Regional Sales Manager (Southwest)

Principal Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and implement Regional Sales plan to include all categories across customers.
• Attain all budgeted product line volumes, pricing, mix, margin, and share objectives. Prepare and present annual joint business plans, line reviews, innovation sell-ins, and category reviews.
• Maintain consistent communications and standing meetings with customer teams to ensure strategic alignment.
• Monitor daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and YTD customer performance metrics, identifying risks and opportunities and adjusting plans accordingly.
• Implement and champion procedures to continuously improve the accuracy of the Demand Plan forecast, collaborating closely with Supply Chain, Operations, and Customer Service to optimize customer satisfaction and business results.
• Manage all customer trade spend and customer programs.
• Utilize the TPM system to plan, track, and evaluate promotional effectiveness and ROI.
• Lead customer negotiations related to pricing, trade spend, distribution, promotions, and contract terms while protecting company margin objectives.
• Partner with Marketing and Category Management to develop customer-specific assortment strategies, shelf sets, planograms, and merchandising solutions aligned to natural and fresh retail formats.
• Serve as the proactive voice of the customer internally as you work cross-functionally, translating retailer strategies and shopper insights into actionable business plans that utilize your knowledge and understanding of each retailer’s goals and objectives.
• Travel regularly to customer locations (HQ, stores) to ensure industry leading customer service.
• Participate in leadership roles on special projects and cross-functional teams; continuously improve skills through training, classes, and seminars as outlined in the development plan.
• Ensure compliance with customer, regulatory, and company standards related to food safety, labeling, animal welfare, and sustainability.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in the areas of Sales, Marketing, or Business Administration.
• 3-5 years related work experience (CPG industries and/or Meat/Poultry).
• Direct or relevant experience/familiarity with Southwest Region retailers.
• Must possess strong communication, analytical and planning skills.
• Proficiency using Microsoft applications.
• Experience and competence with data driven selling, utilizing syndicated data (i.e. Circana/ Nielsen), and customer specific data insights.
• Proven ability to manage trade spend, pricing strategy, and margin performance in highly competitive categories.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Experience working with premium brands and premium proteins (natural, organic, antibiotic-free, animal welfare–driven).
• Management experience in the food or food sales areas.
• Experience selling fresh chicken, meat, or value-added protein products, including short-shelf-life or fresh supply chains.
• Knowledge of food safety, quality assurance, USDA regulations, and customer-specific protein standards.
• MBA or advanced business coursework.

Physical Requirements and Environmental Factors

• Position is remotely home-office based, preferably with close proximity to an airport, with anticipated travel 30% of the time and with flexibility.
• Position is mostly sedentary but may require occasional moving to other offices or buildings.
• May need to move light equipment or supplies from one place to another.