CUSTOMER BUSINESS MANAGER

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

Sales Key Account Manager- Kroger (Remote)

About Us:

At Hartz, our passion for pets inspires everything we do. For over 100 years, we’ve been a trusted name in pet care—creating innovative products that strengthen the bond between pets and the people who love them.

As industry leaders, we’re constantly pushing what’s possible to help pets live happier, healthier, and longer lives. Our diverse, talented team fuels this mission, bringing fresh ideas and genuine dedication to every project.

We’re committed to an inclusive, supportive workplace where everyone can thrive—whether you’re collaborating onsite or working in a hybrid environment. At Hartz, your contributions matter, and the impact you make extends far beyond our walls.

Join us and help shape the future of pet care—driving bold ideas and meaningful change for pets and the people who love them.

What We Offer …

• Remote Work Schedule: Work remotely from your home office.
• Competitive Compensation & Benefits: Receive a generous 401(k) match with immediate vesting.
• Generous Paid Time Off: Enjoy up to 34 paid days off annually. 
• Paid Leaves: Parental leave, Bereavement leave, and Military leave.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Healthcare FSA, and Mental Health EAP, basic Life insurance and Disability Insurance.
• Tuition Reimbursement & Career Growth: Access to tuition reimbursement and other learning and development opportunities.

The Role …

We are excited to offer a fantastic opportunity for a motivated, highly analytical sales professional to serve as the Customer Business Manager, overseeing the strategic, end-to-end management of the Kroger account (all divisions), Harris Teeter, Giant Eagle, and our distributor partnership with Central Pet & Garden (CP&G). In this role, you will leverage advanced data analytical skills to drive aggressive sales growth and maximize long-term category volume. Candidates must bring extensive experience managing major mass grocery accounts, with prior Kroger-specific experience and familiarity with their data and digital ecosystems being highly preferred.

Success hinges on your ability to cultivate strong stakeholder relationships, supported by rigorous data tracking and a relentless drive for results. By transforming POS and syndicated data into actionable business plans, you will optimize trade spend ROI, manage forecasts, and ensure flawless retail execution. We are looking to elevate our sales team with a growth-minded professional who can translate complex analytics into compelling selling stories, establishing themselves as a trusted expert who uses disciplined business tracking to elevate team performance and drive profitable growth.

In this position, you will work remotely from your home base, located in one of the following states: AR, CA, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WA.

Your Responsibilities …

Strategic Sales and Business Planning

• Achieve sales targets for overall territory, customer and category within approved trade spend budget through negotiations with the buyer on sales and product placement. 
• Develop, monitor, and continually revise assigned accounts’ annual business plans.
• Analyze point of sale and other sales data; communicate trends, insights, and risks via performance reports to Hartz internal teams, and to accounts’ category/replenishment teams. Use data to update and adjust the customer business plan
• Identify opportunities for all category and line reviews on an ongoing basis, building a selling story to secure new business as well as increase existing distribution across all categories.
• Ensure that retail margins and promotions fall within the published brand strategy for all items and categories, including proper shelf position.
• Forecast customer events as required.

Account and Relationship Management

• Build exceptionally strong relationships with key account stakeholders and brokers through consistent communication and meetings.
• Collaborate closely with internal Brand and Customer Planning teams and external broker partners to pinpoint significant opportunities within these Major grocery accounts. Develop and implement strategies and programs aimed at generating profitable and incremental sales.
• Understand and convey account strategies and goals to the internal Hartz team.
• Attend/participate in industry and customer events, trade/trade show events, and company sales/marketing meetings.

Operations and Administration

• Effectively manage the administrative responsibilities, including price change forms, deductions, and selling and planning schedules.

Requirements:

You’ll Need …

• Education and Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in a Business-related discipline with 2+ years of direct sales experience (or 5+ years direct sales experience in lieu of degree), calling on national grocery headquarter accounts with a history of setting and delivering a growth agenda; Kroger experience preferred and pet care industry a plus.
• Customer Specific Systems Proficiency: Proficient in the use of Kroger systems and all included vendor apps and reports to create and track metrics expected by customer scorecards is preferred
• Sales & Presentation Skills: Experience with category management, fact-based selling techniques (point of sale and syndicated data analysis), and the ability to create, develop, and present this information compellingly from scratch
• Negotiation Skills : Proven negotiation skills, demonstrated ability to finalize business, and expand current account list
• Software Proficiency: Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite programs
• Business Travel: Willingness and ability to travel as needed (25%)

If this sounds like a good match and you want to learn more about this exciting role, get in touch with us today! Hartz is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age or any other characteristic protected by law.
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