Food Service Distribution Sales Manager

Solenis is a leading global provider of water and hygiene solutions. The company’s product portfolio includes a broad array of water treatment chemistries, process aids, functional additives, cleaners, disinfectants, and state-of-the-art monitoring, control and delivery systems. These technologies are used by customers to improve operational efficiencies, enhance product quality, protect plant assets, minimize environmental impact, and create cleaner and safer environments. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, the company has 78 manufacturing facilities strategically located around the globe and employs a team of over ~23000 professionals in >160 countries across six continents. Solenis is a 2025 Best Managed Company Gold Standard honoree.

For additional information about Solenis, please visit www.solenis.com or follow us on social media.

JOB SUMMARY:

Join US Chemical as a Food Service Sales Director, leading a high-performing sales team focused on driving growth with a major food service distributor. In this role, you will serve as the primary customer-facing leader responsible for strengthening the partnership, expanding private label sales, and supporting growth across all classes of trade, with a strong focus on independent food service operators as well as regional and national chains.

This leader will guide a team that trains, supports, and motivates distributor sales representatives—who are primarily focused on selling food—to also sell non-food solutions, including kitchen cleaning products, front-of-house cleaning and sanitizing products, ware wash, and laundry solutions. The role requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams to execute marketing programs, advance joint business plans, maintain account health, and ensure operational excellence across pricing, delivery, supply, and service performance.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

· Develop and execute a joint growth and profitability plan with the strategic distributor, aligning priorities across private label growth, market share expansion, customer penetration, and category development.

· Use shared data, customer insights, and field feedback to identify the highest-value opportunities across independent food service operators, regional and national chains, multi-unit accounts, and local market segments.

· Translate strategic priorities into clear sales plays, resource plans, marketing programs, and execution expectations that drive retention, expansion, and revenue acceleration.

· Negotiate strategic priorities, investment requirements, and program support using financial analysis, ROI discipline, and a clear understanding of distributor and customer economics.

· Establish performance targets, monitor KPIs, and create shared accountability with the distributor and internal teams to ensure plans are executed and results are delivered.

Customer Partnership & Distributor Alignment

· Serve as the primary liaison and senior customer-facing leader for the distributor relationship, building trust, reinforcing alignment, and ensuring both organizations remain focused on shared priorities.

· Lead regular business reviews, planning sessions, and performance discussions that connect strategy, execution, financial results, operational needs, and future growth opportunities.

· Champion a win/win partnership mindset by creating transparency, clarifying ownership, resolving issues, and ensuring distributor initiatives are aligned with internal sales and customer strategies.

· Coordinate with distributor leadership and field teams to improve territory coverage, lead conversion, customer engagement, and execution of agreed-upon growth initiatives.

Team Development & Coaching

· Recruit, hire, develop, and inspire a high-performing sales team with the capability to influence distributor sales representatives and drive non-food category growth.

· Provide ongoing coaching, performance management, field support, and development planning to ensure team members are clear on priorities, accountable for results, and equipped to achieve their goals.

· Build team discipline around customer planning, opportunity management, Salesforce.com accuracy, forecasting, business reviews, and execution follow-through.

· Lead by example in complex customer conversations, strategic negotiations, and major account opportunities where senior-level alignment or deal support is required.

Performance & Revenue Management

· Manage revenue, profitability, pipeline health, and sales performance against agreed-upon targets, using clear KPIs and regular performance routines to identify risks and opportunities early.

· Leverage Salesforce.com and business reporting tools to improve visibility to opportunities, account health, activity quality, team execution, and forecast accuracy.

· Oversee forecasting, budgeting, reporting, and business reviews to ensure the team is consistently tracking progress and delivering against expectations.

· Use performance insights to adjust priorities, allocate resources, remove barriers, and improve execution across territories and customer segments.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

· Partner closely with internal sales, marketing, supply chain, finance, pricing, customer service, and operations teams to support distributor priorities and improve the customer experience.

