The Opportunity: Director of Foodservice Sales and Business Development

Lead the Team. Drive the Strategy. Deliver Growth.

We are seeking an accomplished, strategic Director of Foodservice Sales to lead and develop a high-performing sales organization focused on accelerating profitable growth throughout the foodservice channel.

This is a leadership role first and a sales role second. Approximately 85% of your time will be devoted to leading, coaching, developing, and optimizing the sales organization while establishing the commercial strategy that drives long-term success. The remaining 15% will be spent managing select executive-level customer relationships and participating in key business development opportunities.

The successful candidate is an inspiring leader who builds strong teams, develops talent, creates accountability, and consistently delivers exceptional business results.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Key Responsibilities

Sales Leadership

• Develop and execute the organization's Foodservice sales strategy to achieve aggressive revenue and profitability objectives.
• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a team of Regional Sales Managers, Brokers, and/or Account Executives.
• Foster a high-performance culture centered on accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and continuous improvement.
• Establish clear sales goals, performance metrics, and development plans for each team member.
• Conduct regular performance coaching, ride-alongs, business reviews, and talent development discussions.
• Recruit, onboard, and retain top-performing sales professionals.

Business Strategy

• Develop annual sales plans, forecasts, budgets, and growth initiatives.
• Analyze market trends, competitive activity, customer needs, and emerging opportunities to shape commercial strategy.
• Partner with executive leadership to identify new markets, product opportunities, and channel expansion strategies.
• Evaluate pricing, promotional strategies, and customer profitability to maximize long-term growth.
• Utilize CRM data and sales analytics to improve forecasting accuracy, pipeline management, and overall sales effectiveness.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Product Development, and Customer Service to ensure exceptional customer execution.
• Lead strategic business planning with key distributors and national accounts.
• Represent the voice of the customer throughout the organization.

Strategic Customer Engagement (Approximately 15%)

• Maintain executive relationships with select strategic customers and distributor partners.
• Participate in complex negotiations and high-value business opportunities.
• Attend industry conferences, trade shows, and customer meetings to strengthen market presence and identify emerging opportunities.

The Qualified Candidate

Chelsea Milling Company seeks a collaborative, strategically focused, proven sales executive. The successful candidate will have experience with managing the sales function including setting goals and driving attainment. The selected candidate will be goal oriented, collaborative, and a strategic thinker.

Specific requirements include:

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field.
• 8-10+ years of progressive sales leadership experience.
• Foodservice sales is preferred.
• Five or more years leading and developing successful sales teams.
• Demonstrated success building high-performing commercial organizations.
• Strong experience with forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, and sales analytics.
• Experience working with foodservice distributors, national accounts, brokers, and multi-unit operators.
• Excellent executive presence and communication skills.
• Proven ability to influence across departments and lead organizational change.

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking
• Executive leadership
• Coaching and talent development
• Business and financial acumen
• Change leadership
• Accountability and performance management
• Customer-centric decision making
• Collaboration and influence
• Data-driven decision making
• Exceptional communication and relationship building

Success in This Role

Within the first 12 months, you will have:

• Built an engaged, accountable, high-performing sales team.
• Increased sales productivity through effective coaching and leadership.
• Improved forecasting accuracy and sales discipline.
• Expanded strategic customer relationships and market opportunities.
• Delivered sustainable revenue and margin growth while strengthening our commercial organization for long-term success.

If you are passionate about building exceptional teams, developing people, and leading commercial growth, we'd welcome the opportunity to learn more about you.

This position offers a competitive salary with benefits. This position is based in Chelsea, Michigan.