Manager, Sales Strategy – Liquid

Kinder's•Walnut Creek, CA

4d•$135,000 - $155,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sales Strategy Manager – Condiments shapes and drives execution of Kinder’s sales strategy, including development of merchandising, assortment, pricing, and shelving (MAPS) strategies and tactics for our sauce portfolio, aligned with business and brand objectives. Reporting to the Director of Sales Strategy, this highly collaborative individual contributor will partner closely with Innovation, Brand Marketing, Field Sales, Category Management, Revenue Growth Management, Trade Finance, Shopper Marketing, Sales Operations, and Supply Chain. The Sales Strategy Manager will translate innovation and brand strategies into customer-ready plans, including assortment, pricing, promotion, merchandising, and shelving recommendations. The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, strong commercial judgment, analytical capability, and hands-on execution. They can turn complex information into a compelling selling story, and create the tools and accountability needed to deliver successful launches across Grocery, Mass, Club and Natural channels.

Requirements

Strong understanding of CPG commercialization and the requirements for successfully launching new products at retail.
Ability to translate consumer, category, customer, and financial insights into actionable commercial strategies.
Working knowledge of MAPS, revenue growth management, trade promotion, category management, shopper marketing, and customer planning.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to develop and communicate business cases.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex information and build persuasive, data-driven selling stories.
Strong project leadership skills, with the ability to manage multiple launches, deadlines, and cross-functional dependencies simultaneously.
Ability to influence stakeholders and drive alignment without direct authority.
Comfort operating in an entrepreneurial, fast-changing environment where priorities and information may evolve quickly.
Experience using syndicated data such as Circana/IRI, NielsenIQ, or SPINS; experience with retailer-specific data platforms is also preferred.
Bachelor’s degree required.
Four to six years of experience in Sales Strategy, Commercialization, Trade Marketing, Customer Marketing, Category Management, Sales Planning, or a related CPG function.
Demonstrated experience developing or executing go-to-market plans for new products.
Experience creating customer-facing selling materials and presenting strategic recommendations to commercial stakeholders.
Experience developing sales forecasts, launch assumptions, pricing recommendations, or projected trade-spend impacts.

Nice To Haves

Commercially minded business builder who takes ownership and delivers results.
Consumer- and customer-focused, with the ability to balance marketplace opportunities with Kinder’s broader business priorities.
Strategic thinker who is equally comfortable working through executional details.
Curious and analytical, with a desire to understand what drives category and customer performance.
Clear, persuasive communicator who can build alignment across diverse stakeholders.
Self-starter who identifies needs, proposes solutions, and creates momentum.
Collaborative teammate who knows when to lead, when to influence, and when to support.
Comfortable making thoughtful decisions with incomplete information.
Growth-minded leader who enjoys learning, sharing knowledge, and strengthening the capabilities of others.

Responsibilities

Develop the annual sales strategy for the portfolio, including channel priorities, distribution targets, assortment architecture, and the promotional calendar.
Own MAPS strategy for the existing portfolio, including assortment by channel and customer, shelf and planogram priorities, price pack architecture, and promotional frameworks.
Monitor base business performance across distribution, velocity, share, and promotional efficiency, and recommend corrective action where results trail plan.
Support customer category reviews and Joint Business Plans with portfolio recommendations, selling stories, and data-backed assortment rationale.
Lead the development of go-to-market strategies for new products across Grocery, Club, Mass and Natural channels.
Translate those strategies into clear merchandising, assortment, pricing, promotion, and shelving (MAPS) recommendations at the customer level.
Define launch objectives, priority customers and channels, distribution goals, SKU priorities, merchandising expectations, promotional support, and key performance indicators.
Develop scalable launch toolkits that provide Field Sales and broker teams with clear guidance while allowing for appropriate customer-level customization.
Partner with Field Sales to integrate category growth priorities into customer strategies, account plans, category reviews, and Joint Business Plans.
Identify commercial risks, customer objections, and execution barriers early, and coordinate cross-functional solutions before launch.
Develop compelling, insight-led selling stories that clearly communicate the consumer need, category opportunity, product differentiation, and value to the retailer.
Create customer-ready materials, including selling presentations, assortment recommendations, pricing architecture, merchandising guidance, promotional recommendations, and trade promotional support.
Use syndicated, retailer, shopper, and competitive data to strengthen customer presentations and support distribution and merchandising objectives.
Equip Field Sales and broker partners with the knowledge, tools, samples, and responses needed to sell new products effectively.
Clearly communicate strategic objectives, SKU priorities, launch timing, and execution standards to field sales and broker teams.
Partner with Revenue Growth Management, Trade Finance, Brand Marketing, Innovation and Field Sales to establish recommended pricing, promotional, and trade strategies for innovation.
Develop launch investment recommendations that balance distribution growth, trial generation, customer requirements, brand health, and profitability.
Support the development of customer-level trade targets and promotional assumptions for new products.
Ensure proposed customer programs remain aligned with approved pricing architecture, trade guardrails, financial objectives, and launch priorities.
Evaluate customer-specific opportunities and recommend where Kinder’s should customize, invest, negotiate, or decline.
Establish launch scorecards and reporting that measure distribution, velocity, merchandising, promotional execution, trade performance, and other agreed-upon KPIs.
Partner with Field Sales and Sales Operations to track customer commitments, item setup, authorization, placement, promotional plans, and launch readiness.
Lead regular launch reviews to identify gaps, resolve issues, and maintain accountability across commercial teams.
Conduct post-launch evaluations to assess results against the business case and identify opportunities to optimize or scale the launch.
Translate launch learnings into clear recommendations for future portfolio decisions, and go-to-market plans.