Director of Sales- Natural & Specialty

Job Description

Job Description

Are you…

• A sales leader who knows the natural and specialty foods space and sees opportunity before everyone else does?
• Do you love building customer relationships, finding new ways to grow a business, and turning market insights into profitable results?

Palermo’s is looking for a Director of Sales – Natural Foods to lead growth across this important channel. This is a highly visible role for someone who can think strategically, build strong customer partnerships, and still roll up their sleeves to make things happen.

Palermo’s is a family-owned company that has been bringing people together around great food for more than 60 years. What began as a Milwaukee Italian bakery has grown into one of the country’s leading frozen pizza manufacturers and the home of brands including Palermo’s, Screamin’ Sicilian, Urban Pie and Connie’s.

You’ll report to the VP of Sales and work closely with customers, brokers, Marketing, Product Development, Finance, Operations and other partners across the business.

• Competitive base salary and annual incentive opportunity
• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and holidays
• Professional development and growth opportunities
• Employee discounts and, naturally, plenty of pizza

This role includes approximately 25% travel to build customer relationships, develop new business, attend industry events and support key customer initiatives.

• Build and execute the strategy to grow Palermo’s branded and private label business in the natural and specialty foods channel.
• Own relationships with key customers, buyers, brokers and distributors while identifying new opportunities for profitable growth.
• Lead customer planning, negotiations, pricing, promotions, forecasting and business reviews.
• Use sales, category and market data to spot trends, solve problems and make recommendations that drive revenue and margin.
• Partner across Palermo’s to bring new products and customer opportunities from idea through commercialization and launch.
• Serve as the voice of the customer internally, creating alignment around priorities and execution.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Sales, Marketing or a related field.
• 8–10+ years of progressive retail, CPG, food or related sales experience.
• Strong experience within natural, specialty, grocery or adjacent retail channels.
• Proven success growing strategic accounts and delivering revenue and profitability results.
• Strong negotiation, business planning, analytical and presentation skills.
• Experience with brokers, distributors, CRM and sales analytics tools; Salesforce, Exceedra and syndicated market data experience are a plus.

You’re growing profitable revenue and distribution, strengthening customer relationships, finding new opportunities and turning them into results. Customers see you as a strategic partner, Palermo’s teams trust your market insights, and the business has a clear plan for continued growth in the Natural Foods channel.

At Palermo’s, you’ll have the opportunity to make a visible impact on a growing business while representing brands people genuinely enjoy. You’ll have the freedom to build relationships, pursue new opportunities and help shape where we go next.

If you’re energized by building a business—not simply maintaining one—we’d love to hear from you.