Retail Grocery National Account Manager - Remote w/ ...

National Account Manager - Retail Grocery (Northeast/East Coast)Reports To: Director of Sales & MarketingLocation: Northeast/East Coast preferred; must be near a major airport.Restrictions: Cannot reside in California, New York, New Jersey, or Massachusetts (tax reasons).Travel: ~25-30% (primarily East Coast; rare West Coast travel)Role OverviewThe National Account Manager - Retail Grocery will drive our growth across retail grocery customers, with a specific focus on the Northeast/East Coast where there is significant whitespace. This role will manage an existing book of business while aggressively developing new accounts, introducing our brand and private label specialty meat and charcuterie products into regional and national retail grocery chains.You will operate in a competitive, "fight for it" environment, selling big-ticket, value-added meat products into deli and related perimeter categories, as well as grab-and-go/snacking sets. This is a highly visible, growth-focused role supporting our broader expansion and capacity investments.Key ResponsibilitiesAccount Management & GrowthManage a portfolio of existing national and regional retail grocery accounts (e.g., Publix, Albertsons, Trader Joe's, etc.) with a primary focus on retail grocery (not convenience or club).Drive sales growth within existing accounts through new item introductions, promotional planning, assortment optimization, and distribution gains.Build strong relationships with corporate buyers, category managers, and key stakeholders across deli and adjacent departments.New Business DevelopmentIdentify, prioritize, and open new retail grocery customers in the Northeast/East Coast, including large regional and national chains.Develop account-specific sales strategies, presentations, and proposals to secure new distribution for our products.Navigate both top-down (corporate) and bottom-up (store/region-driven) selling approaches depending on the opportunity, relationship, and situation.Strategic Selling & Category ManagementSell in a competitive environment where you must clearly articulate our value proposition versus established brands and private label options.Use category insights, data, and numeric analysis to build compelling business cases, justify shelf space, and support pricing and promotional decisions.Partner closely with internal cross-functional teams (marketing, operations, supply chain, finance) to ensure aligned customer plans and flawless execution.Territory & TravelCover a primarily East Coast/Northeast-focused territory, with occasional travel outside the region as needed.Maintain the flexibility and responsiveness needed to be "nimble" in visiting customers and attending key meetings, leveraging proximity to a major airport.Required QualificationsExperience: 5+ years of progressive sales experience; strongly prefer candidates who have been Regional Account Managers and are ready to step into a national account role.Industry Background:Food industry experience required; meat and/or deli experience strongly preferred.Experience selling into retail grocery (corporate HQ and/or key regional accounts) is required.Sales Environment:Track record selling in competitive categories where you must actively "sell and convince," not simply take orders from a dominant brand position.Experience with big-ticket, value-added or "industrial" sales components (larger, more complex deals, not purely transactional).Training & Career Path:Ideally trained early in career at a larger company with strong sales training and process discipline.Subsequently grown into more niche, challenger, or premium brands where building a story and winning space is critical.Location & Travel:Resides within a reasonable drive to a major airport.Willing and able to travel ~25-30%, primarily across the East Coast.Cannot be based in CA, NY, NJ, or MA.Preferred Profile8+ years of experience in food CPG sales, with a strong focus on retail grocery and perimeter departments.Direct experience selling meat and/or deli products (charcuterie, sliced meats, bulk deli, snack trays, or similar).Demonstrated success opening new retail grocery accounts or significantly expanding distribution in underdeveloped markets (e.g., Northeast/East Coast).Comfortable working with both branded and private label products, with a bias toward building and scaling a branded business.What We OfferBase salary range: $130,000 - $150,000, commensurate with experience.Incentive compensation:Target bonus opportunity of 25% of base salary.Additional incentive potential tied to incremental new business (dependent on size and scope of wins).Opportunity to join a growing company investing heavily in capacity and expansion, including:Multi-million dollar expansion of dry-cured production space. Seven-day slicing operations at a second plant.Additional slicing capacity coming online in the near term.If this is you, please apply now!

Created: 2026-04-02