REGIONAL SALES DIRECTOR

Job description

The Regional Sales Director is responsible for driving sales performance, revenue growth, distribution, and market execution for Happy Dad across an assigned region. This role leads the development and execution of regional sales strategies while building strong relationships with distributor partners, senior distributor leadership, retailers, and key accounts. The Regional Sales Director will lead, coach, and develop the regional sales team while partnering closely with Sales Strategy, Marketing, Trade Marketing, Finance, Operations, and other internal teams to achieve company goals. This position requires the ability to balance strategic business planning with hands-on market leadership and execution. Can reside in the following states: New Jersey / New York / Philadelphia Key Responsibilities Regional Sales Leadership and Performance · Develop and execute regional sales strategies to achieve or exceed annual volume, revenue, distribution, and execution goals. · Inspire and lead the regional sales organization toward achievement of weekly, monthly, trimester, and annual company goals. · Establish clear performance expectations and hold the team accountable to company KPIs, priorities, and commitments. · Analyze sales trends, depletion performance, distribution, velocity, and market conditions to identify opportunities and performance gaps. · Develop corrective action plans when markets, distributors, customers, or team members are not achieving expectations. · Identify emerging market and consumer trends and develop strategies to capitalize on future growth opportunities. · Participate in pilot programs, strategic initiatives, and other company priorities as needed. Distributor and Retail Relationship Management · Build and maintain strong relationships with distributor principals, senior management, sales leadership, and field sales teams. · Establish consistent communication and call frequency with assigned distributors to drive sales, distribution, execution, and share of mind. · Manage distributor planning, forecasting, inventory, pricing, execution, and performance reviews. · Conduct documented Top-to-Top business reviews with the region's Tier A wholesalers. · Conduct a minimum of one planning meeting per quarter with the region's top 10 distributors. · Conduct a minimum of two formal business reviews annually with priority distributors, including an Annual Business Plan meeting and Mid-Year Business Review. · Prioritize distributor engagement using an 80/20 approach, concentrating resources against distributors representing the majority of regional volume and opportunity. · Maintain regular communication with distributor management through calls, presentations, market visits, business reviews, and other appropriate engagement. · Monitor distributor inventory levels and proactively address out-of-stocks, excess inventory, forecasting issues, and supply concerns. Sales Execution · Drive execution of national and regional promotions, pricing programs, innovation launches, displays, and brand initiatives. · Identify new market, retailer, channel, and account opportunities across chain, independent, convenience, liquor, grocery, and on-premise channels. · Conduct regular market visits to evaluate retail execution, competitive activity, and business opportunities. · Ensure market activity is focused on priority accounts, execution opportunities, distribution growth, and business development. · Seek out appropriate marketing, sampling, promotional, and special-event opportunities that support regional sales objectives. Team Leadership and Development · Lead, coach, and develop Area Managers, Territory Managers, and other regional sales personnel. · Provide ongoing coaching, training, feedback, and development for direct reports. · Conduct formal market ride-withs with each direct report at least once per trimester. · For Regional Sales Directors with five or more direct reports, complete a minimum of two formal ride-withs per employee annually. · Use ride-withs to coach selling skills, distributor management, retail execution, business planning, and leadership development. · Conduct regular regional team meetings to communicate priorities, review performance, address gaps, and align on upcoming initiatives. · Develop future leaders and create a culture of accountability, collaboration, urgency, and continuous improvement. Market Planning, Analytics, and Opportunity Identification · Lead annual regional business plan development, presentation, and execution. · Utilize syndicated data, distributor depletion reporting, CRM tools, and internal scorecards to evaluate performance and guide decision-making. · Maintain proficiency with platforms such as VIP, Karma, or similar distributor reporting and CRM systems. · Conduct regular forecasting reviews and identify risks and opportunities versus company targets. · Develop and manage regional pricing strategies, including price increase recommendations, distributor sell-in, and cents-per-case analysis. · Evaluate distributor profitability, retailer pricing, promotional effectiveness, and competitive activity. · Provide senior management with clear assessments of regional performance, opportunities, risks, and recommended actions. · Provide market intelligence and retailer/distributor feedback to help guide company strategy, innovation, pricing, programming, and resource allocation. Financial Management · Manage regional budgets and expenses within company guidelines. · Hold regional team members accountable for responsible expense management. · Manage and evaluate regional investments, incentives, programming, travel, entertainment, and other sales expenditures. · Partner with Finance and Sales Strategy to evaluate the financial return of regional programs and investments. Cross-Functional Collaboration · Partner closely with Marketing and Trade Marketing to develop and execute programs that increase awareness, trial, distribution, and sales. · Collaborate with Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Sales Strategy, and senior leadership to support regional business objectives. · Ensure regional sales strategies and market activity are aligned with broader Happy Dad company priorities. CRM, Reporting, and Accountability · Use company CRM and reporting platforms to document required market activity, account visits, business reviews, commitments, and follow-up actions. · Complete a minimum of 50 unique account visits per quarter and 200 unique account visits annually. · Deliver monthly reviews of assigned distributor performance to Happy Dad senior management and distributor leadership as appropriate. · Track regional sales performance, execution gaps, commitments, opportunities, and follow-ups through required company platforms. · Maintain clear communication with senior management regarding significant regional opportunities, risks, and performance developments. Account Visit Expectations · Quarterly Goal: 50 unique account visits · Annual Goal: 200 unique account visits · Account visits must be documented within the company CRM platform. · Visits should focus on priority customers, execution opportunities, competitive activity, key retailer relationships, and strategic market development. Requirements · 10+ years of sales experience within the beverage alcohol industry, preferably across multiple markets and distributor networks. · Minimum 3–5 years of sales leadership and people-management experience preferred. · Advanced understanding of the U.S. three-tier beverage alcohol system. · Demonstrated track record of driving revenue, volume, distribution, and market execution. · Strong experience managing distributor relationships and holding distributor partners accountable to business objectives. · Experience working across multiple channels, including chain, independent, convenience, liquor, grocery, and on-premise. · Strong analytical capabilities with experience utilizing syndicated and distributor sales data. · Familiarity with Circana/IRI, VIP, Karma, CRM platforms, or comparable sales and distributor reporting systems. · Strong forecasting, financial management, pricing, and business-planning capabilities. · Excellent leadership, communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills. · Ability to confidently present to distributor ownership, senior management, retailers, and internal leadership. · Strategic thinker with a strong bias toward execution and accountability. · Hands-on leadership style with the ability to motivate, coach, and develop teams. · Proficiency with Google Workspace, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and related business tools. · Ability to travel up to 40% of the time. · Must live within or near the assigned primary sales territory. · Must be eligible to work in the United States. · Valid driver's license and acceptable driving record. · Bachelor's Degree preferred. · Passion for the beverage alcohol industry, brand building, and the Happy Dad brand.