Associate Manager, Regional Sales West

The Hershey Company - Phoenix, AZ

Full-time - Mid Level

Remote - Phoenix, AZ

Food Manufacturing

About the position

The Associate Manager, Regional Sales West is responsible for leading the development and execution of annual business plans for key accounts, particularly focusing on distributors and grocery channels. This role involves strategic planning, collaboration with marketing, and maintaining relationships with key customers to achieve sales targets and enhance product distribution. The position requires a strong analytical foundation and the ability to manage multiple projects while providing regular updates to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of annual Business Plans for key accounts responsible for distributors, natural and grocery.
• Direct the development of annual grocery and distributor business plans, including strategy and tactics.
• Establish trade promotion plans and generate the annual customer promo calendar while adhering to the approved trade budget.
• Conduct quarterly business reviews with Grocery customers to identify opportunities and recommend changes to the promotional planner.
• Collaborate with Marketing to develop solutions and products appealing to the Grocery channel.
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Leadership Team on key accounts and manage key Grocery/Specialty distributor relationships.
• Establish specific sales and merchandising objectives and achieve sales targets with visibility from supply to fulfillment.
• Develop ongoing tracking and assessment of all activities, setting objectives at all levels.
• Work closely with Category Management for reporting of internal sales data to monitor customer performance.
• Provide timely forecasts of volume and trade spend; develop promotional plans and corresponding forecasts.
• Champion Broker/Partner Team Development through training, coaching, and performance monitoring.
• Schedule and participate in national account customer meetings and tradeshows to educate and build capabilities.
• Build sales presentations and reports for internal and distributor partners.
• Support the execution and management of national account budgets, sales expenses, and reporting.
• Understand customer business models and key initiatives to meet their needs and objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement successful customer programs and increase product availability.
• Build and maintain sales plans in PlanEx.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (BA/BS) or equivalent.
• Candidates must be based in the West and have access to a major airport.
• Demonstrated experience managing Food and/or distributor customers on a regional scale.
• Experience working with grocery distributor partners preferred.
• Strong foundation in data-based selling and analytical capabilities.
• Excellent time management skills and a holistic business perspective.
• At least five years of sales experience in the high growth food and/or beverage industry.
• Minimum 3-5 years of Grocery/distributor channel account management experience.
• Capable in both strategic aspects and hands-on execution of brand building.
• Excellent skills in presentation, negotiation, analysis, customer service, selling, communication, and organization.
• Proficient in MS Office applications.