Area Sales Manager - Purina (Finance)

Area Sales Manager - Purina

This remote position will lead, coach and manage Purina Area sales team to meet sales objectives and goals within the Northeast U.S. This includes ME/PA/NY/MD and the candidate must be located in OR be open to relocation to this region.

The objective of this position is to develop and manage the overall talent strategies, retail relationships, and sales team to grow profitability of the territory.

Responsibilities:

Sales Leadership

• Responsible to recruit, lead, coach, and develop the Purina Area Sales Team to ensure sales goals are met in Livestock, Lifestyle, additives, and milk replacer categories.
• Meet or exceed sales and budget expectations for area.
• Support Sales Team Members in the market to sell key accounts and drive volume/income to achieve area sales contribution targets.
• Retail seller growth continuation, including the Farm Production Consultant program to increase farm gate calls to gain new clients while meeting current customer's needs on their farm/ranches.
• Ensure ongoing development of team skillsets to meeting changing demands of the marketplace.
• Coaches and provides feedback to effectively and constructively enable individuals to achieve high performance, as well as proactively manages low performance on the team
• Develops people by identifying developmental opportunities, creating development plans, providing regular informal and formal feedback, and engaging in employee performance calibration and succession planning.
• Ensures Master Alignment Plans (MAPs) are built, centrally shared, and being executed at all accounts within assigned region.

Collaboration and Partnership

• Collaborate and develop strategies with marketing, Income Optimization, Supply Chain, and sales to ensure local needs are meeting the changing demands of the marketplace.
• Develops strategic relationships with key customer and account leadership - CEO's, GM's, Feed Managers, and strategic location managers.

Business and Strategic Goals

• Lead the development and implementation of annual and long-term business plans for the Area.
• Execution of whole marketing plan, to include new distribution, mergers, and acquisitions of dealers/cooperatives resulting in the achievement of the income target for the sales area.
• Champion scorecards tied to key customers and sales teams such as SalesForce to ensure goals are being met and documented.
• Manages sustainable partner relationships at an area level.

Required Experience/Knowledge/Skills:

• Bachelor's Degree in ag or related business field (Animal Science/Nutrition, Ag Business, Ag Education). Not required, but ideal to have Graduate, MBA, or PhD degrees or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years successful sales experience, 5+ years of experience in the agriculture industry, experience successfully leading a sales team. Ability to work independently and within cross-functional teams.
• Nutrition knowledge/experience (applicable species)
• Strong general management skills including ability to resolve issues quickly and effectively, analytical and strategic thinking
• Positive track record of volume growth in value-added products, to add profits to the company's bottom line.
• Experience in sourcing, developing, leading, motivating, and building talent.
• Successful budget management, including Expenses and Sales Productivity.
• Communication skills: written and oral, including strategy presentations to staff at all levels.
• Creative thinker: possess the ability to develop and create new ideas, systems, and relationships for the success of the company.
• Planning skills: must have the ability to develop specific plans and goals to help in accomplishing tasks effectively and efficiently.
• Relationship skills: ability to create and maintain positive relationships with current and prospective owners and partners. Proven ability to interact well with customers, suppliers, employees, and management at all levels.
• Creates a team environment where all team members are treated with respect and are valued.
• Ability to effectively lead and manage through change.
• Knowledge and experience utilizing a CRM system.
• Proficient in Microsoft office applications, including virtual tools.
• Overnight Travel: 50-60%

The salary range for this role is $120,880 - $181,320.

About Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Join us and be part of a Fortune 250, farmer- and member-owned cooperative that is reimagining the business of food. We have been named a Top Workplace by Indeed and LinkedIn, and to the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Benefits for most full-time roles include medical, dental, vision, PTO, life & disability insurance, education assistance, a 401k and a variety of well-being resources. Most part-time employees are eligible for prorated PTO, holiday pay, employee development programs, prorated education assistance, and a 401(k).

Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) M/F/Vets/Disabled. The company maintains a drug-free workforce, including post-employment substance abuse testing pursuant to a Drug and Alcohol Policy.

Neither Land O'Lakes, nor its search firms, will ever contact you and ask for confidential information over the phone or in email. If you receive a call or email like this, please do not provide the information being requested.