Retail Operations Leader

The Retail Operations Leader (ROL) position is responsible for all aspects of retail sales relative to the Grocery and Hispanic channels. This position will act as an ambassador who’s focus will be store level selling, business development and operational matters supporting the sales team. The Retail Operations Leader is responsible for establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with independent retail store management and key customer decision makers as well as identifying and growing new accounts. This role will collaborate with both customers who work direct and who utilize distribution services. The (ROL) will work closely with internal cross-functional stakeholders - Sales, Supply Chain and Customer Service. To be successful in this role, the incumbent will need to be able to quickly identify white space distribution opportunities and deploy strategic selling stories to secure that business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES / DUTIES:
• Retail Development – Explore specific markets to derive white space opportunities and sales volume gaps
• Seek out and generate new distribution to accounts through wholesaler opportunities to grow sales
• Establish working and evolving relationships with the independent distributors in the specified territory and network to find best in class means of distribution to each account. 
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key decision makers across multiple levels of the retail store personnel
• Execute distribution, merchandising and promotional priorities against customer expectations
• Prepare selling plans with in-depth knowledge of specific retail customers and full product portfolio to influence growth opportunities
• Provide real-time feedback / insights on store-level opportunities
• Partner with Shopper Marketing to create best “Go to Market” strategies for in-store execution
• Execute promotional POS and incremental approved fixtures to drive revenue across all retailers
 • Remove obstacles in market to ensure service levels meet or exceed customer expectations
• Communicate effectively across the organization to deliver results (Sales, Supply Chain, Finance, etc.) 
• Manage use of resources and technology to share market information and insights with sales and collaborate on executional requisites
• Partner with innovation and marketing teams on new product development with the goal of increasing sales and driving new item awareness
• Drive speed to shelf on new item innovation
• Understand the consumer and retail customer variations across multiple classes of trade (Convenience, Grocery, Hispanic Specialty, Drug, etc.)

WORK EXPERIENCE / SKILLS:
• 5 years sales experience in the consumer-packaged goods or food and beverage industry 
• Proven track record of success growing sales and developing new customers
• Experience with wholesalers and distributors is a plus 
• Dairy experience is a plus 

SKILLS / OTHER PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED:
• Bilingual: Spanish and English (oral, written and reading)
• Selling and negotiation skills, conflict resolution, and the ability to influence 
• Strong organizational and self-structure skills required 
• Ability to be effective in a result driven, entrepreneurial, fast-paced work environment 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Analytical and decision-making ability 
• Ability to be self-sufficient and take initiative for new opportunities 
• Self-motivated and effective team member
• Proficient in Microsoft Office 
• Category management/Strategic selling story creation skills a plus 

FORMAL EDUCATION:
• Bachelor’s degree is recommended but not required

WORKING CONDITIONS:
• Daily Driving (2 hours per day)
• Travel Overnight Stay 40% (Full Territory Coverage) 
• Must have an Eligible Driver’s License  
• The ability to lift, carry or otherwise move objects of up to 10 pounds is necessary