Vice President of Sales

VP of Sales & Marketing | Confidential Retained Search | Charlotte, NC

Valor Front has been retained by a 50+-year-old, privately held North American food service packaging manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, NC, to identify a VP of Sales & Marketing.

Our client is a mid-sized manufacturer and one of the most recognized names in its category. Its customer roster includes some of the largest quick-service and casual dining brands in America, served through the industry's leading distribution partners. The company has just completed a strategic manufacturing consolidation, repositioned its plant footprint for the next generation of sustainable packaging, and is now squarely focused on offensive growth.

The mandate:

• Own the full sales organization (Regional Sales Directors, a Director of Customer Service, and a Marketing Manager) and the marketing function

• Shift the sales operating model from relationship-based to metrics- and KPI-driven

• Design and implement a new incentive compensation plan tied to measurable outcomes, modeling a new comp philosophy for the broader organization

• Personally own senior relationships with top accounts and maintain a proactive customer visit cadence

• Lead new business development as an explicit, measured priority

• Install value-selling discipline and a pricing strategy that captures the value of differentiated capabilities in print, customization, engineering, and sustainability

• Activate the marketing function into a genuine commercial engine

• Embed AI into sales operations, pipeline management, account planning, and talent processes as a 2026 priority

• Serve as a senior commercial voice on the company's eco-friendly and next-generation materials strategy

What we are looking for:

• Senior commercial leadership experience in food service packaging or food service manufacturing strongly preferred

• Demonstrated fluency with and enthusiasm for eco-friendly, compostable, fiber, paper, and next-generation materials

• Proven track record building or restructuring a sales organization

• Value-selling expertise and strong pricing and financial acumen

• Demonstrated success rolling out incentive compensation plans

• AI-forward orientation and active thinking on how AI applies to commercial operations

• Customer-facing executive presence

Charlotte, NC strongly preferred; in-office three days per week; relocation assistance available; significant national travel required. Compensation includes meaningful variable upside tied to measurable performance and a comprehensive benefits package.

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