Position Summary

The Director of Sales - Wildlife leads and expands Red River Commodities' wild bird seed and poultry feed businesses across retail and distributor channels. This role manages a team of National Account Managers, driving both retention and accelerated new customer acquisition. The Director owns national account strategy, pricing and profitability, customer planning, and disciplined commercial execution across assortment complexity, inventory availability, and customer review cycles. Success requires deep experience managing major accounts, strong analytical and pricing strategy capability, and proven cross-functional and team leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Sales & Customer Leadership

• Lead national sales strategy for wild bird seed and poultry feed, aligning customer plans with category strategy, brand objectives, and P&L targets.
• Own senior-level relationships with major retail partners and distributors; drive joint business planning, assortment, merchandising, and promotional execution.
• Build and convert a robust prospect pipeline to accelerate new business, incremental distribution, and program expansion.

Team Leadership

• Manage and develop a team of 2-3 National Account Managers.
• Set goals, coach performance, and foster a high-accountability, collaborative team culture.

Pricing, Profitability & Analytics

• Lead pricing strategy and profitability management, optimizing price architecture, promotional ROI, trade spend, and margin performance.
• Ensure consistent quoting, credit-term governance, and disciplined commercial execution across the team.

Operational & Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner with Supply Chain/Operations to manage SKU complexity, inventory availability, service levels, and customer requirements.
• Establish and lead customer review cadences (category reviews, line reviews, performance scorecards).
• Collaborate with Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and Product/Innovation to ensure forecast accuracy, successful launches, and strong in-market execution.

Distributor Channel Development

• Build distributor channel growth plans including coverage, programs, incentives, and execution standards.
• Improve in-market performance through disciplined distributor management.

Business Management

• Deliver accurate forecasting, quarterly business reviews, and timely reporting of risks and opportunities.
• Represent the voice of the customer internally and translate insights into actionable recommendations for product, packaging, and innovation.

Leadership Scope

• Direct leadership of 2-3 National Account Managers.
• Ownership of strategy and execution across retail and distributor channels.
• Key stakeholder in pricing, trade investment, and category growth planning.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 8+ years of sales and/or commercial leadership experience within CPG, pet, animal nutrition, agriculture, or adjacent categories.
• Demonstrated experience managing major national accounts (e.g., Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, The Home Depot).
• Strong analytical capability with experience influencing or owning pricing strategy and trade/promo effectiveness.
• Proven people leadership experience including coaching and performance management.
• Experience selling through both retail partners and distributors.
• Ability to work from Fargo, ND (preferred) or willingness to relocate.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Experience in wild bird seed, animal feed, poultry feed, or adjacent categories.
• Experience leading pricing and revenue growth management initiatives.
• Track record of launching innovation and securing new distribution in large retail environments.

Core Competencies

• Strategic account leadership and executive-level customer communication
• Pricing strategy, financial acumen, and data-driven decision-making
• Negotiation, influence, and cross-functional alignment
• Distributor management and route-to-market optimization
• Team leadership, talent development, and accountability culture
• Growth mindset with strong new business development capability

Travel & Work Requirements

Travel is required for customer meetings, distributor visits, and internal planning sessions (varies by business needs). Must be able to work effectively with cross-functional teams and customers across multiple time zones.

Company Benefits:

At Red River Commodities, we value our employees and are committed to providing a supportive and rewarding work environment. As a member of our team, you will enjoy a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, and opportunities for career growth and development. Below are some additional benefits that we offer.

• On-demand pay available through Tapcheck
• Paid time off
• Paid Holidays
• 401k & company match
• Profit Sharing
• Employee Assistance Program