East Coast Grocery Regional Sales Manager Job DescriptionWe9re looking for an experienced East Coast Grocery Sales Manager to drive distribution, accelerate velocity, and expand our presence across key grocery retailers in the Eastern U.S. This role will own strategic relationships with regional and national grocery accounts while working closely with brokers, distributors, and the broader LOVE CORN team to deliver strong, sustainable growth.
This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in a fast-growing CPG environment and is excited to help build a breakout snack brand.
Location: Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ (Hybrid)
Reports to: Director of Sales
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES:- Retailer & Account Management
- Own and grow key grocery accounts across the Eastern U.S. (including regional and national retailers)
- Bonus: Experience with the Northeastern Convenience and Travel channels
- Lead buyer relationships and annual line reviews
- Secure new distribution, incremental SKUs, and merchandising opportunities
- Drive promotional planning and trade optimization to maximize velocity and ROI
- Sales Strategy & Execution
- Develop and execute East Coast sales strategies aligned with company growth goals
- Identify and prioritize new retail opportunities and expansion channels
- Track sales performance, distribution gains, and promotional results
- Customer Relationship Management
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with retail customers & distributors.
- Oversee distributor relationships and inventory management, including promotional plans and SKU performance.
- Communicate effectively with internal teams and external partners, ensuring timely and accurate updates.
- Broker Management
- Oversee and manage broker relationships, ensuring alignment with company objectives.
- Monitor and evaluate broker performance against established KPIs.
- Provide clear communication, targets, and accountability for partners to ensure successful execution of sales strategies.
- Operations and Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Prepare and track sales forecasts, ensuring alignment with budget and customer demand
- Collaborate with marketing, product development, and finance to align sales efforts with company initiatives and maintain brand integrity.
- Financial Management
- Manage monthly budget reconciliation, trade budgets, and cost negotiations at the retailer level.
- Conduct ROI analysis to ensure the financial viability of sales initiatives and campaigns.
- Market Engagement
- Represent LOVE CORN at trade shows and key retailer events
- Conduct market visits to build relationships with buyers, brokers, & distributors
JOB REQUIREMENTS This is a key role that will help shape the culture of LOVE CORN as we tackle the challenging task of building the next iconic, global snack brand. The ideal candidate will have:
- Minimum 7+ years of experience in the food or CPG industry during a start-up or scale-up phase
- Excellent verbal, written & listening communication skills
- Expert in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, with excellent presentation skills
- Proven success managing grocery accounts and retailer buyers
- Strong relationships with East Coast grocery retailers preferred
- Some experience with Northeast Convenience and Travel channels is a plus (i.e. NCD and HWY)
- Experience working with brokers and distributors
- Track record of delivering distribution gains and sales growth
- Excellent negotiation, presentation, and relationship-building skill
- Ability to build strong relationships and influence decision-making externally and internally across cross-functional teams.
- Available to work a hybrid schedule, including three days per week at our Ho-Ho-Kus, (Bergen County) NJ office.
CULTURAL FIT- Believe and exhibit our 6 Core Values - see link here
- Have positive energy, curiosity and is a people-person
- A proactive self-starter who identifies and solves problems efficiently
- Hard-working, self-motivated and a go-getter attitude i.e. 4half glass full9
- Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with the ability to bring structure to ambiguity and adapt to evolving strategies.
- Demonstrates resilience under pressure, maintaining a positive attitude and motivation in a startup environment.
