National Customer Business Mgr - Costco

National Customer Business Manager

As a key member of the CP National Account sales team, the National Customer Business Manager manages the sales objectives and profitability of Costco. This position will be located in Seattle, or within 90 min of major Costco Region (i.e. Northwest, Bay Area, LA, Midwest, Southeast, San Diego).

Under the guidance of the Director, contribute to the development of Corporate and Business Unit sales plans that meet the corporate strategy of Sargento. Lead the development and execution of the Sales Plan. Accountable for execution of pricing and promotions in support of Consumer Products trade guidelines. Monitor Costco trade plans and corporate initiatives by optimizing customer support at multiple levels including headquarter and retail. Deliver on key Sargento sales initiatives, volume budgets and profit targets while operating within assigned trade spending budgets. Develop strong customer management skills by fostering sound business relationships involving key Costco National and Regional leadership & Costco cross functional departments. Analyze promotional effectiveness across key measures and prepare recommendations to maximize future business opportunities. Utilize comprehensive category management and consumer insight skills to strengthen our organization's thought leadership position within the retailer landscape. Creatively collaborate and partner with internal resources to resolve customer issues. Develop a solid critical thinking platform with the ability to problem solve utilizing financial analysis while streamlining processes. Effectively coach and motivate sales agency partners at multiple levels and with varying knowledge bases. Strategically penetrate all decision-making levels across the Costco landscape including frequent customer engagement with strategic regions, consistent with customer segmentation and channel strategy. Strong negotiation skills that demonstrate the ability to move from conflict to resolution. Travel requirements ~25-40%.

Bachelor's degree from four-year college or university 5+ years in related consumer products experience required. Customer Headquarter sales experience required. Broker management experience preferred. Experience calling on Costco and / or Club Customers is preferred. Advanced experience in using syndicated data and / or proprietary customer data to drive strategic recommendations and annual business planning. Advanced experience in partnership with Demand & Supply planning to ensure forecast accuracy and avoid supply disruption. Ability to demonstrate strong written and verbal communication skills with persons or groups at varying positions or knowledge. Prior sales experience in a capacity working with sales agencies involving cross functional departments. Advanced experience in customer management developing business case presentations that identify profitable opportunities for future growth, including partnership with internal cross functional teams to deliver Costco-relevant product solutions, Innovation collaboration and P&L development as needed to make strategic recommendations. Demonstrate strong time management skills along with the ability to manage overlapping and even conflicting priorities. Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Nielsen, and IRI.

With over 2,400+ employees and net sales of nearly $1.8 billion, Sargento is a family-owned company that has been a leader in cheese for more than 70 years. We created the world's first, successful pre-packaged sliced and shredded natural cheeses. Sargento is based in Plymouth, Wisconsin, where we manufacture and market shredded, sliced and snack natural cheese products, as well as ingredients and sauces. Sargento is known for the exceptional quality of our products and for product design, packaging and merchandising innovations that have transformed our industry.