Director of Sales-Food/CPG/Grocery
Transformational Leadership Opportunity for Experienced Food/CPG/Grocery Experienced Sales Manager/Director
Location: Los Angeles, CA
View All JobsDirector of Sales-Food/CPG/Grocery
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Job Summary
Are you looking for a rare opportunity to step into a true leadership seat with a visible impact in the Food/CPG industry? Are you interested in working for a company that has strong momentum, quality products, and meaningful market opportunity? Do you want to be a sales leader who will have the autonomy, support, and authority to shape the commercial future of the organization? If you answered yes, read on.
Our client is seeking a strategic and hands-on Director of Sales to lead its next phase of growth. This is a build-and-scale leadership role with full ownership of revenue and gross margin performance, along with responsibility for developing a scalable, high-performing sales organization. This role goes beyond traditional sales leadership. You will coach and develop talent, implement operational rigor, drive strategic growth, and serve as a key member of the leadership team, translating company strategy into sales execution.
This is a high-impact leadership role with influence across the organization. This role will be key to transitioning from regional success to scalable national growth. You will lead a sales organization through process standardization, expand distribution across independent and specialty retail channels. You will have direct ownership of revenue, profitability, and go-to-market strategy.
If you have what it takes to be a transformational leader, call henry glickel today at 603-770-7175 or email your resume to henry@salesrecruiters.com
Responsibilities
What You’ll Own
Coach and Develop the Team. This role is, first and foremost, a people leader.
- Lead, coach, and scale a team of 7 sales professionals
- Conduct regular 1-on-1s focused on deals, skills, and behaviors
- Perform ride-alongs and call reviews to improve execution
- Reinforce standards, expectations, and consistency
- Build trust while maintaining strong accountability
- Recruit and develop talent aligned with future growth plans
Run the Sales Engine (Management & Operations). Own the rhythm, structure, and discipline of the sales organization.
- Lead forecasting, demand planning, and pipeline management
- Drive performance tracking through scorecards and KPIs
- Translate data into actionable insights (not just reporting)
- Own pricing strategy and margin protection
- Establish operating cadence (including EOS or similar frameworks)
- Implement scalable processes and sales infrastructure
- Fully own and be accountable for revenue and gross margin performance
- Manage the sales function with a P&L mindset
- Identify and execute growth opportunities across accounts, regions, and product mix
- Optimize pricing, trade spend, and promotional strategies
- Balance aggressive growth with sustainable profitability
Produce Where It Matters Most Contribute directly in high-impact situations.
- Manage and influence key accounts and strategic relationships
- Support major negotiations and enterprise-level customers
- Open doors, establish relationships, and enable scalable handoff to the team
Sales Strategy & Market Expansion Drive scalable growth across markets and channels.
- Develop and execute a sales strategy for regional and national expansion
- Expand presence across independent retail and general trade channels
- Own and optimize sub-distributor relationships
- Identify new market opportunities and channel strategies
- Strengthen market penetration across core West Coast regions
Lead at the Leadership Table. This is not a middle-management role.
- Serve as a key member of the leadership team
- Partner cross-functionally to align sales with company strategy
- Think long-term while executing short-term priorities
- Translate company objectives into actionable sales plans
Create Alignment and Drive Change Lead transformation across the sales organization.
- Unify legacy sales approaches with modern, data-driven practices
- Drive adoption of CRM (Simply Depo) and structured sales processes
- Lead change with clarity, empathy, and accountability
- Improve consistency without micromanaging
- Establish a culture of execution, ownership, and continuous improvement
Required Skills
Success in This Role (First 6–12 Months)
- Improved team performance, accountability, and execution consistency
- Measurable growth in revenue and gross margin
- Full CRM adoption and increased visibility into performance metrics
- Stronger market penetration across key regions
- Scalable sales processes established to support national expansion
What We’re Looking For Experience
- 8+ years of progressive sales leadership experience
- Background in Food & Beverage, CPG, or Grocery strongly preferred
- Experience managing regional or national sales teams Core Capabilities
- Strong leadership and coaching ability
- Proven track record of driving revenue growth and margin improvement
- Ability to operate both strategically and tactically
- Strong analytical mindset with data-driven decision-making
- Experience leading organizational change and transformation Industry & Market Knowledge
- Deep understanding of retail, distribution, and trade dynamics
- Experience working with independent retailers and/or sub-distributors preferred
- Familiarity with West Coast markets is a strong advantage