National Accounts Manager - Whole Foods, Sprouts, UNFI
Oatly
National Accounts Manager - Whole Foods, Sprouts, UNFI
Hello, potential future Oatly employee. It’s us, the original oatmilk company that started in Sweden back 25 or so years ago and has since expanded to the U.S., where we’ve continued growing at a rate such that we need more brilliant minds to come work with us to keep the momentum going and the oatmilk flowing.
Sustainability, health, and transparency are the core values that guide everything we do. Basically, we exist to help people live a healthier life without recklessly taxing the planet’s resources in the process, and to change the food system for the better. We drive that change through the power of oats and through a significant reduction in cow’s milk consumption. If any of this resonates with you, then maybe you’d like to work for Oatly, too. Now onto the formal stuff.
We are looking for a National Accounts Manager to join our team. This role will be responsible for Whole Foods, Sprouts, and UNFI reporting to the VP of Retail Commercial Strategy & Natural.
Here are the things we want to hire you to do:
Works with the VP, Strategy, and Category teams to create a long-term vision for Whole Foods & Sprouts and bring flawless plans to execution
Develop and implement strategic business plans to drive continued success at Whole Foods and Sprouts
Deliver annual sales volume, topline, and category share growth, and positive ROI and profitability
Have enthusiasm and creativity for networking and building deep relationships throughout Whole Foods’ & Sprouts organization: senior and assistant category merchants and senior leadership across all Oatly selling categories
Leverage top to tops to collaborate, refine, and execute on the long-term vision of the category & Oatly
Own & develop the relationship with Whole Foods & Sprouts’ day-to-day execution team, managing and addressing daily business needs and requests
Partner and work collaboratively with cross-functional teams (Customer Strategy, Customer Service, Product Development, and Shopper Marketing) to ensure flawless execution of the plan and drive sales.
Utilize your Whole Foods & Sprouts knowledge of programming to guide the team to build best-in-class promotions, shopper, and support plans to support distribution in a way that fits the Oatly go-to-market strategy- analyze, learn, and adjust
Leveraging third-party merchandise teams, drive best-in-class store execution with Whole Foods, void closure, and secondary display selling to support promotional programs
Curate fact-based selling stories leveraging syndicated data sources and all available selling materials
Create a cadence and expectation for insights sharing internally and with customers, whether that be monthly, quarterly business updates, new item launch progress, or promo evaluations
Participate in the Oatly annual planning process, which will culminate in presenting your customer plans to the sales leadership team
Responsible for making monthly forecast adjustments, uploading and managing all promotional, trade management, and shopper plans into Oatly’s proprietary planning system
Monitor in-stock rates at Whole Foods by SKU and work with the UNFI team to balance inventory by warehouse to optimize sales
Participate in trade shows, sales meetings, and customer events
Exhibit a collaborative mindset with peers and leadership on the retail sales team, while sharing best practices and being open to learning what you don’t know
Own the broker relationship & collaboration with Whole Foods
The UNFI portion:
Manage the UNFI relationship with the SRM directly
Coordinate and participate in Distributor trade shows as needed, managing all show details, events, and logistics
Manage the UNFI promotion calendar and communicate guidance to the Oatly sales team
Communicate new item launches and setup, price, packaging, etc. changes to ensure timely updates, including completing necessary paperwork when applicable
Review and communicate Distributor policies, contracts, and agreements with internal stakeholders
Work with the Sales and Demand Planning Team to ensure forecasting accuracy
Here are the things we think you need:
· Bachelor’s degree
· Minimum of 8+ years in retail sales in the CPG industry
· Minimum 3+ years leading the Whole Foods and/or Sprouts business, with extensive experience working directly with the senior and assistant category merchants
· Experience managing the JBP process at Whole Foods preferred
· Experience in the chilled/dairy/plant-based segment preferred
· Previous experience owning and a solid understanding of UNFI’s systems & practices to best service Whole Foods
· Candidates based in Austin or Phoenix preferred
· Analytical mindset and know how to expertly use syndicated data sources (SPINS, Nielsen, IRI) and customer-specific data to support fact-based selling
· Proactive by nature, an ability to prioritize and manage time effectively, operate in the grey, and thrive in a remote environment
· Strong leadership, team-oriented, and influencing skills to gain alignment, agreement, and commitments both internally and externally
· Love using PowerPoint, Excel, and would consider yourself a data-savvy sales professional
· Have a thorough understanding of trade math, promotional planning, and forecasting rationale
· Have an open mind and be excited to do things differently when the opportunity presents itself
· Problem-solving skills and desire to bring creative and tactful solutions to business opportunities
· Motivated, enthusiastic, and positive even during stressful times (we love what we do, but not every day is a walk in the park)
And here’s another list of qualities we think make a good Oatly team member:
You feel connected to our mission of encouraging health, sustainability, and transparency
You are a self-starter who doesn’t need direct supervision to motivate you for success – we believe strongly in building a culture of individual accountability and ownership, and need partners that can embrace that mentality
You are ready to make your mark in a smaller, growing brand, leveraging your experience to deliver amazing results and build an outstanding company
You have an entrepreneurial spirit in that you’re comfortable with ambiguity and are energized by the process of building something lasting from the ground up
You enjoy sharing your quirkiness and talents with your coworkers
Another bulleted list felt a bit too…bullet-y. So we wrote this long, awkward sentence to let you know all the ways we sweeten the deal when you work with us, like flexible vacation (take it when you need it), really great benefits (yes, pet insurance is in there), paid volunteer days off throughout the year (doing good is fun), free six packs of...(drumroll)…oatmilk, and you’ll also get genuinely great coworkers who are rooting for each other and the company to thrive. Oh, one more short but very important sentence: We are nimble and agile (not chaotic) in how we work, and we’re grounded in a long company history dating way back to the last century.
Our team is available to support you through the hiring process with reasonable accommodations to enable a barrier-free interview experience. We will maintain candidate privacy and confidentiality to enable an unbiased and equitable experience. If you need assistance applying for a role due to a disability or special need, please contact PeopleConnect.NA@oatly.com
Oatly is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
- Department
- Sales
- Role
- Retail
- Locations
- United States - Remote
- Remote status
- Fully Remote
United States - Remote
National Accounts Manager - Whole Foods, Sprouts, UNFI
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