Director of Sales - East (United States)

Join a company built on Quality, Ethics, and Sustainability . B-Corp Certified . illy caffè North America (ICNA) is seeking an exceptionally talented strategic sales leader to join our team as the Director of Sales, East. This is full-time position and an individual may live in any major retail market in the eastern region of the US. The Director of Sales East is responsible for directly managing the illy caffe broker partners responsible for Retailers in all classes of Trade.

illycaffè is an Italian family-owned company, founded in Trieste in 1933 with the mission to offer the best coffee to the world. Every day, cups of illy coffee are served around the globe, in cafés, restaurants, and hotels, in single-brand cafés and shops, at home, and in the office, in which the company is present through subsidiaries and distributors. Since its foundation, illycaffè has oriented its strategies towards a sustainable business model by adopting the status of a Benefit Company and, in 2021 became the first Italian coffee company to obtain the international B Corp certification. Since 2013 the company has also one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. Everything that is “made in illy” is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, up to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by international artists, or coffee machines designed by internationally renowned designers. To spread the culture of quality to growers, baristas, and coffee lovers, the company has developed its Università del Caffè which today holds courses in countries around the world

Position Summary

The key priorities are to grow distribution and velocity across the entire illy caffè portfolio that will drive significant revenue & margin growth for illy caffè North America. Deliver illy share growth for Total Coffee and the Super Premium subcategory. Establish relationships with senior leadership at key retailers, as well as with senior leadership with illy’s broker partners. In conjunction with our broker, develop strategic business plans and KPIs by customer in the geography, measure and adjust as necessary to meet the annual sales and market share objectives. This position requires a valid drivers license with approximately 50% travel on the East Coast.

Core Responsibilities

• Responsible for Headquarter Relationship of assigned Customers
• Direct our broker partners with assigned retailers for success
• Lead all assigned Customer HQ sales calls and collaborate with our broker partner to develop key presentations
• Develops strategy and plan for assigned Customers - working collaboratively with Brokers, Sales Planning, Finance, Marketing, and VP of Sales
• Maintain current illy caffè portfolio distribution
• Facilitate incremental distribution opportunities to expand portfolio
• Ensure that necessary distribution is in place with Distributors to support Retail Customer authorizations
• Execute promotional calendar within pre-determined guidelines
• Accurately forecast sales and trade spending
• Manage customer payments / deductions
• Uncover incremental partnership opportunities
• Conduct business reviews to ensure our partnership is on-track, aligned & and identify any new opportunities
• Develop a plan of action and execute on the plan following review.
• Develop relationships with Senior Leadership at strategic retailers that will help drive visibility and attention for illy caffe products throughout the Eastern geography
• Communicate with broker partners on existing accounts as needed regarding coverage & inventory needs
• Stay within budget for travel & expense allocation
• Work with VP to implement strategic initiatives and account objectives
• Monthly Status report identifying key sales activities by 10th the month
• Participate In Monthly Commercial review meeting updating on status of Business
• Input and review KPI updates monthly

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• 4+ year college degree strongly preferred
• Advanced level experience with computer software (Word, PowerPoint, Adobe, Excel pivot-table and reporting expertise, etc.) required
• Minimum 15 years of success in Modern Trade – beverage and/or coffee preferred
• Existing contacts at Sr. Decision making levels for major retailers preferred
• Experience negotiating complex deals with multiple decision-makers, door-keepers and influencers
• Demonstrated ability to develop and negotiate win/win proposals that maintain profit targets
• Demonstrated ability to work on multiple long-term projects with difficult and long-reaching results-cycles. Required ability to develop winning proposals that are profitable for the company.
• Demonstrated ability to develop relationships at all levels including Sr Decision makers
• Advanced communication skills (writing, presentations, public-speaking.)
• Lives the illy values. Required
• Out of the box, entrepreneurial thinker. Required.
• Accountability mindset. Required

Skills:

• Planning
• Project management
• Organization
• Detail orientation
• Oral and written communication
• Problem solving
• Prioritization
• Work proactively and independently
• Microsoft Word, PPT, Excel, Outlook