· Lead execution of customer-specific marketing programs, sales campaigns, product initiatives, and joint business plan commitments from planning through field implementation.

· Ensure the right internal stakeholders are aligned on pricing, delivery, supply needs, service expectations, issue resolution, and overall account health.

· Drive customer satisfaction and value creation by connecting distributor needs with internal capabilities, resources, and solutions.

Sector & Product Expertise

· Build strong knowledge of the institutional cleaning, food service sanitation, warewash, laundry, and front-of-house cleaning categories, including private label solutions, US Chemical & Diversey products, programs, and competitive alternatives.

· Understand how food service distributor sales teams sell, what motivates their field execution, and how to position non-food solutions alongside core food sales priorities.

· Enable the team and distributor sales representatives to clearly communicate customer value, product differentiation, compliance benefits, operational efficiency, and total cost impact.

Performance Reviews & Continuous Improvement

· Conduct regular reviews with team members, distributor partners, customers, and internal stakeholders to evaluate progress, reinforce accountability, and identify areas for improvement.

· Showcase delivered value, quantify results, capture lessons learned, and identify new opportunities to improve sales execution, customer penetration, operational performance, and partnership health.

· Continuously refine playbooks, training approaches, reporting routines, and field execution strategies based on market feedback and performance trends.

Operational Excellence

· Manage core administrative and operational responsibilities, including Salesforce updates, expense reporting, pricing coordination, performance reviews, development plans, budget oversight, and issue resolution.

· Work cross-functionally to resolve pricing, delivery, supply, inventory, service, and account health issues in ways that support both customer satisfaction and business performance.

· Ensure compliance with contractual terms, pricing policies, inventory expectations, and internal processes while maintaining the flexibility needed to support distributor success.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING:

· Food Service & Distribution Experience: Experience in food service, distribution management, or closely related channels, with an understanding of how to drive growth through distributor partnerships.

· Proven People Leadership: A successful track record of recruiting, hiring, developing, performance managing, coaching, and motivating sales teams to deliver results.

· Joint Business Planning: Demonstrated ability to develop, align, and execute joint business plans with strategic customers or distribution partners.

· Customer-Facing Partnership Skills: Strong ability to serve as the main face to the customer, build trust, align priorities, and create shared accountability for growth and execution.

· Sales Enablement Mindset: Experience training, supporting, and motivating distributor sales representatives to grow non-food categories alongside their core food sales priorities.

· Cross-Functional Leadership: Skilled at aligning internal teams across sales, marketing, supply chain, finance, pricing, and operations to support customer success and account health.

· Operational Discipline: Ability to manage pricing, delivery, supply, CRM updates, forecasting, reporting, and other core processes that support reliable execution.

· Field Readiness: Willing and able to travel overnight, lift up to 40 lbs., and confidently operate/demo cleaning equipment.

· Compliance Ready: Holds a valid U.S. driver’s license and meets all mobility requirements for the role.

WHAT WE OFFER:

Full benefits package, including medical, dental and vision coverage from your first day

401(k) with company matching

Company vehicle

Learning and development opportunities

Paid time off, holidays, sick time

#LI-DS1

#remote

We understand that candidates will not meet every single desired qualification.  If your experience looks a little different from what we’ve identified and you think you can bring value to the role, we’d love to learn more about you.

At Solenis, we understand that our greatest asset is our people. That is why we offer competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits which include medical, dental, vision & 401K, and numerous opportunities for professional growth and development. So, if you are interested in working for a world-class company and enjoy solving complex challenges, whether in the lab or the field, consider joining our team.

 

Solenis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer, including Minorities / Women/ Veterans / Disabled.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

 

Should you require assistance in applying to this opportunity, please reach out to Solenis Talent Acquisition at [email protected]

The expected compensation range for this position is between $102,130.00 and $149,776.00 plus discretionary bonuses. The exact compensation may vary based on your skills, experience and other factors permitted by law.