Senior Director, Sales - Albert Uster Imports, Inc

ABOUT ALBERT USTER IMPORTS

Albert Uster Imports, Inc. (“AUI” or “AUI Fine Foods”) is a privately held gourmet food company headquartered in the Washington, DC area (Gaithersburg, MD) with warehouse locations in Kansas City, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Gaithersburg. AUI falls under the Vestar Capital Partners portfolio with affiliate organization, Roland Foods, LLC.

Founded in 1968, the company offers over 1,400 products from around the world. We serve leading hotels, restaurants, casinos, cruise lines, airlines, and manufacturers with innovative, high-quality products and solutions to their most demanding culinary challenges. We operate a network of distribution centers across the U.S. and serve select international markets as well. AUI has a national direct selling organization of over 60 sales professionals and a staff of culinary experts (chefs and food scientists) adept at custom product solutions.

ABOUT THE ROLE

AUI Fine Foods is excited and committed to growing our sales team, and we are seeking an experienced and motived sales professional to lead this talented team. The Senior Sales Director (SSD) will be an inspirational leader who works directly with and mentors the Regional Sales Directors to plan, execute and exceed company expectations and growth opportunities. They will understand the competitive dynamics of the pastry and bakery industry and recognize new opportunities for the development of new business initiatives and relationships.

The AUI Fine Foods sales team is dedicated to working across multiple business segments: hospitality, travel, manufacturers, distributors, and local and nationally positioned end user customers to maintain current business while driving growth through collaboration focused on solutions, ideas and products. You will work with a dynamic team dedicated to providing the highest quality of products while developing meaningful and strategic partnerships with our valued customers.

As a response to the pandemic, AUI Fine Foods office employees have transitioned to a hybrid working schedule, requiring employees to report in-person Monday through Wednesday, with the option to telework on Thursday and Friday each week. Due to the collaborative, cross-functional nature of the organization, employees at the Gaithersburg office are required to work in-person for the abovementioned days, outside of any People & Culture-approved disability accommodation request.  This position is preferred to be local to the greater Gaithersburg, MD area, but due to the significant amount of travel involved, remote candidates will be considered.  Remote candidates will be expected to visit the Gaithersburg office at least twice per month.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Defines Sales Objectives, Sales Strategies, Sales Approaches and Sales Force Structure, including territory definition.
• Ensures that AUI’s Sales policies, procedures and practices capably accommodate our growth objectives while ensuring the organization’s financial strength and operating efficiency.
• Evaluates Regional Sales Directors, Corporate Account Managers, Corporate Sales Programs, Shared Business, and Inside Sales on a quarterly basis.
• Motivate the sales team to achieve workplace goals and encourage high performance through rigorous performance management.
• Monitor market and competitor activity and collaborate with marketing and product management teams to communicate customer needs.
• Create and conduct high profile executive level presentations and effectively represent sales.
• Review monthly and quarterly sales volumes versus plan for each market. Identify where improvements can be made and develop success-driven plans.
• Be a thought partner to senior leadership to help drive innovation and value creation.
• Execute high complexity projects on schedule and within budget.
• Develop sales training programs and spearhead the annual sales conference.
• Create and enhance important high level corporate customer relationships and continuously identify new opportunities for key partnerships.
• Responsible for various forecasts and budgets throughout the year including but not limited to P&L budgeting, sales forecasting, and headcount planning. 
• Other responsibilities as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

Required

• 10+ years of sales experience, 5+ years of sales leadership experience
• 5+ years of experience in the food industry; particularly selling into foodservice
• Proven leadership capabilities
• Strong administrative and organizational skills with experience using a CRM program
• General understanding of a P&L and forecasting abilities
• Strong communication and presentation skills in front of groups of all sizes
• Organized, detail-oriented with strong technical writing skills
• Ability to create executive level presentations
• Ability to travel up to 40%

Preferred

• Bachelor’s Degree and/or Culinary Arts Degree
• Ability to build cross-functional partnerships, engage in and lead cross-functional teams and initiatives.
• Strong ability to develop and deploy quantitative analysis for business improvement; record of accomplishment of KPI-driven and data-driven leadership.
• Comprehensive business process and systems knowledge, and the ability to identify and implement best practices.
• Transformative change management skills and self-awareness to take varying approaches with a dynamic set of stakeholders.
• A strong record of accomplishment of talent recognition and development- finding and building future leaders for the organization.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM a plus.
• Bilingual English/Spanish a plus.

SALARY RANGE

Albert Uster Imports hires exceptional people to perform a wide variety of important functions that contribute to the success of the Company. One of the ways AUI does that is through a competitive compensation package. The base salary for this role will be $135,000 - $185,000.

This role will be bonus eligible.

Based on your qualifications, previous experience, and transferrable skills, the Company will determine at its sole discretion, the salary offered.

Founded by immigrants, AUI & Roland Foods knows that diversity is the spice of life. We believe in the power of food to open minds, spark adventure, and bring diverse people together.  All are welcome at our table! We know the transformative value of food in individual lives and communities. Because of this, we insist on obtaining the highest-quality ingredients and talent!

AUI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. AUI considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. AUI is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at peopleandculture@rolandfoods.com.