Director Field Sales

The Marzetti Company•Columbus, OH

10h

About The Position

The Director, Distribution and Field Sales leads a portfolio of foodservice distributor accounts and a team of Regional Sales Managers to deliver sustained, profitable growth and achieve annual AOP sales objectives. The role develops and executes distribution and field sales strategies, builds strategic relationships with key distributor customers, and ensures consistent broker performance and market execution. The Director partners cross-functionally with Marketing, Pricing, Trade & Sales Productivity, Legal, and other functions to support effective commercial execution and profitable growth.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
10+ years of progressive foodservice sales experience, including significant experience with foodservice distributors, field sales, and/or broker-managed markets.
3+ years of people-leadership experience with demonstrated success leading, coaching, and developing sales professionals.
Demonstrated success managing distributor relationships and delivering profitable sales growth through field sales and broker partners.
Strong knowledge of foodservice distribution, broker management, trade management, customer economics, and regional market dynamics.
Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience with pricing, trade investment, forecasting, portfolio performance, and profitable growth.
Strong executive communication, relationship-management, negotiation, and cross-functional leadership skills.
Ability and willingness to travel extensively.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop Regional Sales Managers, establishing clear performance expectations and building team capability and succession readiness.
Own distributor portfolio performance and deliver annual volume and growth objectives.
Develop and execute distribution and field sales plans aligned with Foodservice strategy, category priorities, and AOP objectives.
Build and maintain strategic relationships with key foodservice distributor customers and lead senior-level and Top-to-Top customer engagement.
Establish clear expectations and KPIs for broker management and hold the field sales team accountable for broker sales, distribution, and execution performance.
Identify performance gaps and growth opportunities across customers, markets, and brokers and ensure appropriate action plans are developed and executed.
Prioritize and allocate field resources across customers, markets, and opportunities based on business potential and strategic priorities.
Establish consistent operating disciplines for sales pipeline management, forecasting, customer planning, and market prioritization.
Partner cross-functionally with Pricing, Trade & Sales Productivity, Legal, Marketing, and other functions to support pricing discipline, trade management, contract governance, margin protection, and effective execution.
Provide leadership with relevant distributor, broker, customer, competitive, and market insights while ensuring the team operates within company policies, commercial guardrails, and Marzetti Foodservice standards.