Director of Sales (East Region)

Job Title : Director of Sales (East Region)

Reports to : VP of Sales, Ornua Foods North America

Location : Remote with some office time in Evanston, Illinois

About Ornua

Ornua is a dairy co-operative which sells dairy products on behalf of its Member Co-ops; Ireland’s dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers.

It is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, exporting to 110 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Dublin, it has annualised sales of over € billion and a global team of 2,400 employees.

Ornua operates from 10 business units worldwide, including 13 production facilities, and has sales and marketing teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe.

The Group is structured across two divisions : Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients.

Ornua Foods is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Kerrygold, Dubliner, Pilgrims Choice, Forto and BEO.

Markets are served by production facilities and in-market sales and marketing teams in Africa, Asia, Germany, Ireland, the UK, the rest of Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Ornua Ingredients is responsible for the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products and for the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers across the world.

Ornua Ingredients is also responsible for managing volatility through de-risking and trading strategies. The business is supported by production facilities in Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK, the US and by in-market teams in Africa and the Middle East.

Growth for Good

Ornua is the home of Irish dairy. Our cooperative ethos is at the heart of who we are and how we do business. Our global success would not be possible without the close collaboration, care, and commitment of our 2,400 strong team.

Ornua cares about building sustainable livelihoods for all our people, who in turn care about driving sustainable profits for our co-op members and the Irish dairy farming families we proudly represent.

Ornua 2025 is our strategic plan that will help realise our vision for growth in the next five years. It outlines what we will do well, what we will do with the profits we generate, and what additional services we will provide to our members.

We will be guided by 3 guiding principles; focus, simplicity and adding value to our volume and we will clearly define what market we will play in.

Together, we will grow for good creating value for our Irish farming families and for our 2,400 strong, committed, and proud global team.

We want to find people that understand and work With Heart, With Thought, With Vision, and With Drive Ornua’s core values.

Role Summary :

The Director of Sales will coach and lead sales professions in the areas of commercial planning, joint business planning and enhance customer partnerships utilizing category management insights and business planning skills to attain sales and profit goals for Ornua Foods North America (OFNA).

The Director of Sales will be responsible to build customer engagement at higher levels within the customers inside their area of responsibility.

Additionally, it is the responsibility of the Director of Sales to identify the team’s strengths and weaknesses to determine areas of opportunity and the appropriate steps to develop the team and each individual.

The role will need to find solutions and collaborate with all levels internally at OFNA.

Key Areas of Responsibility :

• Plan, direct and monitor the activities of a team of Account Managers and Account Executives to achieve established sales targets.
• Manage the day-to-day activities of the sales force to implement OFNA’s sales strategy for its branded range of products within the US.
• Monitor the performance of the sales teams to re-allocate resources as necessary to improve overall results, ensuing that profit targets are achieved through volume growth and effective margin management of existing accounts.
• In conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team for the Ornua Foods business unit, develop long-term, sustainable sales and marketing strategies that will deliver on the team objectives.
• Coach sales representatives on the organization’s strategic sales and marketing programs to ensure that both the present and future market potential for the business is fully identified, pursued and developed;

on the technical aspects of Kerrygold and other Ornua Foods products; and on sales techniques, procedures and standards.

• Manage the trade marketing budget and spend to deliver brand objectives for Regions nationally - oversee sales support activities, including resolving account issues to maximize the sales opportunities for the portfolio range of products (Kerrygold and others), negotiate with customer buyers, and prepare regular management information reports on the activities in the market and to make recommendations to improve the business.
• In conjunction with the Sales and Marketing Teams, devise and implement an annual sales budget and a marketing budget for Kerrygold and other brands in the US.
• Identify new sales opportunities, either product based, range extensions or new accounts.
• To quantify these opportunities, route to market and the resources required to capitalize on sales for the Kerrygold range.
• Actively work with Supply Chain to develop timely and accurate volume forecasts for all regional accounts and revise throughout the year.

Key requirements :

• BA / BS degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Food Marketing, or related field
• Ten (10) years of experience with consumer products and / or food industry; Developing packaging, pricing and promotions for the retail channel;

Budget setting and experience working with a Finance Team on customer and SKU profitability analysis.

• Minimum of 10 years of sales experience in a consumer packaged goods environment.
• Highly effective oral, written, listening and presentation communication skills.
• Strong leadership skills with ability to influence at management level
• Excellent commercial acumen with the ability to provide strategic commercial input to the business
• Excellent analytic skills and business acumen; proficient in Microsoft Office Suites software; good math aptitude; strong interpersonal skills with commercial acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate, present and influence credibly and effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects at a time while paying strict attention to detail
• Experienced in sales data collection, analysis and interpretation, so as to build credible recommendations to the business and customers.
• Frequent travel as required.

Ornua Competencies

• Communicative : Applies advanced communication skills, considering the impact on the audience and desired outcomes.
• Customer Focus : Anticipates customers’ strategic needs and challenges, builds strategic partnerships with customers.
• Forward Looking : Responds positively to change and looks ahead to anticipate tasks.
• Ownership : Takes responsibility for and pride in delivering quality and results, is tenacious.

Closing Date for Applications Monday June 17, 2024

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the ; We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an Employment Visa at the time.

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