Director of National Accounts East

Position Title: Director of National Accounts East

Department: Commercial Sales

Reports To: VP of National Accounts

Location: Louisville/Bardstown, KY (preferred, remote officing negotiable based on experience)

Job Summary:

The Director of National Accounts-East plays a critical role in driving the success and market penetration of Bardstown Bourbon Company's branded products. With a specific focus on Bardstown Bourbon, Green River Bourbon, and our extensive portfolio of Private Label brands, this executive position aims to significantly grow our presence and profitability across key national accounts within both on- and off-premises sectors.

The Director of National Accounts-East will lead a dedicated team of Key Account Managers ensuring exemplary performance and relationship management across major retail chains, including grocery, liquor, drug stores, as well as private label. A vital part of this role involves securing product authorizations and promotional programs with national and regional outlets, ultimately driving Bardstown Bourbon and Green River Bourbon into the Top-10 Ultra-premium and Super-premium brands, respectively, by 2028.

Job Description & Responsibilities:

Strategic Sales Leadership:

• Develop and implement a robust sales strategy to achieve significant growth in volume, revenue, and market share within the national and regional account sector.
• Monitor and analyze sales performance against plans to identify trends and make adjustments as necessary to achieve goals.

Team Management and Development:

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Key Account Managers, ensuring they have the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources to effectively perform their roles.
• Foster a high-performance culture within the team, setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and driving accountability.

Customer Relationship Management:

• Cultivate and maintain strong, strategic relationships with key decision-makers within national and regional accounts.
• Negotiate and secure product listings, promotional support, and favorable trading terms with national and regional accounts.

Brand Development and Promotion:

• Work closely with the Marketing team to develop and implement effective brand-building and promotional activities within national and regional accounts.
• Ensure that brand presence, positioning, and promotional activities are aligned with the overall brand strategy.

Financial Management:

• Assist in developing and managing the National Accounts sales budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources to achieve sales and profitability targets.
• Collaborate with the Finance team to monitor and analyze financial performance and take corrective actions as necessary.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

• Utilize syndicated data (Nielsen/IRI), distributor data (VIP), and other relevant data sources to analyze business trends, understand customer needs, and identify growth opportunities.
• Maximize VIP reporting tools to analyze growth opportunities within national and regional chains.
• Send reports to Key Account Managers monthly based on Call Points authorizations and depletions to identify opportunities for sales.

Innovation and New Product Development:

• Provide customer and market insights to inform the New Product Development (NPD) process.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to successfully launch new products and variants within national and regional accounts.

Requirements & Qualifications:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in sales, with a significant portion of that experience managing national accounts within the alcoholic beverage or consumer packaged goods industry.
• Generating new sales opportunities, vetting leads, and developing relationships with brand and retail owners - including current customers and new potential customers.
• Aid brand owners and retailers to help bring their concepts to market, assisting in every aspect of a brand's launch including liquid product development, sourcing packaging materials, TTB compliance, and production.
• Negotiate contracts, terms, and fees with all potential new Private Brand and Private Label customers.
• Create and present a yearly product calendar and brand strategy calendar for Private Label customers to inspire thinking around new productions and promotion of current products.
• Create and present quarterly business reviews for our larger customers- and yearly business reviews, including "top to tops" with our key customers and distributor partners.
• Attending trade shows and other industry events to promote the company, discuss our capabilities, and generate leads.
• Schedule meetings and interface with customers as they travel to our facilities in Kentucky.
  • Manage all customers' day to day needs, including inventory, logistics, dry goods management, PO submissions, payments, and other requests through our support teams.
  • Ensure pricing for customers is within set guidelines to achieve desired company gross margin.
  • Liaise between all internal departments: finance, operations, production, R&D, and logistics to ensure projects remain on schedule and customers' needs are met. Contribute to weekly and monthly NPD and Sales Strategy meetings to ensure customer's objectives are met.
  • Generate sales budgets and projections to establish goals by customer.
  • Monitor customer's business and proactively communicate changes via forecasting tools with colleagues.
• Provide world class customer service to partners in support of their brand plans and company.
• Strong analytical skills, with experience utilizing data and insights to inform sales strategies and decisions.
• Excellent negotiation, communication, and presentation skills.
• A deep understanding of the alcoholic beverage industry, with established relationships with key national accounts.
• A passion for Bourbon, Whiskey, and Spirits, with a strong knowledge of the category.
• A Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field or equivalent experience

Travel Requirements:

• Ability to travel frequently, including nights and weekends, to meet with national and regional accounts, attend industry events, and support field sales teams.

Sales Specific Offerings

As part of our onboarding process, all new Sales team members will have a full-immersion learning/training experience at our state-of-the-art distillery in Bardstown, KY. We offer mileage and other job-related transportation expense reimbursements, a monthly budget toward account visits and sampling.

Job Requirements:

It is required for the position you must have reliable transportation, the ability to get to and from accounts continuously, the ability to work nights and weekends and, at times, more than 40 hours a week, the ability to lift up to 50 pounds, push, pull, sit and stand. The ability to travel across the Eastern half of the United States.

NOTE: The Company reserves the right to modify or apply this Job Description in any manner necessary to conduct its business and meet its goals and objectives. This Job Description does not imply that these are the only functions of the job, or the only essential functions of the job. Other duties and responsibilities may be required in this position.