National Account Manager

Position Location: Bentonville, AR (Must reside in NW Arkansas)

Level of Responsibility: National Account Manager

Reports To: Vice President Business Development

About Us

Sugar Foods (AKA Fresh Gourmet Co.) is a privately held food manufacturer, packager, importer, and sales and marketing organization. Since 1948, we’ve built lasting relationships throughout the food industry and are consistently recognized as a Top Supplier by our foodservice customers. In Retail, our products are found in supermarkets throughout the country in our brands and private brands, in both fresh and center store departments, led by our Fresh Gourmet brand (#1 salad topping brand in America). From our product development and package designs to our in-store merchandising adjacent to fresh ingredients, we’re obsessed with partnering with our customers to help them win. With a dynamic product portfolio and a pipeline of innovation, we are constantly evolving to meet the needs of today’s consumers looking for fresh meal solutions offering convenience, discovery, and a simple way to recreate restaurant favorites at home. At Sugar Foods, the customer is king, and we aim to prove that every day.

Position Summary

The National Account Manager (NAM) is responsible for directing, planning, controlling the assigned accounts to attain sales and profit objectives across fresh and center store departments, branded and private brands, current and prospective customers. This position will develop and maintain strategic relationships with key customers along managing supply chain activities across all Sugar Foods’ capabilities and customer touchpoints.

This is a home office-based position. Responsibilities include sales, analytics, supply chain management, forecasting, e-commerce development, presentation development, business development, WMT compliance and Walmart sustainability reporting.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and retain long-term, collaborative relationships with the customer & assist in developing a step change strategy to be the produce department’s #1 go-to non-fresh supplier.
• Lead day-to-day supply chain/forecasting for Walmart and Sam’s Club and work closely with our broker partners and customers on supply chain management activities.
• Assist in the supply chain integration of Concord with Walmart and Sam’s Club.
• Manage the Sam’s and Bunzl businesses, supported by the VP of Business Development.
• Develop and implement short and long-term winning strategies and tactics for Walmart & Sam’s Club omni-channel sales. Strive for the perfect digital shelf.
• Establish internal relationships to effectively influence and collaboratively achieve organizational objectives.
• Collect and analyze market and consumer data to participate in strategic business planning.
• Supervise and support activities of independent sales agency partners to maximize sales and service level.
• Maximize retail shelf, virtual shelf, and display presence, and ensure implementation of promotional plans.
• Understand organizational policies and effectively interface with company personnel – exercise Team Principles.
• Plus other dynamic to-be-determined responsibilities as the business evolves.
  
  

Decision Making Authority

Empowered to exercise independent judgment and discretion within the broad guidelines set by executive leadership. Keeps chain of command fully appraised of market conditions, opportunities, obstacles, progress, etc…

Strengths & Passions

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-evolving entrepreneurial environment
• Ability to deeply connect with customers, brokers, sales team, and internal support groups
• Self-starter, ability to thrive with minimal supervision
• Passion for quality, sustainable food
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, Competencies

• Comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the retail food industry, seed to fork
• Demonstrable history delivering superior results in high performance environments
• Strong relationship management skills, emphasis on collaboration and alignment across functions and levels
• Thorough knowledge of Walmart and Sam’s Club merchandising systems, processes, strategies and execution
• Proven leadership skills, driven to win
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, excellent virtual meeting engagement skills
• Demonstrated problem solving and negotiation skills
• Strong financial and analytical skills, superb organizational skills
• B.A. or B.S. degree (preferred)
• Travel – potentially 10%-30%
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office’s Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, customer portal experience, virtual meeting software, eMarketing/eCommerce tools