Sales Director, Grocery East/Central

Our Company:

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is an American ice cream company dedicated to making better ice creams and bringing people together. Founded in 2002 by James Beard Award-winning ice cream maker Jeni Britton—who introduced a modern, ingredient-driven style of ice cream making that revolutionized the industry, forever changing the way ice cream is made—Jeni’s has emerged over the past two decades as the new standard by which all other ice creams are judged. Today, the creative-led, community-spirited company is a certified B Corporation with more than 85 scoop shops (and counting), an online shop with nationwide shipping at jenis.com, and distribution in top grocery stores across the country.  Jeni’s Home Office is located in Columbus, Ohio.

Our Mission:

Team Jeni's is a nationwide team of people who bring their talent, hustle, guts, resilience and empathy (lots of heart too) to making better ice creams and bringing people together. Working at Jeni's means devotion to service.  Serving by caring - about ourselves, each other, our communities, ice creams and customers. We are a force for good!

The Role:  

We are looking for a Sales Director to join our team, responsible for leading the Conventional Grocery channel across the East and Central regions. This role is accountable for driving sales, expanding distribution, and increasing market share, while building strong, long-term relationships with distributors, brokers, and key retail partners. Reporting to the SVP of Sales, this leader brings enthusiasm and a passion for Jeni’s purpose, mission, and values, and plays a critical role in shaping and executing our wholesale growth strategy. 

Here are the things we want to hire you to do: 

• Partner with your manager, peers, and broker network to build and execute the retail sales strategy for the Grocery channel

• Build strong and credible relationships with your retailer partners, brokers and distributors

• Utilize knowledge customer specific promotion tactics to build and execute support plans that follow promotion and trade spend guidelines

• Own distribution strategy for all customers in the territory utilizing customer target lists and sku rankings.

• Use data and insights to drive fact-based selling, inform strategy, and identify customer and category trends.

• Lead the development and delivery of compelling sales presentations that drive customer alignment and business results

• Own category review timelines and lead customer presentations (1–2x annually), including void closure and innovation sell-in

• Analyze business performance using SPINS, POS, and shipment data to inform recommendations and drive strategic adjustments

• Support annual planning by building and maintaining accurate sales & trade spend forecasts, leveraging Jeni’s systems and tools to inform business decisions

• Attend trade shows and customer events as needed.

• Collaborate with cross-functional team members across the organization    

Here are the things we think you need:

• 8 years of experience in retail sales within the CPG industry, with a focus on Grocery

• Strong understanding of multiple distribution models, including direct and third-party (UNFI, KeHE, etc.)

• Experience managing key customers such as CVS, Meijer, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, Hy-Vee, and retailers across the Northeast and Chicagoland regions

• Love using the Google Suite, PowerPoint, Excel and would consider yourself a data savvy sales professional

• Experience using syndicated data (SPINS, Nielsen, IRI) and applying category management principles to support fact-based selling

• Strong understanding of trade spend and promotional effectiveness

• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to bring creative solutions to business opportunities

• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail

• Positive, motivated, and resilient — able to navigate challenges with energy and focus

• Ability to prioritize and manage time effectively in a remote environment

• Entrepreneurial mindset — comfortable with ambiguity and excited to build and scale a business

• Up to 50% travel required

Benefits we offer:

• Competitive pay plus eligibility for sales bonus

• 15 paid vacation days per year when a full year is worked

• 5 paid sick days per year when a full year is worked (or sick time accrued based on applicable state or local regulations)

• 10 paid holiday days annually

• Health, dental, vision and life insurance (single and family coverage available)

• 4% match on 401k contributions after 3 months of employment 

• One-month paid sabbatical after 3 years of continuous employment

• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time Off annually 

• 50% discount at Jeni’s Scoop Shops and online

Jeni's is an equal opportunity employer. Said our way, we love and honor differences, and we love sharing common values such as talent, hustle, guts, resilience, and empathy. Our differences are a primary source of our team's strength and we crave having a team rich with diversity which is creativity and art in its human form.