Location: Fully remote, with travel required. Prefer that candidates live in a Central or Eastern time zone within 45 minutes of a major airport.

Summary

Opportunity to join and grow with a fast growing, entrepreneurial small company that’s disrupting sweet snacking. This role will manage and be responsible for growing a region of C-Store Retailers and Distributors with the support of broker partners.

Company Overview

Rip Van’s mission is to improve people’s lives by creating convenient, low-sugar snacks that taste as delicious as the full-sugar alternatives. Our first product, Rip Van Wafels, was a Dutch-style waffle that is made with simple, clean ingredients and has only 3g of sugar. We are now embarking on a rapid expansion of our offerings via a full platform of low sugar snacks. Rip Van is committed to sustainability and ethical business practices and is dedicated to building a community around healthy snacking and wellness. With a rapidly growing customer base and strong brand reputation, Rip Van is poised for continued success and explosive expansion in the years to come.

Role Overview: Regional Sales Manager

The Regional Manager will help Rip Van achieve its mission by expanding distribution of our robust innovation pipeline with our retail partners within their geography. As a member of the Sales team, this role will increase product portfolio sales and manage existing business within direct and distributor serviced Convenience Store Chains. To be successful in this role, you’re strategic, proactive, creative, well connected in the customer and distributor set, an excellent planner, well organized, and a highly skilled communicator and collaborator. You are willing to dive in and do what is needed to achieve our goals. You have 5+ years of relevant experience, yet you’re a continuous learner and improver. You’ll be joining a small team of core team members who value making quick and informed decisions, achieving and celebrating wins, and executing with a ‘can do’ attitude

Responsibilities

• Manage Rip Van business and relationships with Retailers, Distributors, and broker partners within your region
• Cultivate new business within the region and beyond, using all available methodologies (networking, cold calling, market research, competitive intelligence, industry resources, third parties - distributors/brokers/agencies, technology, etc.)
• Contribute to sales strategy and forecast in existing and new channels
• Collaborate with cross functional leaders on planning, forecasting, budgeting, strategy, innovation, sales collateral and execution
• Evaluate and apply available data (POS, distributor and syndicated) for planning, managing, fact- based selling, distribution tracking, post promotional evaluation/ROI analysis and market intelligence
• Create sales reports, collateral and customer-ready content for internal and external initiatives
• Create, execute, monitor, manage and evaluate customers’ promotion/trade plans and calendars to meet and exceed expected ROI
• Identify opportunities and develop custom programs to foster opportunities, continued sales growth and ROI within customer portfolio
• Collaborate with finance team to monitor, research and dispute invoice deductions as needed
• Manage new item process (samples, reviews and set-up process) within customer portfolio
• Train and develop customers, brokers and distributors on Rip Van’s portfolio and objectives - via phone, webinars and on site/in-market visits
• Attend customer, broker and distributor meetings, trade shows, market tours and industry/consumer facing events as required to maintain and pursue relationships
• Create custom programs as applicable to develop channel opportunities
• Develop action plans to address challenges and maximize opportunities
• Attend internal team and cross functional calls via video call
• B e a Rip Van ambassador and spokesperson within the community and industry, networking and exploring unique opportunities and scenarios for the brand - which may at times fall outside the scope of territory (in other words, live and breathe the brand)

Qualifications

• 5+ years C-Store CPG sales experience, relationships with buyers for major East C-Store chains and/or cookie-cracker category experience a plus
• Track record of success and increasing responsibility
• Excellent communication, and negotiation skills
• Strong customer management/relationship management skills
• Distributor, Retailer, and Broker management experience
• Entrepreneurial mindset, creative problem solving and analytical skills
• Experience with conceptual selling and sales forecasting using data, industry tools, trade math, margin optimization
• Ability to design and deliver effective presentations to various levels of customers’ organization
• High sense of urgency and responsiveness, with ability to prioritize, achieve priorities and thrive while multitasking
• Must be self-motivated, curious and comfortable with ambiguity typical of a young and growing company
• Proven ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Comfortable in frequently changing and potentially stressful internal and external environments
• Fully competent with Google Suite (preferred) or Microsoft Office Suite
• Up to 40% travel may be required depending on customer needs Physical Requirements
• Requires full range of body motion including walking, standing, stooping, bending, and lifting, manual and finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination
• May require sitting, standing and walking for extensive periods of time.
• Ability to take potentially long flights for meetings and trade shows is a requirement
• Occasional lifting and carrying items weighing up to 40 pounds
• May require irregular work hours and travel
• Occasional high stress situations may occur in dealing with customers