Sales Strategy Manager

WHO WE ARE
At Ghirardelli, we honor tradition and drive innovation, aiming to be the top choice for premium chocolate. Our commitment to Making Life A Bite Better inspires both our products and the way we do business. We support personal and professional growth, recognizing that each employee’s contribution directly impacts Ghirardelli’s growth and success. Join our dynamic team and help shape Ghirardelli's future.
 

Job Summary

The Sales Strategy Manager will develop the Business Plan strategies and tools which will deliver national sales and profit objectives. This Manager leads the development and implementation of business plans, sales presentations, and tools for field sales. The Sales Strategy Manager owns the growth plan for In-Store Execution, specifically Distribution and Display. They create & deploy Sales guidelines for their categories, and track performance against these goals. They will work as an internal sales liaison across all functional groups with emphasis on marketing, supply chain, and planning to deliver against the demand plan and customer needs for their business.

• This role owns the Sales Strategy responsibilities for Seasonal Confection which includes Fall, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter.
• The Sales Strategy Manager will own their responsibilities across all Wholesale Retailers, working with Sales Teams to bring plans to market.
• The Sales Strategy Manager will partner closely with the cross functional teams to build plans, but does not have any direct reports.

Develop and implement In-Store Execution plans

• Collaborate with Sr. Sales Strategy Manager to develop Channel strategy for Seasonal Confection.
• Present strategic direction and business building programs to the sales organization and internal management including:
  • Owns development of Distribution growth plan by identifying opportunities for distribution gains through IRI, evaluating opportunities according to ROI, and deploying plan to Sales team to close distribution gaps.
  • Collaborates with Customer Activation team on Display growth plans by identifying opportunities to drive incremental displays and developing tools to unlock through new display vehicles, selling stories, or working with partner brands.
• Create national sales presentations in support of the Branded Sales Priorities
• Use consumption and consumer data to build fact-based sales presentations to address market opportunities
• Lead role in the development of sales presentations for National Sales Meetings
• Partner with Brand Team and Sales Teams to solidify Customer Promotion programs that will meet needs of both Marketing and Sales. Monitor program execution and results.

Develops and Tracks In-Store Execution Goals

• Presentations and materials to achieve distribution and display objectives
• Supports Revenue Growth Management in their development and deployment of pricing strategies
• Determine assortment & display priorities
• Maintain on-shelf guidance with input from Category Management & Marketing
• Track new item acceptance, forecast volumes, and changes in customer distribution
• Track on/off goals by creating shipment data reporting, monitoring sell-through, and creating action plans
• Ad hoc presentations in support of field sales

Act as the Company’s internal sales resource

• Attends key internal meetings
• Own sales input into New Product Development process
• Resource to marketing department on external opportunities
• Work with field sales in developing and monitoring key account plans
• Support field sales in their preparation for seasonal line reviews
• Coordinates and facilitates broad communications between marketing team and field sales
• Conduct joint analyses with other functions to develop and provide account strategies

Other Responsibilities

• Works with field sales and participates in key sales calls.
• Assisting with training and onboarding new team members on Customer Marketing team, as well as onboarding cross functional team members on how to engage with Customer Marketing.
• Transfer expertise and knowledge to Cross functional team members.
• Support Senior Manager in developing the Sales Business Planning process to include Management Plan reviews.

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum 6 to 8 years of CPG sales team experience
• Minimum 2 years in analytical role (sales analyst or similar)
• Minimum 3 years of direct selling experience, category management, or marketing experience in major CPG company

• Travel on average 1-2 nights per month, but up to 4 nights in a month.
• Ability to travel to various locations across the country or local travel to meetings
• Role is to be at Corporate office.

Salary: $131K to $171K / yr.