Director of Sales

Director of Sales

Berkeley, IL, USA

Requisition Number

16354

Location

Berkeley, IL

Job Description

SUMMARY

The Director of Sales is responsible for driving strategic revenue growth, expanding market presence, and developing new business opportunities for Whitsons' Culinary Services division. This role leads sales efforts across key market segments, including hospitality, retail, co-manufacturing, transportation, and other growth channels, while building strong customer relationships and strategic partnerships. Particular emphasis may be placed on developing opportunities within airline, rail, airport foodservice, transportation catering, and other travel-related foodservice sectors. The ideal candidate is an entrepreneurial sales leader with a proven ability to drive growth, influence stakeholders, and deliver measurable business results.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

Strategic Sales Leadership

• Lead sales strategy, including customer acquisition, account expansion, and annual revenue planning.

• Translate market insights, category trends, and customer intelligence into actionable growth strategies.

• Identify new market segments, strategic partnerships, and opportunities to drive long-term revenue.

• Build financial projections, annual targets, and pipeline forecasts that align with corporate goals.

Customer Relationship & Account Management

• Develop and maintain strong, influential relationships within the segments that you serve, such as retail buyers, private label teams, supply chain partners, and co-manufacturing customers, airline caterers, airport foodservice operators, rail service providers, and other transportation-related foodservice partners.

• Manage key account portfolios with a focus on retention, profitability, and strategic partnership.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to customers, providing insights, solutions, and recommendations that support their category objectives.

• Lead customer meetings, quarterly business reviews, and executive-level presentations.

Broker & Partner Management

• Direct broker networks to ensure alignment on priorities, promotions, and growth expectations.

• Evaluate broker performance and adjust coverage or strategy as needed.

• Ensure partners clearly understand product capabilities, timelines, and commercial goals.

Sales Process & Execution

• Oversee the full sales lifecycle, including strategic planning, prospecting, pricing preparation, contract negotiation, and close.

• Develop compelling, customer-centric proposals, product stories, and presentations.

• Collaborate with Operations, Culinary/R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Finance to ensure program readiness, feasibility, and successful execution.

• Maintain disciplined documentation of sales activities, pipelines, and forecast accuracy.

Category, Market & Data Analytics

• Leverage syndicated data (IRI, Nielsen, or equivalent) to interpret category trends and build fact-based selling stories.

• Develop data-driven insights that enhance customer discussions and drive product innovation.

• Monitor industry trends, competitor activity, and shifts in consumer demand to inform strategic decision-making.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Work closely with Marketing to support product positioning, branding, and go-to-market strategies.

• Partner with Operations and Quality to ensure co-manufacturing customers receive consistent, high-quality execution.

• Collaborate with Legal and Finance on pricing, contract structures, bid responses, and customer agreements.

• Support internal teams by providing market intelligence and customer feedback to help drive innovation.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify commercial, operational, or process enhancements that can improve efficiency, customer satisfaction, or competitiveness.

• Participate in professional development and industry engagement to ensure best-in-class sales leadership.

This role offers a salary range of $130,000 – $150,000 annually, based on skills, experience, and location. Employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, generous PTO, and paid holidays.

Requirements

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Sales, Marketing, or related field required.

• MBA preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of progressive sales experience within segments such as CPG, retail, private label, or co-manufacturing.

• Demonstrated success managing national or regional retail accounts.

• Proven ability to meet or exceed revenue targets consistently.

• Experience presenting to senior leadership and customer decision makers.

• Strong background in interpreting syndicated data and retail analytics.

• Experience leading complex negotiations and multi-stakeholder commercial processes.

• Experience selling into airline, rail, airport, transportation catering, hospitality, retail, or other foodservice channels strongly preferred.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Business Development & Revenue Growth – Drives revenue through long-range sales strategies, new business acquisition, strategic partnerships, and expansion across diverse market segments, including retail, hospitality, transportation, co-manufacturing, and other growth channels.

• Customer & Account Management – Builds influential relationships with retail buyers, private label teams, brokers, and partners to drive retention, profitability, and long-term value.

• Data-Driven Category Strategy – Leverages syndicated data and market insights to inform fact-based selling, category growth strategies, and innovation opportunities.

• Cross-Functional Commercial Alignment – Partners closely with Operations, Culinary/R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and Legal to ensure feasible, scalable, and high-quality execution.

• Executive Communication & Negotiation – Leads complex negotiations and communicates with clarity and confidence across senior internal and external stakeholders.

• Strategic Partnership Development – Establishes and grows relationships with key customers and organizations across multiple industries, that may include hospitality, leisure, transportation, retail, and foodservice sectors, to drive sustainable growth and market expansion.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

• Familiarity with CRM platforms for pipeline management and reporting.

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OTHER DETAILS

Expected Hours of Work: This is a full-time exempt position. Standard work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., with flexibility required to meet the demands of a national leadership role. Extended hours, evenings, or weekends may be necessary during peak business cycles or travel periods.

Travel Requirements: Up to 50% travel is required to support regional operations, customer engagement, trade events, and leadership meetings.

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the team member is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, talk, and hear; use hands and fingers to feel, handle, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment: The work is performed primarily in a company or home-office setting. The noise level in the company work environment is moderate. The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work and duties that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duty does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, or a logical assignment to the position, and the Company reserves the right to add additional duties or modify existing duties.

The job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the Company and employee and is subject to change by the Company as the needs of the Company and requirements of the job change. Employee’s signature below constitutes an employee’s understanding of the requirements, essential functions, and duties of the position.

Work Schedule

Standard work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Supervisor

Michelle L Rothermich

Salary Target

$130,000-$150,000