Zone Sales Manager, Foodservice

Come join our table!

At Idahoan Foods, we bring people and families together by providing high quality, convenient food that delights and nourishes lives. As a top 20 household penetration CPG brand, when you join our table, you’re joining a team that aims high and values collaboration, continuous improvement, sustainable sourcing and innovation, active engagement in the community, and doing the right thing. We understand that it’s our team members that serve as the foundation of our ambitious future and we’re committed to knowing you, growing you, and celebrating you.

Job purpose

The Zone Sales Manager (ZSM) is responsible for delivering profitable, sustainable sales growth within an assigned geography by co-developing and executing a focused zone growth plan. In partnership with Sales and Marketing leadership, the ZSM translates annual business targets, strategic priorities and initiatives into actionable zone plans, identifies the highest-value local opportunities, and leads broker execution to deliver short- and long-term growth. This role reports to the Director, Field Sales.

Main Responsibilities

• Co-develop and execute the annual zone growth plan with Sales and
• Marketing leadership, translating annual targets, company initiatives and strategic priorities into clear Operator, Distributor and Channel actions.
• Translate leadership priorities into local growth opportunities, using market knowledge and business acumen to determine where and how to deploy resources across Impact Operators, distributors, GPOs, K-12 and other opportunities to maximize short- and long-term growth.
• Target, convert and develop 20-30 Impact Operators, including regional chains, to achieve annual incremental gross sales targets. Retain and further penetrate existing Impact Operators while maintaining a strong pipeline of new opportunities.
• Lead and leverage assigned broker sales agencies as an extension of the Idahoan sales organization. Establish clear commitments, measurable KPIs and transparent progress reporting; hold brokers and self accountable for execution against priority opportunities and the zone growth plan.
• Partner with the Sr. Manager, Corporate Accounts to execute local distributor strategies aligned with established strategic partnerships and national priorities. Develop relationships within local distribution markets to improve product availability, activate operator opportunities and maximize the value of distributor relationships. Communicate progress and ensure performance is aligned to expectations, including escalation of issues and collaboration to course correct when necessary.
• Leverage technology assets (CRM and Intelligence) to assess zone performance, identify opportunities and risks, prioritize resources, and maintain an accurate pipeline and forecast against annual targets.
• Collaborate with Marketing and other internal partners to activate strategic initiatives, increase Idahoan brand presence and strengthen the
• Fresh-DriedTM value proposition within the zone.
• Plan, deploy and evaluate local distributor trade investments within established budgets, ensuring investments are aligned with strategic priorities and generate measurable commercial results.
• Maintain disciplined business management practices, including effective use of selling time, CRM documentation, opportunity management, forecasting and linkage of customer activity to zone and annual business plans.
• Study and adhere to all job-related policies, including travel and expenses, confidentiality and business ethics.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Qualifications/Required Skills

• Education and/or Experience: This position requires a bachelor’s degree (B.S. or B.A.) from an accredited four-year college/university, or a suitable level of Foodservice industry knowledge gained from five or more years of related experience, with an emphasis in sales and customer management of branded products.
• Language Skills: Ability to prepare, format, proofread, and edit documents which are succinct and professional. Must have effective oral and written communication skills, excellent telephone skills, and thorough knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Ability to conduct professional and compelling presentations and respond to questions from groups of customer sales representatives and managers.
• Reasoning Ability: Possess strong analytical, quantitative, communication and problem-solving skills. Must have the ability to apply experience, common sense, and business acumen to a variety of situations, processes, and people. Understand the impact on sales and profit of decisions whether operator or trade related. Organized and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously while consistently advancing the sales process.
• Interpersonal Skills: Team player, flexible and accepts changing assignments and accountabilities.
• Negotiation Skills: Must have competency to implement the Win/Win system in all phases of the business and be recognized as a proficient negotiator.
• Computer and Technology Skills: Must be proficient with Microsoft Office suite of products including Copilot. Able to leverage new technology as it becomes available to become more efficient and effective in the professional selling process, including customer research, analysis, and presentations.

Alignment with Core Values of the Company

Respect & Value Our People
Stay in Front of Change While Reducing Costs
Delight Our Customers
Food Quality & Safety

Salary Range: $125,000 to $160,000
Bonus Potential
Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance for full-time team members
PTO (Vacation, Sick, and Holidays) for full-time team members
401K match
Company paid disability and life insurance policies
Paid maternity and parental leave

Approach to Flexible Work
The majority of our roles are primarily located in one of our manufacturing facilities or in our corporate office in Idaho Falls, Idaho, offering us the ability to effectively collaborate, innovate, and develop the next leaders of Idahoan Foods.

While we want to capitalize on purposeful in-person days, we also value flexibility and appreciate that it can mean something different to everyone based on your unique circumstances. That’s why at Idahoan we focus on meaningful conversations between you and your manager to identify what works best for the business, team, your role, and your personal needs. Within our manufacturing workforce, we follow our process for time off requests and working within our attendance policy. Those same elements apply outside of manufacturing, but your position may offer some additional flexibility to work remotely at times.

Equal Opportunity
We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), political affiliation, military service, or other non-merit-based factors.