National Accounts Manager- AFH, Bar and Restaurants

Heartland Food Products Group•Carmel, IN

About The Position

Heartland Foods Products Group is seeking a National Account Manager to drive sales and business development across bar and restaurant chains as part of the Away From Home (AFH) team. The role represents the company’s portfolio, including Splenda, Java House, and SlimFast, and is responsible for identifying new business opportunities, securing chain-wide programs, and growing key accounts. The manager leads the sales process from initial outreach and product presentation through negotiation, rollout, and ongoing account growth. Success in the role includes revenue growth across assigned accounts, new account wins and multi-location rollouts, expanded menu placements and product adoption, a healthy pipeline with reliable forecasts, and strong customer relationships supported by consistent execution.

Requirements

Previous national or regional account sales experience serving multi-unit bar and restaurant chains.
Demonstrated success developing new business and growing existing accounts.
Experience navigating corporate purchasing processes and working with multiple customer stakeholders.
Ability to translate product benefits into compelling customer proposals.
Strong relationship-building, presentation, negotiation, and account management skills.
Ability to coordinate cross-functional teams and manage opportunities from prospecting through rollout.
Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple accounts and long sales cycles.
Willingness to travel for customer meetings, account development, and industry events.

Nice To Haves

Experience in beverage, foodservice, or Away From Home sales.
Established relationships with bar and restaurant chain decision-makers.
Experience developing beverage programs and securing menu placements.
Familiarity with distributor-supported sales and fulfillment models.
Experience supporting multi-location product tests and rollouts.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute account plans to grow revenue across national and regional bar and restaurant chains.
Identify, prospect, and secure new chain accounts while building a qualified opportunity pipeline.
Build relationships with corporate beverage teams, purchasing leaders, culinary teams, operations leaders, and other decision-makers.
Present products and programs from the Heartland Foods Products Group portfolio to meet customer menu, operational, and business needs.
Work with customer teams to progress product evaluations, testing, approvals, and menu integration.
Manage proposals, pricing discussions, and negotiations with internal stakeholders.
Coordinate with customers, distributors, and internal teams to support product availability, training, and execution across participating locations.
Grow existing accounts by expanding to additional locations, increasing product usage, and introducing additional products or applications.
Track sales, customer activity, program execution, and growth opportunities against account objectives.
Maintain account plans, opportunity updates, and sales forecasts.
Communicate customer feedback, competitive activity, and emerging food and beverage trends to inform commercial priorities.
Participate in customer meetings, product presentations, industry events, and account visits as needed.