• Responsible for attaining budget volumes, and profit margins by actively and regularly monitoring monthly financial figures (provided by Finance Department) and adjusting prices and strategy accordingly.

Required Skills/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years B2B Food & Beverage Ingredients or Wine/Spirits experience.
• Proven track record of value selling in a co-creation environment.
• Proven track of new business development.
• 10+ years of overall Sales experience.
• Experience managing Key/Multi-National Accounts preferred, but not required.
• Experience selling to & working closely with the R&D department of customers preferred.
• Reading/Speaking proficiency in Spanish or French is a plus.
• This position will require up to 40% travel (90% domestically and 10%internationally).
• Excellent communication skills, fitting with the culture of the internal team, and external local market customs.
• Entrepreneurial attitude.
• Above average planning & organizational skills.
• Self-starting mindset & capability to actively cold-call new prospects.
• Strong teamworking skills, and ability to work with different cultures and different personality types.
• Ability to advise, consult, and guide customer’s R&D department.
• Ability to multi-task and manage multi-level communication.
• Proficiency in Microsoft suite of products, & Salesforce