**This is a remote position, with a strong preference for candidates located in the Midwest to best support the assigned customer base and business needs**

💰 Pay Range: starts at $150,000.00 annually with commission (based on experience and qualifications)

OVERVIEW OF ROLE: 

The National Account Manager is responsible for identifying, developing, and growing strategic national account opportunities across the Foodservice trade channel. This role requires an experienced national accounts hunter with a proven track record of building, expanding, and maintaining customer relationships across a variety of foodservice segments, including QSR, fast casual, casual dining, family dining, hospitality, and emerging growth channels. The ideal candidate will bring strong commercial discipline, customer insight, and cross-functional leadership to advance branded, custom, and exclusive fully cooked protein solutions from concept through commercialization, while delivering profitable growth, distribution expansion, and long-term customer value.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own and grow a portfolio of national foodservice accounts, with emphasis on strategic chains, emerging growth customers, and new business opportunities across the foodservice trade channel.
• Develop and execute customer-specific annual and multi-year business plans that deliver revenue, volume, margin, distribution, innovation, and profitability objectives.
• Identify, qualify, and advance new account opportunities by building a strong sales pipeline, leveraging customer insights, market trends, menu needs, and the company’s fully cooked protein capabilities.
• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with national account customers, distributor partners, brokers, and key internal stakeholders to strengthen partnership, execution, and long-term growth.
• Lead customer engagement across QSR, fast casual, casual dining, family dining, hospitality, and other foodservice segments where fully cooked protein solutions can create value.
• Partner with Marketing, Culinary, R&D, Operations, Finance, Quality, and Supply Chain to develop branded, custom, and exclusive product solutions that align with customer menu, operations, food safety, and profitability requirements.
• Support product innovation and commercialization by translating customer needs into actionable briefs, coordinating customer presentations and product cuttings, and advancing items from concept through launch.
• Negotiate pricing, contracts, trade programs, distributor agreements, limited-time offers, and account-specific investments that support profitable growth and strengthen customer partnerships.
• Monitor account performance, forecast accuracy, deductions, trade spend, service levels, and key business metrics; proactively address risks, gaps, and opportunities with clear corrective action.
• Prepare and deliver strategic business reviews, innovation updates, and growth recommendations for customers and senior leadership using fact-based analysis and clear commercial storytelling.
• Represent the company at customer meetings, trade shows, food shows, plant visits, and industry events to build relationships, showcase capabilities, and identify growth opportunities.
• Maintain disciplined use of account planning tools, sales reporting, and internal communication processes to ensure visibility to pipeline, priorities, commitments, and next steps.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE: 

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, foodservice management, or a related field required; MBA or graduate studies preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive foodservice sales, national account management, or commercial leadership experience, preferably within food manufacturing, fully cooked proteins, value-added meat, poultry, or prepared foods.
• Proven national account hunter with a demonstrated track record of identifying, developing, closing, and growing new business across strategic foodservice customers.
• Strong understanding of branded, custom, and exclusive product development, customer menu strategy, commercialization, and innovation launch processes.
• Demonstrated ability to build strategic account plans, manage sales pipelines, negotiate pricing and contracts, and deliver revenue, volume, margin, distribution, and profitability objectives.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience analyzing account performance, customer profitability, trade spend, forecasting, and market trends to develop fact-based growth recommendations.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional work with Marketing, Culinary, R&D, Operations, Finance, Quality, Supply Chain, brokers, distributors, and customer stakeholders.
• Executive-level communication and presentation skills, with experience preparing and delivering strategic business reviews, innovation updates, and recommendations to customers and senior leadership.
• Proficiency with account planning tools, sales reporting systems, Microsoft Office, and data-driven business analysis.
• Ability and willingness to travel a minimum of 30% for customer meetings, trade shows, food shows, plant visits, and industry events.